Pacific Studies Initiative Syllabi & Bibliographies

 

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Pacific Prehistory & Ethnology Analogy

Anth. 2782 (CRN:35624)
Level: Advanced Graduate
Fall Term 1997-98, Thursday 2:00 - 4:50

Dr. Richard Scaglion
Department of Anthropoplogy
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Email: scaglion+@pitt.edu

 

SYLLABUS

I. Texts

A. The Evolution of the Polynesian Chiefdoms by Patrick Kirch, (1984). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

B. The Evolution of Highland Papua New Guinea Societies by D. K. Feil, (1987). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

C. Malinowski Among the Magi: 'The Natives of Mailu' by Bronislaw Malinowski (1915); introduction and editorial matter by Michael Young (1988). London: Routledge.

D. The Emergence of Mailu: As a Central Place in Coastal Papuan Prehistory by Geoffrey Irwin, 1985. Canberra: Department of Prehistory, Research School of Pacific Studies, ANU, Terra Australis No. 10.

E. In Unknown New Guinea by W.J.V. Saville, [1926], 1979. New York: AMS Press.

II. Aims:

The course provides a basic survey of Pacific prehistory, but its primary purpose is to use the cultures of the Pacific Islands (including Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Australia) as a framework for examining problems of general interest to both prehistorians and ethnographers. These may include such issues as the origins of agriculture, the nature and development of social stratification, the interrelationships between people and the natural environment, trade and exchange, the nature of prestige-based economies, etc. These and other issues will be explored through lectures, class discussions, and readings.

III. Course Requirements:

Grading will be based on quizzes (1/3), midterm (1/3) and final exam (1/3).

IV. Prerequisites:

Core courses in archeology and cultural anthropology.

V. Tentative Schedule:

DATE AND TOPIC READINGS
August 28
Introduction to the course 		Bellwood, P.S. (1980) "The Peopling of the Pacific." Scientific American Nov. 1980:174- 185.
September 4
Introduction to Pacific
Prehistory		 Film: The Navigators.
September 11
Survey of Pacific Prehistory		 Smith, M.A. and N.D. Sharp (1993) "Pleistocene Sites in Australia, New Guinea and Island Melanesia: Geographic and Temporal Structure of the Archeological Record." In Sahul in Review, M.A. Smith, M. Spriggs and B. Frankhauser, eds., pp. 37-59. Canberra: The Australian National University.

Gosden, Chris (1993) "Understanding the Settlement of the Pacific Islands in the Pleistocene." In Sahul in Review, M.A. Smith, M. Spriggs and B. Frankhauser, eds., pp. 131-136. Canberra: The Australian National University.

Kirch, Patrick V. and R.C. Green (1987) "History, Phylogeny and Evolution in Polynesia." Current Anthropology 28:431-456.

Kirch, P.V. and M.I. Weisler (1994) "Archeology in the Pacific Islands: An Appraisal of Recent Research." Journal of Archeological Research 2:285-328.

Rainbird, Paul (1994) "Prehistory in the Northwest Tropical Pacific: The Caroline, Mariana and Marshall Islands." Journal of World Prehistory 8:293-349.
September 18
Austronesian culture,
language and migrations		 Bellwood, Peter (1995) "Austronesian Prehistory in Southeast Asia: Homeland Expansion and Transformation." In The Austronesians: Historical and Comparative Perspectives, Peter Bellwood, James J. Fox and Darrell Tryon, eds., pp. 96-111. Canberra: The Australian National University.

Scaglion, Richard (1996) "Chiefly Models in Papua New Guinea." The Contemporary Pacific 8:1-30.

Pawley, Andrew and Malcolm Ross (1995) "The Prehistory of Oceanic Languages: A Current View." In The Austronesians: Historical and Comparative Perspectives, Peter Bellwood, James J. Fox and Darrell Tryon, eds., pp. 39-74. Canberra: The Australian National University.
September 25
Human modification of the
natural environment.		 Kirch (1984). QUIZ

Kirch, P. V., J. R. Flenley, D. W. Steadman, F. Lamont and S. Dawson (1992) "Ancient Environmental Degradation." National Geographic Research & Exploration 8:166-179.

Steadman, David W. (1995) "Prehistoric Extinctions of Pacific Island Birds: Biodiversity Meets Zooarchaeology." Science 267:1123-1131.
October 2
Non-Austronesian cultural
trajectories.		 Feil (1987). QUIZ

Scaglion, Richard (1994) "A Prehistoric Introduction of the Sweet Potato in New Guinea?" In Migration and Transformations: Regional Perspectives on New Guinea, A. Strathern and G. Stürzenhofecker (eds.), pp. 257-294. Pittsburgh: ASAO Monograph No. 15.
October 9
Regional comparisons		 Roscoe, Paul B. (1989a) "The Pig and the Long Yam: The Expansion of a Sepik Cultural Complex." Ethnology 28:219-231.

Roscoe, Paul B. (1989b) "The Flight from the Fen: The Prehistoric Migrations of the Boiken of the East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. Oceania 60:139-154.

Roscoe, Paul B. and Richard Scaglion (1990) "Male Initiation and European Intrusion in the Sepik: A Preliminary Analysis." In Sepik Heritage: Tradition and Change in Papua New Guinea, Nancy Lutkehaus et al., eds., pp. 414-423. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.
October 16 MIDTERM EXAM
October 23
Intercultural connections;
trade, exchange, and the
Lapita cultural complex.		 Spriggs, Matthew (1995) "The Lapita Culture and Austronesian Prehistory in Oceania." In The Austronesians: Historical and Comparative Perspectives, Peter Bellwood, James J. Fox and Darrell Tryon, eds., pp. 112-133. Canberra: The Australian National University.

Spriggs, Matthew (1990) "The Changing Face of Lapita: Transformation of a Design." In Lapita Design, Form and Composition, Matthew Spriggs, ed., pp. 83-122. Canberra: Occasional Papers in Prehistory, No. 19, Department of Prehistory, RSPAS, Australian National University.

Harding, Thomas (1994) "Precolonial New Guinea Trade." Ethnology 33:101-125.
October 30
Malinowski in the Massim.		 Young (1988). QUIZ
November 6
The emergence of Mailu as a
central place.		 Irwin (1985). QUIZ
November 13
The contributions of
prehistory and ethnography		 Saville (1926). QUIZ
November 20 AAA Meetings, no class
NOVEMBER 27 THANKSGIVING VACATION - NO CLASS
December 4
Comparative ethnology:
Representations of the past,
the invention of tradition, and
the politics of "representation."		  
DECEMBER 11 FINAL EXAM

[Subject: Anthropology; Pacific/Comparative]

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