Vastly Ingenious: The Archaeology of Pacific Material Culture in Honour of Janet M. Davidson

Reflecting in 1769 on the manners and customs of the South Sea islands, natural scientist Sir Joseph Banks remarked that "in every expedient for taking fish they are vastly ingenious." Hence the title of this book on Pacific material culture, past and present, with broad themes of origins, the movement of peoples, and the development of their technologies. Bringing together an impressive group of scholars of Pacific archaeology, the editors have designed Vastly Ingenious as both a thoroughly up-to-date and wide-ranging survey, and as a festschrift for museum archaeologist Janet Davidson, until recently, based at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Topics include: --- early Maori disc pendants --- gourd artifacts from the Kohika lake village --- horticultural site complexes on stony soils of the eastern North Island --- ancestral Polynesian fishing gear --- reading Pacific pots --- a study of gorges from the Gogna-Cove Beach site, Guam --- shell fishhooks of the Lapita cultural complex --- the material culture of Makira --- shaft-hole stone implements of New Britain --- pottery styles at Wanelek, Papua New Guinea --- and more….