Oceania

Question 1

Divisions

Answer 1

• Melanesia
• Australasia
• Micronesia
• Polynesia
• Near Oceania is close to the mainland, remote Oceania is in the further islands (Micronesia and Polynesia)
• 10000+ Islands

Question 2

How Plant and Animal Life Got There

Answer 2

• May have been some intentional migration across land bridges when sea levels were low enough during the last glacial period
• Mostly accidental propagation of seeds by wind, birds, or ocean currents
• As land bridges disappeared, species became endemic to the area
• Megafauna existed but went extinct not long after humans arrived

Question 3

Timeline of Human Migration

Answer 3

• Earliest groups reached Oceania around the same time Europe was reached
• Lower sea levels created paleocontinents called Sahul and Sunda
• Crossed to Melanesia and Australasia first - includes Southeast Asia, Tasmania, and Australia
• Micronesia settled next by the Lupita people
• Polynesia settled last

Question 4

Melanesia and Australasia Settlement

Answer 4

• Probably had boating technology or at least rafts because some island hopping would have been necessary
• Two theories of how Australia was settled: Either they followed megafauna inland and hunted them, or they stuck to the coast initially and slowly migrated in
• Single vs. multiple group origin. Single is supported by genetic evidence
  Timing and method of these migrations is still debated

Question 5

Micronesia Settlement

Answer 5

• Settled by the Lupita Culture
• This culture is defined by shared pottery designs among multiple groups
• Pots not people
• These groups certainly had more advanced boating technology

Question 6

Polynesia Settlement

Answer 6

• Final wave of migration to uninhabited territory in the world as South America had already been settled at this point
• Lupita peoples were part of the first wave of settlement but never made it very far in
• Farthest extents such as Easter Island not reached until the first millennium BC

Question 7

Polynesian Boat Technology

Answer 7

• Two different types of sailing canoe: double hulled and outrigger
• Outrigger canoes had multiple lateral supports fixed to the main hull
• They allowed for speed and maneuverability, and were long, narrow, and hydrodynamic
• Double hulled canoes were more like catamarans
• They were larger and more stable, and could fit more goods and people, good for long ocean journeys

Question 8

Polynesian Navigation Technology

Answer 8

• Wayfinding was specialized knowledge kept by members of navigator guilds
• Used the sun and stars
• Followed birds to land. They also took land birds with them and released them, and if they did not come back that meant there was land nearby
• Used heavily reliable trade winds
• Looked at could colour and patterns to see if they were reflecting land or ocean colours
• Combination of these techniques was used and the tradition was passed along orally

Question 9

Voyaging Practices

Answer 9

• Finding new islands to settle
• People would bring a “transported landscape” along with them in the form of material culture, plants, and animals that they already knew how to use. This included taro, bananas, chickens, dogs, pacific rats, and pigs
• They would make initial exploratory voyages to find new land, and then make multiple subsequent voyages to fully settle the island
• Voyagers eventually crossed much of the Pacific Ocean and formed various cultures with shared underlying factors such as material culture, language families, and ideology

Question 10

Extent of Travel

Answer 10

• Settled all the way to Hawai’i, New Zealand, Easter Island, and possibly South America

Question 11

South American Contact

Answer 11

• Sweet potatoes became a staple crop in Oceania, but it was first cultivated in South America, indicating some contact
• South Americans may have found Polynesia or the other way around
• Latter is more likely because of the Polynesian sailing tradition
• 2020 Genetic study shows similarities between the two groups, with the mix coming around 1200 AD

Question 12

Oral Tradition

Answer 12

• Not simple or easily changed stories. These are deeply embedded into the culture
• Traditions have rules and formats and are passed on by set knowledge keepers. Not everyone could contribute
• Stories had formulas and rhymes to ease memorization and recitation
• Their stories include megafauna which were first thought to be made up, but then discovered to be accurate to fossil evidence of megafauna from thousands of years prior. These stories had stayed accurate for that long
• Oral traditions include myths, stories of the gods, cultural heroes, and knowledge for everyday life such as wayfinding

Question 13

Easter Island

Answer 13

• Easternmost point of settlement
• Contains the Moai
• These statues may have represented ancestor veneration, and some had hats or pukao on their heads
• They were quarried first and moved into position later, and there are three theories about how this was done
• Dragging is the least accepted theory because it would have left large scars in the earth which are not present
• Rolling on log rollers
• Walking back and forth with a rope is the most likely theory because there is an oral traditions that says once the statues were carved they came alive and walked into place
• There is a popular myth that is used as a cautionary tale which says that the people of Easter Island committed ecocide to sustain themselves and build the Moai. There is very little archaeological evidence to support this, as there were only a few thousand people on the islands at the time so there would have been no need to clear that much land for use

Question 14

Methods of Collecting Information on these Cultures

Answer 14

• Three main methods: Listening to oral traditions, ethnography, and archaeology
• Oral tradition is listening to the cultural stories of the people
• Ethnography is sitting down and interviewing people in their home environment so that you can study a people in their own words. This gives insight into contemporary Indigenous cultures, and is an example of the direct historical approach
• The archaeological record is not so reliable in this area of the world because of the climate. Artifacts have decomposed and the environment has changed. As well as this, colonization has ruined many historic sites, artifacts, and cultures