First Islanders: Prehistory and Human Migration in Island Southeast Asia [Paperback]

Incorporating research findings over the last twenty years, First Islanders examines the human prehistory of Island Southeast Asia. This fascinating story is explored from a broad swathe of multidisciplinary perspectives and pays close attention to migration in the period dating from 1.5 million years ago to the development of Indic kingdoms late in the first millennium CE. 

Contents vii

List of Figures and Plates xii

Invited Contributors xv

Acknowledgments xvi

1 Introducing First Islanders 1

This Book 3

A Note on Dating Terminology 7

A Note on Archaeological Terminology 7

Pronunciation and Place?]names 9

Notes 9

References 10

2 Island Southeast Asia as a Canvas for Human Migration 11

The Shelves and Basins 12

Sundaland 15

Wallacea 15

Sahul 16

The Island Southeast Asian Environment 16

Climate 16

Landforms and Soils 18

The Floras of Island Southeast Asia 20

Faunal and Biogeographical Boundaries 21

The Cyclical Changes of the Pleistocene 22

The Pleistocene Epoch: Definition and Chronology 22

The Cycles of Glacials and Interglacials 23

World Sea Level Changes During the Pleistocene 23

The Consequences of Mid?]latitude Glaciation 27

Notes 30

References 30

3 Homo erectus and Homo floresiensis: Archaic Hominins in Island Southeast Asia 34

Hominin Antecedents in Africa and Asia 35

Homo erectus in Java 38