This dissertation is a comparative analysis of the experience of several western Polynesian states during the 1918-1920 influenza pandemic, and in particular an inquiry into how the response to the second wave of this pandemic determined the mortality for each island group. Historically, Pacific island states have faced challenges in controlling infectious disease. Distance, isolation...

Previous osteological studies of East Polynesian populations have primarily focused on the identification of ancestral homelands and have ignored issues relating to regional and local populations. This thesis examines East Polynesian population history and addresses questions concerning East Polynesian prehistory from a bioanthropological perspective. The results are considered in conjunction with previous studies drawing from...

The island of Tanna lies in the Southern New Hebrides, north-west of Aneityum and south-east of Erromanga, and is about thirty miles long by ten or twelve miles broad. The most significant feature of the social organisation of the island in the period in question, 1835-1868, was the division of the populace into distinct groups...

Timbuktu is a symbol of Africa’s written intellectual heritage long before the arrival of European colonialism. The sheer quantity of its manuscripts bears witness to that indisputable fact. As a metaphor, or symbol, of knowledge, Timbuktu includes both the actual city and settlement of Timbuktu and its surrounding world. From the building of its grand...

This study focused on prehistoric pottery production patterns in the Lapita and plainware periods from the islands of 'Upolu and Manono, Samoa. Incorporating a holistic approach to excavated pottery assemblages, stylistic, temper and clay analysis was undertaken to identify whether initial production technology matched a larger regional signature and to test how production strategies changed...