Terra Australis
Terra Australis reports the results of archaeological and related research within the south and east of Asia, though mainly Australia, New Guinea and island Melanesia — lands that remained terra australis incognita to generations of prehistorians. Its subject is the settlement of the diverse environments in this isolated quarter of the globe by peoples who have maintained their discrete and traditional ways of life into the recent recorded or remembered past and at times into the observable present.
Terra Australis monographs 1 to 20 are available to download via the Open Research repository.
Please note: The following list of titles is sorted by publication date, with the most recent first.
Archaeological Perspectives on Conflict and Warfare in Australia and the Pacific »
When James Boswell famously lamented the irrationality of war in 1777, he noted the universality of conflict across history and across space – even reaching what he described as the gentle and benign southern ocean nations.
Forts and Fortification in Wallacea »
Archaeological and Ethnohistoric Investigations
‘This volume presents ground-breaking research on fortified sites in three parts of Wallacea by a highly regarded group of scholars from Australia, Europe, Southeast Asia and the United States.
Debating Lapita »
Distribution, Chronology, Society and Subsistence
‘This volume is the most comprehensive review of Lapita research to date, tackling many of the lingering questions regarding origin and dispersal.
Archaeologies of Island Melanesia »
Current approaches to landscapes, exchange and practice
‘The island world of Melanesia—ranging from New Guinea and the Bismarcks through the Solomons, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia—is characterised more than anything by its boundless diversity in geography, language and culture.
The Spice Islands in Prehistory »
Archaeology in the Northern Moluccas, Indonesia
This monograph reports the results of archaeological investigations undertaken in the Northern Moluccas Islands (the Indonesian Province of Maluku Utara) by Indonesian, New Zealand and Australian archaeologists between 1989 and 1996.
Drawing in the Land »
Rock Art in the Upper Nepean, Sydney Basin, New South Wales
Drawing in the Land offers an important contribution to the field of rock art research and Australian archaeology. It provides a detailed study of the previously under-examined rock art of the Hawkesbury/Nepean area of New South Wales.
The Archaeology of Sulawesi »
Current Research on the Pleistocene to the Historic Period
The central Indonesian island of Sulawesi has recently been hitting headlines with respect to its archaeology.
The Archaeology of Rock Art in Western Arnhem Land, Australia »
Western Arnhem Land, in the Top End of Australia’s Northern Territory, has a rich archaeological landscape, ethnographic record and body of rock art that displays an astonishing array of imagery on shelter walls and ceilings.
Ten Thousand Years of Cultivation at Kuk Swamp in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea »
Kuk is a settlement at c. 1600 m altitude in the upper Wahgi Valley of the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea, near Mount Hagen, the provincial capital.
New Perspectives in Southeast Asian and Pacific Prehistory »
‘This volume brings together a diversity of international scholars, unified in the theme of expanding scientific knowledge about humanity’s past in the Asia-Pacific region.
An Archaeology of Early Christianity in Vanuatu »
Kastom and Religious Change on Tanna and Erromango, 1839–1920
Religious change is at its core a material as much as a spiritual process. Beliefs related to intangible spirits, ghosts, or gods were enacted through material relationships between people, places, and objects.
Journeys into the Rainforest »
Archaeology of Culture Change and Continuity on the Evelyn Tableland, North Queensland
This monograph presents the results of archaeological research that takes a longitudinal approach to interpreting and understanding Aboriginal–European contact.
Contextualising the Neolithic Occupation of Southern Vietnam »
The Role of Ceramics and Potters at An Son
Excavated in 2009, An Son, Long An Province, southern Vietnam has been dated to the second millennium BC, with evidence for neolithic occupation and burials.
Degei's Descendants »
Spirits, Place and People in Pre-Cession Fiji
Dr Parke’s monograph examines how Fijians, especially in western areas of Fiji, currently understand and explain the origins and development of the social and political divisions of late pre-colonial traditional Fijian society.
4000 Years of Migration and Cultural Exchange »
The Archaeology of the Batanes Islands, Northern Philippines
The project reported on in this monograph has been concerned with the archaeology of the Batanes Islands, an archipelago that must have been settled quite early in the process of Austronesian dispersal from Taiwan southwards into the Philippines.
Prehistoric Marine Resource Use in the Indo-Pacific Regions »
Although historic sources provide information on recent centuries, archaeology can contribute longer term understandings of pre-industrial marine exploitation in the Indo-Pacific region, providing valuable baseline data for evaluating contemporary
Transcending the Culture–Nature Divide in Cultural Heritage »
Views from the Asia–Pacific region
While considerable research and on-ground project work focuses on the interface between Indigenous/local people and nature conservation in the Asia-Pacific region, the interface between these people and cultural heritage conservation has not recei
Life on the Margins »
An Archaeological Investigation of Late Holocene Economic Variability, Blue Mud Bay, Northern Australia
The research presented here is primarily concerned with human-environment interactions on the tropical coast of northern Australia during the late Holocene.
Taking the High Ground »
The archaeology of Rapa, a fortified island in remote East Polynesia
This volume brings the remote and little known island of Rapa firmly to the forefront of Polynesian archaeology.
Peopled Landscapes »
Archaeological and Biogeographic Approaches to Landscapes
This impressive collection celebrates the work of Peter Kershaw, a key figure in the field of Australian palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.
Pacific Island Heritage »
Archaeology, Identity & Community
‘This volume emerges from a ground-breaking conference held in the Republic of Palau on cultural heritage in the Pacific.
Man Bac »
The Excavation of a Neolithic Site in Northern Vietnam
The site of Man Bac in the Red River Delta of Vietnam, one of the most meticulously excavated and carefully analysed of Southeast Asian archaeological sites in the past few years, is emerging as a key site in the region.
Altered Ecologies »
Fire, climate and human influence on terrestrial landscapes
Like a star chart this volume orientates the reader to the key issues and debates in Pacific and Australasian biogeography, palaeoecology and human ecology.
The Early Prehistory of Fiji »
I enjoyed reading this volume. It is rare to see such a comprehensive report on hard data published these days, especially one so insightfully contextualised by the editors’ introductory and concluding chapters.
Archaeological Science Under a Microscope »
Studies in Residue and Ancient DNA Analysis in Honour of Thomas H. Loy
These highly varied studies, spanning the world, demonstrate how much modern analyses of microscopic traces on artifacts are altering our perceptions of the past.