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Here we report the results of excavation and analyses of an open site on Pulau Ay, a small (ca. 4 km2) limestone island located in the Banda Islands, central Maluku, Indonesia. This report provides results of excavations at PA1 and other Pulau Ay sites conducted in 2007 and 2009. These sites reveal patterns of changes in marine resource exploitation, pottery, and use of domestic animals, particularly between initial occupation of the site at approximately 3500 B.P., and later phases commencing approximately 3000 B.P. Archaeobotanical analyses reported here provide insight into early Neolithic plant use, including early use of Myristica fragans (nutmeg) in a food context. The PA1 site adds to a growing data set about early Neolithic lifeways in Island Southeast Asia and provides a new view of cultural adaptations happening in the region during this critical period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Island Southeast Asia has several distinctive elements of its archaeological and documentary record that make it a particularly fertile region in which to further explore and develop theories of culture contact and cross-cultural interaction. In contrast to the traditional view of other regions, such as pre-European contact North America, archaeologists have always seen Island Southeast Asia as a zone of cross-cultural interaction, or as a passageway for migrations to other areas. Despite this potential, the region remains relatively under-explored archaeologically, and problems of cross-cultural interaction have not been the orientation for most of the archaeological research that has been done. There are several possible explanations for this relative lack of focus: this paper will review several case studies that demonstrate how additional research can contribute to general theory about the interaction of human social groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the use of archaeological and documentary sources in the understanding of the past in Island Southeast Asia. The relationship between these two sources of data (and data sources that cross the boundaries of these categories) has varied over time, depending on the availability of data, changing interpretive strategies and scholarly trends and influences. The wealth of documentary sources relevant to Island Southeast Asia's past, and the increasing availability of detailed archaeological data have increased the potential to understand the past in this region from a variety of points of view. While this potential has not yet been fully realized, in part due to an unsophisticated use of these separate lines of evidence, recent scholarship has pushed the boundaries and revealed new information and insights into this history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the use of historic maps and archaeology to understand the late precolonial settlement in the Banda Islands, Indonesia.