The Archaeology of the Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia

The Archaeology of the Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia describes the results of the first archaeological survey and excavation in the Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia, carried out between 1995 and 1997.

This island group, lying between West Papua and Australia, first caught the attention of the European world through the writings of the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, who stopped here in search of the Birds of Paradise in the 1850s. The islands have a complex and fascinating history covering the last 30,000 years, from hunter-gatherers to the late Holocene arrival of Austronesian agriculturalists, later associations with the Bird-of-Paradise trade, and the expansion of the Dutch trading empires.

The book offers detailed reporting on the excavations and finds from two large limestone caves: Liang Lemdubu and Nabulei Lisa, and records in full the late Neolithic midden site at Wangil, along with an inventory of the pottery recovered. Lastly, the remains of Dutch-built forts and a church at Wokam and Wangil are recorded, and another is reported near the village of Dosi. These important historic sites are discussed in the context of the regional survey of the islands.