The humble fish hook derives its form from its function: to catch fish. But in cultures where fishing is central to the way of life, the crafting of fish hooks is elevated to a form of art.Fish Hooks of the Pacific Islands brings together the finest specimens from private collections all over the world. Included are more than three hundred newly commissioned photographs showing over six hundred fish hooks at their actual size, accompanied by details on their features and provenance. This is the first comprehensive catalog of Pacific Island fish hooks in more than eighty years, and it brings together vast amounts of new information, including recent discoveries and updated research. In addition, the book includes contributions by Sydney Picasso and oceanic art expert Anthony J. P. Meyer. Opulently illustrated and unprecedented in its comprehensiveness, Fish Hooks of the Pacific Islands offers an incredible amount of information and will be essential to scholars and collectors of tribal or Pacific Island art.

Hundreds of thousands of works of art and artefacts from many parts of the Pacific are dispersed across European museums. They range from seemingly quotidian things such as fish-hooks and baskets to great sculptures of divinities, architectural forms and canoes. These collections constitute a remarkable resource for understanding history and society across Oceania, cross-cultural encounters since the voyages of Captain Cook, and the colonial transformations that have taken place since. They are also collections of profound importance for Islanders today, who have varied responses to their disp.

This text aims to combine all the evidence for Hawaiian prehistory into a coherent pattern. It presents a balanced cultural history of the Hawaiian group of islands, from the first Polynesian settlement to the time of European contact and is grounded in the archaeological evidence.

Pacific Encounters brings together for the first time many stunning Polynesian objects collected by voyagers and missionaries during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Illustrated are over 270 items gathered from the major regions of Polynesia. Many are from the British Museum, which houses fine and rare material from the expeditions of Captain Cook, Captain Vancouver, and members of the London Missionary Society. Ranging from massive images of gods to small fish hooks, they are discussed in the contexts of their local use and meanings, and their journeys to museums all over the world. These pieces have remarkable stories to tell of encounters between humans and their gods, between Polynesians and Europeans, their respective chiefs and priests, beliefs, and technologies. Pacific Encounters is a groundbreaking book that conveys the wonder and excitement not only of the objects themselves, but of the fascinating Polynesian cultures that produced them.

For biographical account of Anders Sparrman (1748-1820), a pupil of Linnaeus, see pp. 12-14. The work, written in Swedish, was translated into English by M. Leijer, the text figures were drawn by A. Hjelm.

This volume brings the remote and little known island of Rapa firmly to the forefront of Polynesian archaeology. Thirteen authors contribute 14 chapters, covering not only the basic archaeology of coastal sites, rock shelters, and fortifications, but faunal remains, agricultural development, and marine exploitation. The results, presented within a chronology framed by Bayesian analysis, are set against a background of ethnohistory and ethnology. Highly unusual in tropical Polynesian archaeology are descriptions of artefacts of perishable material. Taking the High Ground provides important insights into how a group of Polynesian settlers adapted to an isolated and in some ways restrictive environment.