Table of contents : Table of Contents Maps Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Interpreting Melanesia 1. Environment and People: 40,000–5,000 b.p. 2. Cultural Spheres and Trade Systems: The Last 5,000 Years 3. West New Guinea and the Malay World 4. West New Guinea: European Trade and Settlement, 1520–1880 5. The Nineteenth Century: Trade, Settlement, and Missionaries 6. The Nineteenth Century: Exploration and Colonization 7. Interpreting Early Contact 8. The Twentieth Century: Colonialism and Independence Notes Bibliography Index