The Austronesian Moment

For nearly a decade now the debate has quickened on the origins of the Austronesian Peoples of East and Southeast Asia who migrated eastward into Island Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. There is no doubt now about the relationship among them, or among their stomach bacteria or their rats, chickens, pigs, and dogs. Linguistic, genetic, and archaeological data show compelling associations and divergence from common source areas at critical times in the late Holocene. However, it is not clear if any single region is the point of origin. This paper examines these hypotheses and proposes a model of maritime migration based on spatial perception unique to the native peoples of the region, one that likely led to bursts of migration over relatively short periods, and one that links indigenous peoples throughout an extensive maritime world.