The Quest For Origins: Who First Discovered and Settled the Pacific Islands by K.R. Howe

Did they come from space, from Egypt, from the Americas? From other ancient civilizations? These are some of today's most fanciful claims about the first settlers of the islands of the Pacific. But none of them correctly answer the question: Where did the Polynesians come from?  This book is a thoughtful and devastating critique of such "new" learning, and a careful and accessible survey of modern archaeological, anthropological, genetic, and linguistics findings about the origins of Pacific Islanders. Professor Howe also examines the two-hundred-year-old history of Western ideas about Polynesian origins in the context of ever-changing fads and intellectual fashions. Publisher : University of Hawaii Press (May 31, 2003) Language : English Paperback : 235 pages ISBN-10 : 0143018574 ISBN-13 : 978-0824827502 Item Weight : 9.3 ounces Dimensions : 7.5 x 0.51 x 9.25 inches