Prehistoric Man in Palliser Bay presents, in 14 papers by 9 authors, the results of a pioneering, multifaceted, archaeological research programme carried out between 1969 and 1972 in the south-eastern coastal part of the North Island of New Zealand. The volume reviews archaeological evidence from the time of first settlement from Polynesia through to the 19th century. More than 25 excavations were carried out, focussing on midden sites, house areas, kumara storage pits and prehistoric gardens. Laboratory analysis of middens revealed details of the history of fishing, birding and sea mammal hunting. Artefacts of stone, bone and shell are described in the volume, and analysis of land snails provides evidence for environmental change during the period of occupation. Analysis of human bone samples provided detailed medical histories of the people who lived in the region. Two concluding chapters consider the significance of the evidence for early horticulture in Palliser Bay and the nature of prehistoric communities in the area.

Reflecting in 1769 on the manners and customs of the South Sea islands, natural scientist Sir Joseph Banks remarked that "in every expedient for taking fish they are vastly ingenious." Hence the title of this book on Pacific material culture, past and present, with broad themes of origins, the movement of peoples, and the development of their technologies. Bringing together an impressive group of scholars of Pacific archaeology, the editors have designed Vastly Ingenious as both a thoroughly up-to-date and wide-ranging survey, and as a festschrift for museum archaeologist Janet Davidson, until recently, based at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Topics include: --- early Maori disc pendants --- gourd artifacts from the Kohika lake village --- horticultural site complexes on stony soils of the eastern North Island --- ancestral Polynesian fishing gear --- reading Pacific pots --- a study of gorges from the Gogna-Cove Beach site, Guam --- shell fishhooks of the Lapita cultural