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This paper explores variability in cave use in central Maluku from initial settlement in the late Pleistocene to the ethnographic present. Significant variability exists. Historic and ethnographic accounts highlight cave use that is not often considered by archaeologists. Some uses may leave few archaeological signatures. Factors affecting different cave uses are examined, including environmental, social/cultural, and historical factors. The effects of immigrant population influences, such as the Austronesian immigration into and/or influence on central Maluku, are also important considerations. The possibility of multiple migrations of pre-Austronesians and various Austronesian groups, and the subsequent effects on cave use, are also discussed. Archaeological case studies include the Labarisi site (north Buru), the Hatusua site (southwest Seram), and several cave sites on the northern Leihitu Peninsula (Ambon).

The extraction and processing of palm starch is an ancient technology in island Southeast Asia and New Guinea, but its archaeological signature is weak. This article outlines the evidence for the distribution of ceramic ovens used for cooking sago flour, a possible diagnostic marker in archaeological deposits. In relation to available archaeological evidence (including new radiocarbon dates), we examine the hypothesis that the origin of this distinctive equipment predated the European period. We confirm the existence of sago ovens from * The fieldwork by Ellen reported here for south central Seram and Ambon-Lease has been undertaken during numerous visits between pre-European contexts, and suggest an endogenous protohistoric origin rather than an exogenous historic origin. We conclude that the growth and dispersal of ceramic ovens were linked to changes in local trading patterns associated with the increase in the production of cloves, nutmeg and other commodities for European and Asian markets, and expansion along the Papuan coasts by Moluccan traders.

This article moves discussion of prehistoric earthworks in Cambodia from normative archaeology into an ecological landscape structure, based on archaeological data sets. Discussions provide a synthesis of archaeological and newly borne-out ecological explanations for original site construction, occupation, landscape use, sustainability of occupation for the earthwork culture over a 2000-year period and terminal use of the sites. A model is presented to assess site abandonment and post-earthwork region settlement patterns.

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