The Kao Ancient Village settlement site is located in the hinterland of North Halmahera, standing on relatively wet ground flanked by the river Aer Kalak, Ake Ngoali, and Ake Jodo and surrounded by sago and swamp forests. The settlement conditions on the site make it limited for residential space, but a community of Kao people settled in this area for a relatively long period of time between 100-200 years and even recorded in history that Kao region is the main food supplier for Ternate in the past. This research conducted surface surveys and limited excavations, then mapped the areas of artifactual findings, and identified patterns of spatial use by analyzing surface features and artifact scatters. Variety of archeological data both artifacts and oral traditions are then analyzed guided by relevant reference sources. The results show that Kao Site is an advanced settlement and has a significant role as the center of Islamicization in Halmahera. The Kao people settled for a long time in one location supported by water sources and the potential of farming lands making the Kao area a part of bustling trade networks. Kao became part of a strategy in spreading Islam to other inland areas, as well as coastal areas in North Halmahera.

In places with limited access to manufactured goods, people must develop creative strategies to make the most of available materials, both those produced by humans and those taken from the natural world. Although Pulau Ujir, in the Aru Islands, has a long history of engagement with global trade networks, until recently the community's access to manufactured goods was limited and infrequent. As a result, in the past objects there tended to take on new lives, and still do today: they are modified, re-purposed, and recycled in ingenious ways. This article explores the relationship between people and things in Ujir from the perspectives of object biography and Actor Network Theory. I argue that the complex "life stories" of material things in such conditions of scarcity deserve special attention, because they may explain not only puzzling archaeological phenomena, but also aspects of the social lives of the people who used and reused them. Two modified and repurposed fragments, one of porcelain and one of glass, serve as examples.