The fabled Spice Islands and other areas of Indonesia have had a special attraction for those prepared to venture to this diverse, scientifically rich, but decidely remote region. The passages in this anthology cover a span of 450 years and reflect the different motives and reactions of twenty-eight travellers.

From the 19th-century discoveries of Alfred Russell Wallace to the fate of forests and reefs in the 21st century, examine the beauty and grace of Indonesian Islands. 211 color illustrations. Maps, photos & line drawings.

Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic state, with more than 18,000 islands and over 7.9 million square kilometres of sea. The marine frontier presents the nation with both economic opportunities and political and strategic challenges. Indonesia has been affected more than most countries in the world by a slow revolution in the management of its waters. Whereas Indonesia’s seas were once conceived administratively as little more than the empty space between islands, successive governments have become aware that this view is outmoded. The effective transfer to the seas of regulatory regimes that took shape on land, such as territoriality, has been an enduring challenge to Indonesian governments. This book addresses issues related to maritime boundaries and security, marine safety, inter-island shipping, the development of the archipelagic concept in international law, marine conservation, illegal fishing, and the place of the sea in national and regional identity.

This volume describes the results of the first archaeological survey and excavations carried out in the fascinating and remote Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia between 1995 and 1997. The naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, who stopped here in search of the Birds of Paradise on his voyage through the Indo-Malay Archipelago in the 1850s, was the first to draw attention to the group. The results reveal a complex and fascinating history covering the last 30,000 years from its early settlement by hunter-gatherers, the late Holocene arrival of ceramic producing agriculturalists, later associations with the Bird of Paradise trade and the colonial expansion of the Dutch trading empires. The excavations and finds from two large Pleistocene caves, Liang Lemdubu and Nabulei Lisa, are reported in detail documenting the changing environmental and cultural history of the islands from when they were connected to Greater Australia and used by hunter/gatherers to their formation as islands and use by agriculturalists. The results of the excavation of the late Neolithic - Metal Age midden at Wangil are discussed, as is the mysterious pre-Colonial fort at Ujir and the 350-year old ruins of forts and a church associated with the Dutch garrisons.

This monograph reports the results of archaeological investigations undertaken in the Northern Moluccas Islands (the Indonesian Province of Maluku Utara) by Indonesian, New Zealand and Australian archaeologists between 1989 and 1996. Excavations were undertaken in caves and open sites on four islands (Halmahera, Morotai, Kayoa and Gebe). The cultural sequence spans the past 35,000 years, commencing with shell and stone artefacts, progressing through the arrival of a Neolithic assemblage with red-slipped pottery, domesticated pigs and ground stone adzes around 1300 BC, and culminating in the appearance of Metal Age assemblages around 2000 years ago. The Metal Age also appears to have been a period of initial pottery use in Morotai Island, suggesting interaction between Austronesian-speaking and Papuan-speaking communities, whose descendants still populate these islands today. The 13 chapters in the volume have multiple authors, and include site excavation reports, discussions of radiocarbon chronology, earthenware pottery, lithic and non-ceramic artefacts, worked shell, animal bones, human osteology and health.

Take a breathtaking plunge into the colorful world of the Coral Triangle, the waters that cradle Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste. One of the world’s most mature reef networks, home to 30 percent of all the world’s coral, this magnificent marine expanse boasts the highest diversity of coral and fish species on the planet. Underwater photographer Chris Leidy beautifully captures a vision of this wonderland through his lens and conveys the inherent complexities of each singular, fleeting scene, illustrating the vital magic of the Coral Triangle.

The first ornithological field guide covering the vast chain of the Indonesian archipelago, with over 2,500 illustrations, describes all 1,417 bird species known to occur in the region, including 601 endemics, 98 vagrants, eight introduced species and 18 species yet to be formally described. Together these represent over 13% of global bird diversity. In addition, all subspecies from the region are described. The guide fully encompasses the biogeographic regions of the Greater Sundas (Sumatra, Borneo, Java and Bali) and Wallacea (Sulawesi, the Moluccas and the Lesser Sundas), plus all satellite islands. This region spans an arc of over 4,000 km along the Equator, including Brunei, East Timor, the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak and most of the territory of the Republic of Indonesia. The authors' vast experience and knowledge of the region's birds brings together the latest taxonomic insights, knowledge of distribution, field identification features, vocalisations and more to create an indispensable reference for anyone with an interest in the avifauna of this fabulously diverse region.

Prosperity will prevail, Malukans believed, as long as the four pillars and the proper dualism were maintained. By integrating this structure into his narrative, the author avoids a framework governed by European concerns and brings new significance to Malukan events described but only partially understood by European observers.

In the late colonial period (1870-1942), the Outer Islands of Indonesia formed a dynamic area. The economic development of these islands outside Java is analysed in this book by focusing on the enormous increase in trade after 1900. The Outer Islands are described individually and as a group, paying special attention to regional differences. The core of the study is to examine the effects of trade—foreign and domestic—on economic development. Although the economic policy of the colonial government played a role in the gradual formation of a national economy, it did little to advance the relatively backward regions of the Outer Islands. As one of the largest and most tumultuous economies in Southeast Asia, Indonesia nowadays attracts a lot of international attention. This book will serve the study of the diverse and dynamic economic history of late colonial Indonesia, which profoundly influenced post-war events and the formation of a national state.