Open research questions in Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies

What the literature leaves open

• The limitations of previous geospatial models in predicting the distribution of traditional Hawaiian rainfed agroecology. The lack of understanding of the intensification and distribution of these agroecological systems in pre-contact Hawai‘i.

  Adapting to the Soil: Predicting the Relative Distribution of Traditional Hawaiian Rainfed Agroecology with Ecological Soil Thresholds · 2026 · DOI

• further application of U-Th dating to colonial-era buildings - investigation into the reuse of coral blocks from former marae within the Catholic houses

  Direct dating of colonial-era coral building materials using the U-Th method in the Mangareva Islands, French Polynesia · 2026 · DOI

• The lack of chronometric determinations in colonial settings, relying on documentary evidence or artefact typologies. The need for a method to directly date colonial-era coral building materials.

  Direct dating of colonial-era coral building materials using the U-Th method in the Mangareva Islands, French Polynesia · 2026 · DOI

• recalibrating existing data when regional ΔR values become available, - further research on adaptive strategies for island environments, - studying the analysis of lithics and faunal and shell assemblages

  Human maritime adaptation on Haitan Island, China, c . 7500 cal BP: new isotopic and dating evidence · 2026 · DOI

• The need for a better understanding of human maritime adaptation in Southeast Asia. The lack of accurate marine reservoir correction (ΔR) values for the study area. The challenge of calibrating radiocarbon dates from coastal human skeletal remains due to the marine reservoir effect.

  Human maritime adaptation on Haitan Island, China, c . 7500 cal BP: new isotopic and dating evidence · 2026 · DOI

• Historical records of disease outbreaks and mortality have, with good cause, been treated with some scepticism, while estimates of population size prior to European contact are scarce and rely on potentially biased archaeological evidence.

  Modelling of Epidemics Suggests Over 96 per cent Population Loss on Aneityum, Vanuatu, Following European Contact · 2025 · DOI

• The impacts of European contact on Pacific Islands populations are widely recognized, yet the mechanisms and scale of depopulation are not fully understood.

  Modelling of Epidemics Suggests Over 96 per cent Population Loss on Aneityum, Vanuatu, Following European Contact · 2025 · DOI

• Short-duration surveys may not capture the full range of seabird species and breeding activity. The study relies on historical data for comparison, which may not be comprehensive. The lack of freshwater on Oeno Atoll may limit the presence of certain species.

  Birds of Oeno Atoll, Pitcairn Islands, in September 2025 · 2026 · DOI

• Repeated and seasonally explicit surveys of seabird populations on Oeno Atoll and other islands. Studies on the impact of invasive species on seabird populations and breeding phenology. Research on the conservation and management of seabird habitats.

  Birds of Oeno Atoll, Pitcairn Islands, in September 2025 · 2026 · DOI

• Further excavation and analysis of the jars and associated artefacts. Continued research into the mortuary tradition at the Plain of Jars. Investigation of the cultural and historical context of the region.

  The death jar: a new mortuary tradition at the Plain of Jars, Lao PDR · 2026 · DOI

• The 'great replacement' theory is a conspiracy theory that has been promoted by anti-immigrant groups and white supremacists. The theory has been used to justify violence and discrimination against non-white immigrants.

  Tables turning: on the specters of Anthropology, extinction and white futurity · 2026 · DOI

• The lack of factual establishment of the commemorative role of phoenix palms has led to their removal from war memorial sites. The forgetting of the commemorative role of phoenix palms has occurred remarkably quickly.

  Beside the cenotaph: The phoenix palm as a New Zealand war memorial tree · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of scholarship on the role of phoenix palms in New Zealand war memorials. The small amount of scholarship on New Zealand war memorial trees does not mention phoenix palms.

  Beside the cenotaph: The phoenix palm as a New Zealand war memorial tree · 2026 · DOI

• The complexity of the geological history of the region. The need for a comprehensive tephrostratigraphic framework. The limited availability of data and previous studies on the region.

  Tephrostratigraphy of the Osaka Group in southwestern Awajishima Island · 2026 · DOI

• The stratigraphy and age of the Plio–Pleistocene Osaka Group around the Seidan Mountains in southwestern Awajishima Island are unclear. There is a need for a comprehensive tephrostratigraphic framework for the region.

  Tephrostratigraphy of the Osaka Group in southwestern Awajishima Island · 2026 · DOI

• 1. Renew island field surveys to identify more well-preserved Lapita sites, especially in regions with identified research gaps such as New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, Solomons, and Papua New Guinea. 2. Develop standardized recovery (wet screening through 1– 2 mm mesh) and recording methods to ensure comparability between sites and regions, including explicit reporting of mesh sizes, sampling strategies, and quantification units. 3. Expand fine-grained zooarchaeological analysis at a wider range of new and old key sites, applying comprehensive quantification methods inter- to site comparisons. enable robust 4. Validate cultural vertebrate patterns through systematic and analysis of bone modification taphonomic site formation. 5. Improve chronological frameworks using U/Th dating on branch coral files and Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon dates to refine the timing of subsistence transitions, particularly across the 2650–2350 BP radiocarbon plateau. 6. Integrate genetic studies of extinct fauna (aDNA) to taxonomic uncertainties and biogeographic tortoises and other for giant resolve origins, particularly enigmatic extinct taxa. fragmented bones and 7. Apply peptide analysis (ZooMS) to refine taxonomic identifications of to address questions of biogeographic origins and species distributions. 8. Adapt HBE frameworks to mixed economies combining a foraging, horticulture, challenge this review has only begun to address. animal husbandry, and 9. Expand on the latest theoretical frameworks outlined above that allow for the investigation of the role of fauna in ritualized contexts by documenting bone modification and depositional patterning that signals the use of animals in the performance and negotiation of wealth, status, and political authority. A verification of such activity could be done by examining for cut marks associated with feather removal (Hawkins and Worthy, 2019). 10. Combine zooarchaeology with palaeoecological studies to demonstrate more nuanced models of ecological disruption due and Lapita invasive agricultural-mediated habitat change. large bird wing elements species to 11. Combine zooarchaeology with material culture studies to link subsistence change with social transformations, including settlement changes patterns, and mortuary practices. ceramic design, in 12. Conduct targeted palaeontological surveys to locate pre- human fossil deposits in Vanuatu, and elsewhere, to establish baselines for pre-human biodiversity against which archaeological impacts can be measured. 13. Develop actualistic studies to improve estimates of prey return rates, skeletal element utility indices for turtles and other taxa, and bone density values to strengthen interpretations of transport decisions and taphonomic processes.

  Vanuatu in the vanguard: new frontiers in Lapita zooarchaeology · 2026 · DOI

• Further study of squamous epithelium microfossils is needed to fully understand their significance. Ancient DNA analysis can be carried out to potentially provide high resolution taxonomic resolution.

  A new sedimentary microfossil type: Squamous epithelium, discovered at the archaeological sites of Pangpang, on Efate Island in Vanuatu, and Carpenters gap 3, in the Kimberley, Western Australia · 2026 · DOI

• There is a need for new lines of evidence for determining former animal and human presence. Squamous epithelium microfossils can provide a new line of evidence.

  A new sedimentary microfossil type: Squamous epithelium, discovered at the archaeological sites of Pangpang, on Efate Island in Vanuatu, and Carpenters gap 3, in the Kimberley, Western Australia · 2026 · DOI

• Investigate the long-term impact of changes in school systems on educational outcomes. Study the effectiveness of night schools for communities with daily occupations.

  Cochin Education Code-Prefixing and Suffixing the Advancement of a Native State · 2026 · DOI

• Further study of the explosive deposits near Mokuʻāweoweo, the summit caldera of Mauna Loa, - Investigation of the ash layers on Mauna Loa in more detail, - Correlating tephra units between Kīlauea and Mauna Loa

  Stratigraphy and geochronology of Holocene basaltic tephra deposits on the southeastern flank of Mauna Loa volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi, and implications for volcanic hazards · 2026 · DOI

• Little work has been done on Mauna Loa tephras. Radiocarbon dating of some ash layers has been conducted, but the ash layers have not been studied in detail.

  Stratigraphy and geochronology of Holocene basaltic tephra deposits on the southeastern flank of Mauna Loa volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi, and implications for volcanic hazards · 2026 · DOI

• The lack of documentation of the Air Matoa language's phonological system. The absence of language inheritance between older and younger generations, leading to language extinction.

  Phonological Reconstruction of the Air Matoa Language: A Contribution to the Documentation and Preservation of a Dormant Papuan Language · 2026 · DOI

• Across this set, youth interest and generational participation in pottery-making are never directly measured or compared; existing studies document historical decline or skill levels in pottery production but do not assess what factors motivate or discourage younger individuals from engaging with the craft.

  Sereke Pua (‘Pottery-Making’): History of a Dying Tradition on Lauru (Choiseul), Solomon Islands · 2022 · DOI

• None of these studies examine how traditional pottery knowledge transmission occurs across generations within a single community over time, or document the specific mechanisms (observation, apprenticeship, formal instruction) through which skills are actually transferred from experienced potters to younger learners in contemporary settings.

  Sereke Pua (‘Pottery-Making’): History of a Dying Tradition on Lauru (Choiseul), Solomon Islands · 2022 · DOI

• Future research should examine the health risks associated with migration in other contexts. The study's findings suggest the need for further research on the effects of forced migration on health.

  Mortality and the pacific labour trade∗ · 1987 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies

• Poor Man, Rich Man, Big-man, Chief: Political Types in Melanesia and Polynesia · Comparative Studies in Society and History · 1963 · 653 citations
• Hunting and Gathering in Tropical Rain Forest: Is It Possible? · American Anthropologist · 1989 · 272 citations
• The chronology of colonization in New Zealand · Antiquity · 1991 · 233 citations
• inalienable wealth · American Ethnologist · 1985 · 226 citations
• the inversion of tradition · American Ethnologist · 1992 · 183 citations
• Late colonization of East Polynesia · Antiquity · 1993 · 181 citations
• A Contextual Approach to the Emergence of Agriculture in Southwest Asia · Current Anthropology · 2013 · 180 citations
• Across the Indian Ocean: the prehistoric movement of plants and animals · Antiquity · 2011 · 161 citations
• The dating of the Island Southeast Asian Neolithic: an attempt at chronometric hygiene and linguistic correlation · Antiquity · 1989 · 160 citations
• New evidence for the origins of sedentism and rice domestication in the Lower Yangzi River, China · Antiquity · 2006 · 149 citations

Most recent work

• Recent strengthening of eastern Pacific ENSO in the last millennium paleorecord · Science · 2026
• The “regime shift extinctions” hypothesis and mass extinction of waterbirds in Hawaiʻi · Ecosphere · 2026
• Papuan admixture predated the settlement of Palau · Cell · 2026
• The death jar: a new mortuary tradition at the Plain of Jars, Lao PDR · Antiquity · 2026
• The Otter Lovers: History and ritual in Southwestern Amazonia · History and Anthropology · 2026
• Direct dating of colonial-era coral building materials using the U-Th method in the Mangareva Islands, French Polynesia · Antiquity · 2026
• Human maritime adaptation on Haitan Island, China, c . 7500 cal BP: new isotopic and dating evidence · Antiquity · 2026
• Miseria futuri: Agricultural exploitation, damaged futures, and the limits of migrant integration · International Journal of Intercultural Relations · 2026
• Birds of Oeno Atoll, Pitcairn Islands, in September 2025 · Notornis · 2026
• In the service of archaeology and community: The entangled biographies of private collections of ethnographic objects: A reflection on C. Buckley’s Stone and Fibre: Daily Life in the Baliem Valley, Papua · Australian Archaeology · 2026

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