The development of subsistence system models for Island Southeast Asia andNear Oceania: The nature and role of arboriculture and arboreal-based economies

Unique arboreal-based subsistence economies emerged in Wallacea, New Guinea and Near Oceania. Initial developments have their roots in the Pleistocene . The developmental history of arboreal-based economies (often called arbor iculture) in Southeast Asia and the Pacific is not well understood. A frame work of subsistence system diversification in relation to unexploited ecolo gical opportunities in Island Southeast Asia and Near Oceania has significa nt implications concerning Pacific prehistory, as Austronesian descendants probably incorporated arboriculture and arboreal resources into their econo mies and subsequently translocated these to the more distant Pacific island s. The overall framework can be applied to assessing subsistence developmen ts elsewhere.