Hukay

BOOK REVIEWS 115linguistics, and genetics (Donohue and Denham 2010; Terrell et al. 2001).Bellwood (2009a) excluded genetics, since he thought that it will notreveal a full picture of his hypothesis. Donohue and Denham (2010) alsoincorporated information from crop domestication histories. Bellwood’s(2005) book expounding on the spread of agriculture along with peopleand language, and another book on the alternative theory of Austronesianexpansion were reviewed (McCorriston 2006; Terrell 1999). Researchupdates from a multidisciplinary conference on Austronesian and otherlanguage groups were also reported (Bellwood and Sanchez-Mazas 2005).Although Austronesian expansion in the Island Southeast Asia during theNeolithic as a focus of discussion is only found in one article (Donohueand Denham 2010), this topic is highlighted in most articles found in thisjournal, especially those with accompanying comments.American Journal of Physical AnthropologyAs the official ‘’flagship’’ journal of the American Association ofPhysical Anthropologists, the American Journal of Physical Anthropologycovers related research on primate/human morphology past and present,in addition to genetics-based research that explores primate and humanhistory and variation. However, all eight articles pertaining toAustronesian expansion are based on genetics research except those byMatsumura and Hudson (2005) and Turner (2006). It was expected that asubstantial number of articles on the morphological analysis of ancienthuman remains would be found. Matsumura and Hudson (2005) useddental evidence to support the two layer immigration hypothesis, whereone of the layers pertains to the migration of the Austronesian-speakingpeople during the Neolithic. The problems most commonly mentioned bythe articles are limited information on indigenous Southeast Asians, andTaiwan and Island Southeast Asia areas are poorly studied genetically.Genetic diversity studies explore genetic relationships across populations(Parra et al. 1999), and the peopling history of a specific area (Lertrit et al.2008; Miranda et al. 2003; Sewerin et al. 2002). One of the major findingsobserved is that there are existing major differences between populationson mainland Southeast Asia and the insular islands (Parra et al. 1999). Thesurprising result on Ami people in Taiwan, a suspected ancestralpopulation, is another striking finding (Sewerin et al. 2002). The Amipeople lack genetic affinity with other Austronesian-speakingpopulations, leading to the possibility that they are not Austronesianspeakingpeople. The research by Lertrit et al. (2008) is not focused on theAustronesian expansion, per se, since the subject area is focused on a