Time, Human Difference and Evolution in Oceania

Abstract

Fison and Howitt continued their joint investigations until 1875 when Fison returned to Fiji and tried to hand over the Australian field to his partner. Howitt refused, insisting that no other correspondent had the same understanding of the problems and possibilities of their study.¹ With the vague objective of co-authoring a book, they began to discuss the broader questions of human difference and variation based on their own interests and what literature they could garner through the post. In a series of extraordinary letters they wrestled with the issues of human origin and social change through deep time with few clear boundaries to contain their thinking. In the early years of archaeology, they were guessing as to the longevity of Aboriginal habitation on the Australian continent or their origins.² In the period before genetics they had a fluid sense of the influence of heredity and the impact of environment on changes in human society. Howitt was tempted by the idea of the semi-human ancestor though Fison was not. Throughout the mid-1870s, as they debated these theories and prepared their book for publication, the question of evolution, both social and physical — though the two were deeply entwined during the period — was a singular topic.