Is Austronesian a valid concept beyond linguistics?
nAustronesian undoubtedly begins with Dempwolff in the 1930s as a linguistic concept, although his Austronesisch is what today would be called Malayo-Polynesian or extra-Formosan.
nIt was probably first
picked up as an archaeological concept by
Peter Bellwood in the 1970s and has developed rich
associations in different disciplines since then.
nWhich is not to say
detractors do not exist; Solheim, Meacham and
Terrell being major names. However, it seems to supporters that they simply do not engage with the non-archaeological evidence