Vol. 16 No. 2 (2026): Studies in honor of Melinda Allen

Guest editors: Seth Quintus and Alex Morrison

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Evolutionary and Ecological Perspectives on Oceanic Archaeology: Papers to Honor the Contributions of Melinda Allen" at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

How humans change and are changed by their environments are foundational questions of archaeology, especially in the archaeology of Oceania. While these questions are simple, providing better, more historically and empirically grounded answers to these questions has involved considerable theoretical and methodological innovation. Melinda Allen has been at the forefront of these innovations for over three decades, a career that has ranged from the Bishop Museum to the University of Auckland. Dr. Allen is widely recognized for her unparalleled empiricism and detail, which have resulted in substantial contributions to chronology building, the process and drivers of East Polynesia voyaging, the development of anthropogenic landscapes, and the evolution of political systems. This session aims to highlight the contributions of Dr. Allen on the field and the ways her work continues to be instrumental in directing the future of diverse ecological and evolutionary frameworks in Oceania. The papers in this session speak to Dr. Allen’s broad contributions to the field, ranging from analyses of regional agricultural adaptations to environmental drivers of large-scale social processes.