Page 429 - Melanesia

SOLOMON ISLANDS

E ARLY HISTORY: There are a number of habitation has been put at 1300-1000BC European contact was the sighting by Span-
different dates and explanations about from carbon dating remains that were found ish explorer Mendana in 1568. It is said that
how the Solomon Islands was first settled. in a cave on Guadalcanal. Indigenous Solo- he named the country Isle de Solomon after
It is thought by some that ancient peoples mon Islanders have their own origin stories, the riches of King Solomon and the bibli-
may have arrived into parts of the Solo- differing between tribes and islands but cal land of gold. Mendana was followed by
mons as early as 25-30,000 BC after very commonly indicating that they originated missionaries, traders, labor recruiters and
slowly dispersing through South East Asia. from within the islands rather than arriving colonial administrators from many countries
However, the earliest date of known human from somewhere far away. The first official in Europe and Asia.