OUT OF TIME  OUT OF TIME History and Evolution in Anthropological Discourse, Second Edition Includes New Afterword NICHOLAS THOMAS Ann Arbor THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PRESS Copyright © Nicholas Thomas 1989 Copyright © by the University of Michigan 1996 All rights reserved Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America SPrinted on acid-free paper 1999 1998 1997 1996 4 3 2 1 Copyright © Nicholas Thomas 1989 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise Copyright © by the University of Michigan 1996 without the written permission of the publisher. All rights reserved A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Thomas, Nicholas, 1928- Published in the United States of America by Out of time : history and evolution in anthropological discourse / The University of Michigan Press Nicholas Thomas. - 2nd ed., includes new afterword. p. cm. Manufactured in the United States of America Includes bibliographical references and index. @) Printed on acid-free paper ISBN 0-472-08377-5 (pbk.) 1. Ethnology-Philosophy. 2. History. 3. Social evolution. 4. Ethnology-Polynesia. 5. Polynesia-History. I. Title. 1999 1998 1997 1996 4 3 2 1 GN345.2.T48 1996 306'.01-dc20 96-13807 CIP No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher. A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Thomas, Nicholas, 1928- 0ut of time : history and evolution in anthropological discourse I Nicholas Thomas. - 2nd ed., includes new afterword. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-472-08377-5 (pbk.) I. Ethnology-Philosophy. 2. History. 3. Social evolution. 4. Ethnology-Polynesia. 5. Polynesia-History. I. Title. GN345.2.T48 1996 306'. 0 1--dc20 96-13807 CIP for Margaret Jolly  I feel the earth move under my feet. I feel the tumbling down tumbling down Einstein on the beach (1976)  Contents Acknowledgements page xi Introduction 1 1 History and anthropological discourse 9 2 Radcliffe-Brown, Geertz and the foundations of modern anthropology 18 3 The background to Polynesian anthropology 29 4 An evolutionary argument and its sources 35 5 Untying evidence, rethinking transformations 51 6 Travellers philosophical and unphilosophical 69 7 Evolution of another sort: regional systems theory and the Pacific 86 8 Histories structured and unstructured 102 9 The look of events 117 Afterword to the second edition 123 Notes 129 Bibliography 143 Index 153