The deep histories of New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Fiji (often grouped as Melanesia) continue to undergo profound re-evaluation, informed by archaeology, genetics, linguistics, and other lines of evidence. Combining and evaluating this evidence is critical for understanding 1) the early peopling of the Pacific; 2) human adaption in island settings; 3) tropical food production and cultivation; 4) dispersals of Papuan and Austronesian languages; 5) the evolution of trade and exchange networks; 6) the origins of diverse cultural traditions; and 7) the active role of museums in cultural heritage. This session will bring together the growing multidisciplinary evidence and address these key topics on the region’s human past. The second part of this session will focus on western New Guinea and will be a combined book launch for the recent ANU Press volume, West New Guinea: Social, Biological, and Material Histories.