Early Metal Age interactions in Island Southeast Asia and Oceania: jar burials from Aru Manara, northern Moluccas Rintaro Ono 1,* , Adhi Agus Oktaviana 2 , Marlon Ririmasse 3 Masami Takenaka 4 , Chiaki Katagiri 5 & Minoru Yoneda 6 Morotai Mariana Islands Taiwan 0 km 3000 N New evidence from the rockshelter site of Aru Manara, on the island of Morotai, in the northern Moluccas, East Indonesia, suggests an earlier than previously assumed date for extensive interactions between this area of Southeast Asia and the wider Pacific. Shared mortuary customs and associated ceramic grave goods, along with other practices such as megalithic traditions, appear to start in the Late Neolithic, but become more widespread and consolidated in the Early Metal Age. Excavations at Aru Manara show that the northern Moluccas may have figured prominently in the newly established network of interaction evidenced at this time, making it an important location in the spread and dispersal of people and culture throughout Island Southeast Asia and into Oceania. Keywords: Moluccas Islands, Indonesia, Neolithic, Metal Age, trade network, pottery Introduction The northern Moluccas (Maluku Utara) Islands in Eastern Indonesia (Figure 1) are located at the geographic interface of Island Southeast Asia and Oceania. Various archaeological studies have helped to reconstruct the migration of Homo sapiens throughout Island Southeast Asia 1 Tokai University, School of Marine Science and Technology, Orido 3-20-1, Shimizu, Shizuoka 424-8610, Japan 2 Pustat Penelitian Arkeologi Nasional Indonesia, Jalan Raya Condet Pejaten No.4, Pejaten Barat, Jakarta 12510, Indonesia 3 Balai Arkeologi Ambon, Jalan Namalatu-Latuhalat, Nusaniwe, Kodya Ambon 97118, Indonesia 4 Kagoshima Women’s College, Korai-cho 6-9, Kagoshima 890-8565, Japan 5 Okinawa Prefectural Archaeology Centre, Uehara 193-7, Nishihara-cho, Nakagami-gun 903-0125, Japan 6 The University Museum, The University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan * Author for correspondence (Email: rintaro@tokai-u.jp) Research © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2018 antiquity 92 364 (2018): 1023–1039 https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2018.113 1023