This book originated as a thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of London. The fieldwork among the Nuaulu of Seram on which it is based was undertaken between December 1969 and May 1971, and again for three months in 1973, under the auspices of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences. During these periods I was supported by grants in aid from the Social Science Research Council, the Hayter Travel Awards scheme and the London Cornell Project for East and Southeast Asian Studies, the Central Research Fund of the University of London, the Galton Foundation and the Department of Geography, Kings College London. The British Academy made a generous grant towards the cost of publication. To all these bodies I am most grateful