History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents: Vol. 40 South-Sea Expedition Part 2, 1909-1910
Levesque, Rodrigue (2007). History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents: Vol. 40 South-Sea Expedition Part 2, 1909-1910. 40. Gatineau, Québec: Lévesque Publications. ISBN 978-0-920201-40-4.
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Abstract: HOM.40 (1909–1910) continues documentation from the German South Sea Expedition (Südsee-Expedition) and related scientific investigations carried out in Micronesia during the later phase of German colonial rule. The documents focus largely on research in the Caroline Islands, especially Pohnpei (Ponape), Chuuk (Truk Lagoon), Kosrae (Kusaie), Yap, and Palau, with additional references to the Marshall Islands and neighboring island groups. Field reports and ethnographic records describe visits to locations including Kolonia, Metalanim Harbor, Sokehs, Kiti, U, Nett, Tomil Harbor, Koror, Babeldaob, and other districts and villages across the region. These materials include descriptions of settlements, harbors, canoe landings, and archaeological sites such as Nan Madol in Pohnpei Lagoon, providing detailed geographic references for places visited by expedition researchers.
The volume contains reports and studies by scholars associated with the expedition and German research institutions, including Augustin Krämer, Paul Hambruch, and other ethnographers and linguists working under the sponsorship of the Hamburg Scientific Foundation and museums in Hamburg and Berlin. Their research recorded genealogies of local chiefs, political organization in districts of Pohnpei, Yap, and Palau, and ethnographic information on communities in Chuuk Lagoon and neighboring islands. The documents also refer to cooperation with German colonial administrators, missionaries, and trading companies operating from centers such as Yap, Pohnpei, and Jaluit, whose ships and administrative networks facilitated travel and research across Micronesia.
Additional materials describe archaeological investigations, linguistic documentation, and ethnographic observations collected during fieldwork throughout the Caroline Islands. Reports include studies of traditional architecture, canoe construction, navigation practices, ceremonial sites, and systems of chiefly authority in districts such as Kiti, Sokehs, U, and Nett. The records also describe research travel between islands aboard government vessels and commercial steamers linking Yap, Pohnpei, Palau, and the Marshall Islands with regional administrative and commercial centers including Jaluit, Hong Kong, and Manila, documenting the institutions and logistical networks that supported German scientific research in Micronesia during the final years before the First World War.
