Archaeological evidence attests to the presence of a pottery-using people in the Mailu area—both along the coast and on some of the islands—as far back as 2,000 years ago. The People of what is now known variously as Mailu Island or Toulon Island appear to have established dominance in the region very early on; because of their monopoly of both pottery making and oceangoing canoes they were able to assume ascendancy in direct trade as well as serving as distributors who enabled trade between other communities. This ascendancy was reinforced by raids carried out against coastal villages, which had the effect of driving the population back from the coast to more easily defensible hilltop villages. First European Contact occurred in 1606, when Torres anchored off Mailu Island; this brief encounter was not a pleasant one, for the men of the ship killed many of the villagers and kidnapped fourteen children. Nearly 300 years later, in the late 1800s, this region was made part of the Protectorate of British New Guinea, bringing the influence of missionaries and administrators and introducing European goods to the local Economy. Mailu men began working for Europeans, particularly in maritime industries, very early on in this period, with the effect of introducing new forms of wealth and new ways to acquire it. The London Missionary Society established a mission on Mailu Island in 1894. Government and missionary intervention brought an end to traditional raiding and its consequent head-hunting, thereby contributing to the end of male initiatory practices that centered on the acquisition of heads in war. In 1914, Bronislaw Malinowski arrived in the Mailu territory to do his first fieldwork.