Lapita Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Previous archaeological studies in the village of Nukuleka, Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga proposed it as a founder colony for Polynesia. Additional excavation and survey were undertaken in 2007 to evaluate this status further and to gain... more

Previous archaeological studies in the village of Nukuleka, Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga proposed it as a founder colony for Polynesia. Additional excavation and survey were undertaken in 2007 to evaluate this status further and to gain new insight into the nature of the occupation and its role in the subsequent peopling of west Polynesia. A review of this project and its findings are presented. Decorated ceramics of western Lapita style, the presence of tan paste ceramics foreign to Tonga, and new radiocarbon dates support Nukuleka as a site of first landfall in the interval 2850 to 2900 cal BP. The ceramic assemblage is distinct from west and central Fiji, and an independent origin for Fijian and Polynesian colonizers is argued. The settlement quickly expanded on the Nukuleka Peninsula to 20 ha or more in size, forming a central place for the eastern Lapita province in Tonga, Samoa and the Lau islands of Fiji. Nukuleka, we believe, provides insight into the cultural if not biological base from which ancestral Polynesian society emerged.

Austronesian speaking peoples left Southeast Asia and entered the Western Pacific c.4000-3000 years ago, continuing on to colonise Remote Oceania for the first time, where they became the ancestral populations of Polynesians.... more

Austronesian speaking peoples left Southeast Asia and entered the Western Pacific c.4000-3000 years ago, continuing on to colonise Remote Oceania for the first time, where they became the ancestral populations of Polynesians. Understanding the impact of these peoples on the mainland of New Guinea before they entered Remote Oceania has eluded archaeologists. New research from the archaeological site of Wañelek in the New Guinea Highlands has broken this silence. Petrographic and geochemical data from pottery and new radiocarbon dating demonstrates that Austronesian influences penetrated into the highland interior by 3000 years ago. One potsherd was manufactured along the northeast coast of New Guinea, whereas others were manufactured from inland materials. These findings represent the oldest securely dated pottery from an archaeological context on the island of New Guinea. Additionally, the pottery comes from the interior, suggesting the movements of people and technological practices, as well as objects at this time. The antiquity of the Wañelek pottery is coincident with the expansion of Lapita pottery in the Western Pacific. Such occupation also occurs at the same time that changes have been identified in subsistence strategies in the archaeological record at Kuk Swamp suggesting a possible link between the two.

Until the Caution Bay project, limited archaeological research in the Port Moresby region and, more broadly, along the entire southern lowlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG) had been almost exclusively restricted to sites of the past 2000... more

Until the Caution Bay project, limited archaeological research in the Port Moresby region and, more broadly, along the entire southern lowlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG) had been almost exclusively restricted to sites of the past 2000 years, representing that period after the arrival of ceramicists. This limited window of time covered by the archaeological evidence had critical impacts for how we have since come to understand the long-term history of the entire region, and thus for how the Caution Bay finds themselves came to be slotted-in to a predetermined cultural pattern incorporating hypothesized ceramic transactions along vast distances of coastline. Here we revisit this archaeological setting, as it sets the scene for how our understanding of the long-term history of the southern lowlands needs to be rethought in light of the Caution Bay results, and, on the other hand, for how some of these new results confirm other pre-existing patterns.

In 2008, intensive archaeological surveys began at Caution Bay, located 20km to the northwest of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The excavation of 122 stratified sites in 2009-2010 followed, and detailed analysis of the well-preserved and... more

In 2008, intensive archaeological surveys began at Caution Bay, located 20km to the northwest of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The excavation of 122 stratified sites in 2009-2010 followed, and detailed analysis of the well-preserved and abundant faunal, ceramic and lithic finds has continued ever since. The Caution Bay Archaeology Project is providing new and exciting contributions to the western Pacific past. It has radically expanded the known geographic distribution of the Lapita Cultural Complex to include, for the first time, the southern coast of Papua New Guinea; it has established the relationship of Lapita to later cultural expressions in this area; it has pinpointed the time of arrival of domesticated animals along the southern coast of Papua New Guinea and, by inference, on the larger island of New Guinea; it has provided new insights into the impact of resident populations on local terrestrial and marine environments over a 5000 year time period; and perhaps of greatest significance, it has provided a unique opportunity to document, using multiple strands of archaeological evidence, interactions between resident and colonizing populations at a time of cultural transformation c. 2900 years ago. The first volume of the Caution Bay monograph series introduces the goals of the Caution Bay project, the nature and scope of the investigations and the cultural and natural setting of the study area. To this end, a series of chapters are included on the ethnographic and linguistic setting, the natural environment, archaeological surveys of the study area and investigative and analytical methods. These background chapters will be repeatedly referred to in all the other monographs, as foundational reference materials for the broader study. Subsequent volumes of Caution Bay Studies in Archaeology will each detail the results of excavations at a number of sites while addressing specific research themes, including Lapita colonization, ceramic transformations, long distance ceramic trade, spatial and temporal faunal resource use patterns, technological transformations, cross-cultural interactions and other themes.

We invite you to visit the tropics this year to participate in the joint Australian Archaeological Association/Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology annual conference, ‘Culture, Climate, Change: Archaeology in the Tropics’. This... more

We invite you to visit the tropics this year to participate in the joint Australian Archaeological Association/Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology annual conference, ‘Culture, Climate, Change: Archaeology in the Tropics’. This is just the third time our two associations have come together to share our annual conferences and we look forward to continuing our close collaboration into the future. The tropical zone is home to extraordinary diversity, reflected in a rich and diverse archaeological and natural heritage. In our own region, discoveries such as Homo floresiensis, sea-faring Lapita peoples on the south coast of Papua New Guinea and the tropics as a key zone controlling global climate have fundamentally reshaped our understandings of the long-term human histories of these vast land and seascapes. Your host James Cook University welcomes you to the tropics to engage in conversations about these issues and about many others which confront our disciplines. Our venue for 2014 is the Pullman Cairns International. We trust that delegates and other guests will enjoy their experiences in the North of Queensland.

The Massim region is an anthropologically defined cultural area that encompasses the eastern tip of the New Guinea mainland and the adjacent offshore islands. The cultural identities and social organisation of the Massim inhabitants have... more

The Massim region is an anthropologically defined cultural area that encompasses the eastern tip of the New Guinea mainland and the adjacent offshore islands. The cultural identities and social organisation of the Massim inhabitants have been the focus of international attention amongst anthropologists since the beginning of colonial pacification in the mid-late 19th Century. Archaeologically, however, the Massim islands have not been as well represented. To clarify the place of the Massim islands in Pacific Island prehistory, this paper consolidates and reviews the archaeological work that has been undertaken in the region. By doing so, a revised chronology for the Massim is put forth, as well as several interpretive themes aimed at facilitating further archaeological research in the region.

Some twenty years ago, Paul Geraghty offered a large-scale survey of the retention and loss of Proto-Oceanic *R across Eastern Oceanic languages, and concluded that *R was “lost in proportion to distance from Western Oceanic.” This paper... more

Some twenty years ago, Paul Geraghty offered a large-scale survey of the retention and loss of Proto-Oceanic *R across Eastern Oceanic languages, and concluded that *R was “lost in proportion to distance from Western Oceanic.” This paper aims at testing Geraghty’s hypothesis based on a larger body of data now available, with a primary focus on a tightly knit set of languages spoken in Vanuatu. By observing the dialectology of individual lexical items in this region, I show that the boundaries between languages retaining vs. losing *R differ for each word, yet they all define a consistent north-to-south cline whereby *R is lost in the south. This cline, which confirms Geraghty’s observations, can be recognized all the way to southern Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Such a neat geographic distribution observed today can be interpreted in historical terms. I propose that the tendency to lose *R emerged somewhere south of Efate, at an early date in the settlement of the archipelago. This sound change triggered a range of individual lexical innovations, each of which spread across what was then a vast social and linguistic network, encompassing the whole of Vanuatu and New Caledonia. The geography of *R reflexes constitutes a fossilized picture of prehistoric social networks, as the once unitary world of Lapita settlers was beginning to break down into increasingly diversified dialects—the ancestors of modern languages.

This paper is a report on my findings regarding the distribution of species within the marine mollusk population, as represented in Tongoleleka site, located on the island of Lifuka, the Kingdom of Tonga. The paper is divided into four... more

This paper is a report on my findings regarding the
distribution of species within the marine mollusk population, as represented in Tongoleleka site, located on the island of Lifuka, the Kingdom of Tonga. The paper is divided into four
parts. The first section offers an archaeological history of what has come to be called the “Lapita Cultural Complex”, with a specific focus on the archeological history of Tonga. Following this historical overview is a discussion of the 1995 excavations in Ha’apai, including the sampling and collection methodology. Part three is a presentation of the data and my statistical analyses. The final section offers my conclusions regarding the
relationship between the distribution of marine mollusks and the nature of the Tongan subsistence/production systems, as well as implications relating to the nature and extent of Tongan exploitation of marine resources.

This chapter investigates how Lapita communities used the Vitiaz Strait as a conduit for migration and exchange. We report provisional archaeological work on Arop/Long Island in the Vitiaz Strait of Papua New Guinea, providing insight... more

This chapter investigates how Lapita communities used the Vitiaz Strait as a conduit for migration and exchange. We report provisional archaeological work on Arop/Long Island in the Vitiaz Strait of Papua New Guinea, providing insight into occupation prior to the c. 1660 AD eruption. This includes the finding of a potsherd overlapping in form and technology with Lapita plainware from the Siassi Islands. This sherd is tempered with sand probably deriving from Schouten Arc geology of southwest New Britain. Type X and Madang-style pottery is also present. Obsidian stone tools from surface collections all derive from the Kutau-Bao source in West New Britain and these were supplemented by local low-quality volcanic raw materials. We posit that these tentative finds are suggestive of Lapita occupation on the island, or exchange with Lapita communities around New Britain.

Vanuatu was first settled ca. 3000 years ago by populations associated with the Lapita culture. Models of diet, subsistence practices, and human interaction for the Lapita and subsequent occupation periods have been developed mainly using... more

Vanuatu was first settled ca. 3000 years ago by populations associated with the Lapita culture. Models of diet, subsistence
practices, and human interaction for the Lapita and subsequent occupation periods have been developed mainly using the
available archaeological and paleoenvironmental data. We test these models using stable (carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur) and
radiogenic (strontium) isotopes to assess the diet and childhood residency of past communities that lived on the small (,
1 km2) island of Uripiv, located off the northeast coast of Malakula, Vanuatu. The burials are from the initial Lapita
occupation of the island (ca. 2800–2600 BP), the subsequent later Lapita (LL, ca. 2600–2500 BP) and post-Lapita (PL, ca.
2500–2000 BP) occupations, in addition to a late prehistoric/historic (LPH, ca. 300–150 BP) occupation period. The human
stable isotope results indicate a progressively more terrestrial diet over time, which supports the archaeological model of an
intensification of horticultural and arboricultural systems as local resources were depleted, populations grew, and cultural
situations changed. Pig diets were similar and included marine foods during the Lapita and PL periods but were highly
terrestrial during the LPH period. This dietary pattern indicates that there was little variation in animal husbandry methods
during the first 800 years of prehistory; however, there was a subsequent change as animal diets became more controlled in
the LPH period. After comparison with the local bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr baseline, all of the Lapita and LPH individuals
appeared to be ‘local’, but three of the PL individuals were identified as ‘‘non-local.’’ We suggest that these ‘‘non-locals’’
moved to the island after infancy or childhood from one of the larger islands, supporting the model of a high level of
regional interaction during the post-Lapita period.

The Caution Bay archaeological project on the south coast of mainland Papua New Guinea has excavated 122 sites over a 9 km2 area. Lapita ceramics appear at a number of sites at c. 2900 cal. BP. Here we present the results of excavations... more

The Caution Bay archaeological project on the south coast of mainland Papua New Guinea has excavated 122 sites over a 9 km2 area. Lapita ceramics appear at a number of sites at c. 2900 cal. BP. Here we present the results of excavations at Moiapu 3, a site that helps define the end of the dentate-stamped Lapita phase of this region. It is suggested that the decline and ultimate cessation of dentate stamping related to a loss of symbolism during a period of major socioeconomic readjustment and innovation.

We thank all the commentators for their thoughtful comments, and especially Jim Specht for initiating this stimulating Forum on the discovery of Lapita ceramics at Caution Bay on the south coast of mainland Papua New Guinea. All flag... more

We thank all the commentators for their thoughtful comments, and especially Jim Specht for initiating this stimulating Forum on the discovery of Lapita ceramics at Caution Bay on the south coast of mainland Papua New Guinea. All flag numerous important implications of these discoveries for Pacific archaeology. To make the most economical use of our limited space to respond, we address key Lapita-related criticisms and queries raised by the five commentators. We conclude by noting that, while our ultimate aim is to model the implications of the Caution Bay finds for broader-scaled occupation and interaction, we refrain from doing so until the site-specific and regional data are more fully analysed and presented.

Fiji was colonised approximately 3000 BP by populations with intricately decorated Lapita pottery. At nearly the same time, culturally related populations also colonised nearby Tonga and Samoa and the archaeology of each archipelago... more

Fiji was colonised approximately 3000 BP by populations with intricately decorated Lapita pottery. At nearly the same time, culturally related populations also colonised nearby Tonga and Samoa and the archaeology of each archipelago indicates continued contact, but also cultural divergence over time. Previous research in the far western islands of Fiji has also identified late Lapita colonisation deposits and subsequent cultural changes that have raised further questions about regional variation in the Fijian archaeological record. Here we present results of the first survey, excavation, and archaeological analyses from the islands of southwestern Fiji and interpret these findings relative to current research on the colonisation of Fiji-West Polynesia, changes in the spatial scale of cultural transmission in the region, and changes in foraging practices and environments. Survey and test excavations identified eleven sites and pushes back the colonisation of the far western islands to 2900 BP. Preliminary analyses of cultural materials from these sites indicate a complexly structured colonising population in Fiji-West Polynesia, variation over time in the frequency of contact between populations in Fiji, and subsistence practices likely influenced by environmental change and human competition.

Pioneering archaeological research in the Admiralty Islands by Kennedy (1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 2002) and others (Ambrose, 1976, 1988, 1991; Ambrose et al., 1981; Ambrose & Duerden, 1982; Fredericksen et al., 1993; Fredericksen, 1994)... more

Pioneering archaeological research in the Admiralty Islands by Kennedy (1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 2002) and others (Ambrose, 1976, 1988, 1991; Ambrose et al., 1981; Ambrose & Duerden, 1982; Fredericksen et al., 1993; Fredericksen, 1994) revealed early on the central position and importance of these northernmost islands of the Bismarck Archipelago. Distinguished by abundant obsidian sources that were utilized and distributed by the local inhabitants for at least 12,000 years, and chert resources that were exploited for well over 20,000 years, these islands are part of the long-standing tradition of early exploration and colonization now recognized for greater Melanesia. This paper presents new technological data for the flaked stone assemblage from the sites of Peli Louson (GFJ) and Father’s Water (GAC), which
have cultural contexts dated to the mid and late Holocene. The technological data provide evidence about the occupation and management of the region and its resources and join an expanding dataset describing
pre-Lapita settlement in island Melanesia.

The early and mid-Holocene in Melanesia is known through a series of mostly small sites in Near Oceania. Two larger sites centered around West New Britain’s chert and obsidian outcrops stand out as different from other contemporary... more

The early and mid-Holocene in Melanesia is known through a series of mostly small sites in Near Oceania. Two larger sites centered around West New Britain’s chert and obsidian outcrops stand out as different from other contemporary Melanesian sites in terms of their structure and contents. A detailed examination of the data from one of these areas, situated deep in the tropical rain forest, reveals much about
culture process and social change during this dynamic period in Oceania’s prehistory. There is strong evidence at these sites to suggest that society was radically transformed between 10,000 and 3,600 years ago, and that the main elements of social and economic organization more usually associated with later Lapita settlements were already in place by about 4,000 years ago. Holocene change was directional, moving toward more organized and intensive patterns of economy, seemingly
uninterrupted by New Britain’s explosive volcanic history. Using evidence from flaked stone artifacts, this chapter explores both the configuration and direction of this change in the wider context of Oceania’s long-term history.

The emergence of Lapita in the New Britain area is closely associated with the use of flaked obsidian artefacts. Sources of raw material include, among others, the Willaumez Peninsula in New Britain and later the Lou and Pam Islands, both... more

The emergence of Lapita in the New Britain area is closely associated with the use of flaked obsidian
artefacts. Sources of raw material include, among others, the Willaumez Peninsula in New Britain and
later the Lou and Pam Islands, both of which are situated in the Bismarck Archipelago (Ambrose 1976).
Obsidian is particularly important for the interpretation of long-distance movement of artefacts because it
is possible to determine its source with a high level of accuracy. Obsidian from both of the aforementioned
sources found in Lapita sites has also been used to infer the chronology of occupation as well as the
patterns of movement and exchange (Green 1987; Specht 2002; Summerhayes 2003).
Obsidian is relatively rare in most Lapita sites in Remote Oceania which can be attributed to the lack
of suitable sources of volcanic glass beyond the Bismarck archipelago. In a few sites from Fiji, New Caledonia
and north Vanuatu a limited amount of small obsidian flakes sourced to the Bismarck have been considered to
attest to long distance exchange systems in the Lapita sphere. However, up until now, relatively large amounts
of obsidian from sites in Remote Oceania have only been identified in the Reef Islands, particularly Nenumbo
(Green 1976, 1979; Sheppard 1993; Sheppard and Green 1991).
Herein the discovery and source data concerning obsidian artefacts found on the recently discovered
site of Makué on Aore Island (south Santo, Vanuatu) are presented. The large amount of obsidian flakes found
there, the early dates from the site as well as the pottery style suggest that Makué represents an early, if not
founding, Lapita settlement in Vanuatu.

The Reber-Rakival site on Watom Island is of particular significance, as it is the first place where what is now known as Lapita pottery was found, by a German missionary in 1909. It is also significant as a Lapita-era burial site,... more

The Reber-Rakival site on Watom Island is of particular significance, as it is the first place where what is now known as Lapita pottery was found, by a German missionary in 1909. It is also significant as a Lapita-era burial site, although there has been much debate about the exact relationship between the burials and the Lapita occupation. In 2008 and 2009 an Otago University/Otago Museum/Papua New Guinea National Museum expedition carried out new excavations at the SAC locality in Rakival Village, in order to increase the sample size of both burials and ceramics, and to address some of the ongoing debates. The expedition found more burials, Lapita ceramics and associated artefactual material, and while it confirmed the relationship between the burials and the Lapita occupation, it also found that previous excavations had not reached the base of the site, and evidence of human occuption was found up to 0.8m deeper than previously known. Based on this work, a refined stratigraphic sequence is presented, with 7 layers replacing the old 4 zone model that has been used to date. This paper presents the description and interpretation of the SAC locality at Watom, and provides a basis for other more specialist papers that are in preparation.

Phytoliths and micro-charcoal from the Yombon Airstrip archaeological site in central New Britain, Papua New Guinea, provide the longest vegetation history record yet available for the New Guinea islands. The record begins about 35 kya... more

Phytoliths and micro-charcoal from the Yombon Airstrip archaeological site in central New Britain, Papua New Guinea, provide the longest vegetation history record yet available for the New Guinea islands. The record begins about 35 kya with the first evidence for human presence at the site and, with the exception of the Last Glacial Maximum period, is continuous to the present. Three other sites provide supplementary evidence, including plant macro-remains, from the early Holocene onwards. The record is punctuated by a series of volcanic events, which are reflected in the vegetation record by alternating
frequencies of closed forest and regrowth elements. Micro-charcoal is present from the oldest levels and fluctuates in frequency throughout the sequence, increasing substantially from the terminal Pleistoceneearly
Holocene onwards. This coincides with the first appearance of panicoid grasses and a range of potential cultivars including bananas and Saccharum. Increased levels of burning coinciding with the appearance of potential plant cultivars may indicate shifts in plant food production leading to cultivation from the early Holocene onwards. This compares favourably with previously reported evidence from Garua Island off the north coast of New Britain. The combination of trends in burning, vegetation
clearance and appearance of potential cultivars on New Britain appears to parallel changes in the Papua New Guinea highlands at a similar time, and suggests regional similarities in subsistence and vegetation management practices from before the LGM onwards. Further studies are needed to clarify the timing and extent of these shifts across the region, and to provide a vegetation picture for the period before human colonisation of New Britain.

Expansion of Austronesian-speaking peoples from the Bismarck Archipelago out into the Pacific commencing c.3300 cal BP represents the last great chapter of human global colonisation. The earliest migrants were bearers of finely-made... more

Expansion of Austronesian-speaking peoples from the Bismarck Archipelago out into the Pacific commencing c.3300 cal BP represents the last great chapter of human global colonisation. The earliest migrants were bearers of finely-made dentate-stamped Lapita pottery, hitherto found only across Island Melanesia and western Polynesia. We document the first known occurrence of Lapita peoples on the New Guinea mainland. The new Lapita sites date from 2900 to 2500 cal BP and represent a newly-discovered migratory arm of Lapita expansions that moved westwards along the southern New Guinea coast towards Australia. These marine specialists ate shellfish, fish and marine turtles along the Papua New Guinea mainland coast, reflecting subsistence continuities with local pre-Lapita peoples dating back to 4200 cal BP. Lapita artefacts include characteristic ceramics, shell armbands, stone adzes and obsidian tools. Our Lapita discoveries support hypotheses for the migration of pottery-bearing Melanesian marine specialists into Torres Strait of northeast Australia c.2500 cal BP.

The southern lowlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG) are biogeographically distinct. Vast tracts of savanna vegetation occur there and yet most palaeoecological studies have focused on highlands and/or forest environments. Greater focus on... more

The southern lowlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG) are biogeographically distinct. Vast tracts of savanna vegetation occur there and yet most palaeoecological studies have focused on highlands and/or forest environments. Greater focus on long-term lowland environments provides a rare opportunity to understand and promote the significance of local and regional savannas, ultimately allowing non-forested and forested ecosystem dynamics to be compared. This paper examines palaeoecological and archaeological data from a lowland open savanna site situated on the south-central PNG coastline. The methods used incorporate pollen and micro-charcoal analyses, artefact recovery and sediment descriptions. We conclude with an environmental model of sedimentation and vegetation change for the past c. 5,800 years, revealing a mid to late Holocene savanna interchange between herbaceous and woody plant growth, with fluctuating fire occurrence increasing toward the present day. Increased silt deposition and modified regional hydrology are also recorded. Environmental changes correspond in timing with the start of permanent settlements and human use of fire. In particular, landscape burning for hunting and gardens for agriculture have helped create the open ecosystem still evident today.

The growing story of early settlement in the northwest Pacific islands is moving from coastal sites into the rainforest. Evidence of Pleistocene cultural layers have been discovered in open-site excavations at Yombon, an area containing... more

The growing story of early settlement in the northwest Pacific islands is moving from coastal sites into the rainforest. Evidence of Pleistocene cultural layers have been discovered in open-site excavations at Yombon, an area containing shifting hamlets, in West New Britain's interior tropical rainforest. These sites, the oldest in New Britain, are presently stand as the oldest open sites discovered in rainforest anywhere in the world.

Material culture associated with the Lapita Cultural Complex has been commented on for more than 100 years. Discussion and focus, however, have overwhelmingly concentrated on the distinctive dentate- stamped pottery. In this paper we... more

Material culture associated with the Lapita Cultural Complex has
been commented on for more than 100 years. Discussion and focus,
however, have overwhelmingly concentrated on the distinctive dentate-
stamped pottery. In this paper we highlight a very particular
shell artifact form, examples of which were found in burial contexts
at the Teouma Lapita site, Efate, Vanuatu. Here termed Conus
Multi-Segment Broad Rings, each ring consists of three to four broad
sections or segments that were joined via drilled perforations and
threads. As only isolated segments of this ornament type are usually
recovered from the archaeological record, an understanding of their
finished form and use life has previously been lacking. Found across
the Lapita distribution and associated only with this period, Conus
Multi-Segment Broad Rings appear to be a stylistic marker additional
to the dentate-stamped pottery. Here we reconstruct the
manufacture and use of this distinctive shell ornament type through
examination of the micro-trace evidence observed on the Teouma
artifacts, as well as experimental working of modern Conus shell.

We report the unprecedented Lapita exploitation and subsequent extinction of large megafauna tortoises (?Meiolania damelipi) on tropical islands during the late Holocene over a 281,000 km 2 region of the southwest Pacific spanning from... more

We report the unprecedented Lapita exploitation and subsequent extinction of large megafauna tortoises (?Meiolania damelipi) on tropical islands during the late Holocene over a 281,000 km 2 region of the southwest Pacific spanning from the Vanuatu archipelago to Viti Levu in Fiji. Zooarchaeological analyses have identified seven early archaeological sites with the remains of this distinctive hornless tortoise, unlike the Gondwanan horned meiolaniid radiation to the southwest. These large tortoise radiations in the Pacific may have contributed to the rapid dispersal of early mobile Neolithic hunters throughout southwest Melanesia and on to western Polynesia. Subsequent rapid extinctions of these terrestrial herbivorous megafauna are likely to have led to significant changes in ecosystems that help explain changes in current archaeological patterns from Post-Lapita contexts in the region.

Recent excavations at the archaeological site of Nukuleka on Tongatapu in the Tongan Archipelago have yielded the largest Lapita collection of perforated Ark (Anadara) shells known to date. In this article, we focus on the unusually large... more

Recent excavations at the archaeological site of Nukuleka on Tongatapu in the Tongan Archipelago have yielded the largest Lapita collection of perforated Ark (Anadara) shells known to date. In this article, we focus on the unusually large collection of modified Ark shells from Nukuleka in an attempt to unravel the ambiguity that surrounds their functional interpretation. Former interpretations of perforated Anadara as shell net weights may only explain one possible cause of their construction. We proffer, through relational analogy, that we are witnessing a 3000-year-old Lapita shell game.

Excavations and surface collections at Yombon (formerly Yambon) in February 1991 produced flaked chert and obsidian artefacts numbering around 3150. Several radiocarbon dates and new stratigraphic evidence spanning some 6000 years are... more

Excavations and surface collections at Yombon (formerly Yambon) in February 1991 produced flaked chert and obsidian artefacts numbering around 3150. Several radiocarbon dates and new stratigraphic evidence spanning some 6000 years are reported here. Of especial significance are two bifacially flaked chert artefacts found in a context dated to more than 3700 years.

Expansion of Austronesian-speaking peoples from the Bismarck Archipelago out into the Pacific commencing c.3300 cal BP represents the last great chapter of human global colonisation. The earliest migrants were bearers of finely-made... more

Expansion of Austronesian-speaking peoples from the Bismarck Archipelago out into the Pacific commencing c.3300 cal BP represents the last great chapter of human global colonisation. The earliest migrants were bearers of finely-made dentate-stamped Lapita pottery, hitherto found only across Island Melanesia and western Polynesia. We document the first known occurrence of Lapita peoples on the New Guinea mainland. The new Lapita sites date from 2900 to 2500 cal BP and represent a newly-discovered migratory arm of Lapita expansions that moved westwards along the southern New Guinea coast towards Australia. These marine specialists ate shellfish, fish and marine turtles along the Papua New Guinea mainland coast, reflecting subsistence continuities with local pre-Lapita peoples dating back to 4200 cal BP. Lapita artefacts include characteristic ceramics, shell armbands, stone adzes and obsidian tools. Our Lapita discoveries support hypotheses for the migration of pottery-bearing Melanesian marine specialists into Torres Strait of northeast Australia c.2500 cal BP. Expansion of Austronesian

The predominant view of Pacific prehistory holds that the Pacific islands were isolated in most periods and that isolation is the key to their development. We question the development-in- isolation model and present data from the Arawe... more

The predominant view of Pacific prehistory holds that the Pacific islands were isolated in most periods and that isolation is the key to their development. We question the development-in- isolation model and present data from the Arawe Islands, West New Britain to show that, although close to large land masses, the sea has linked these islands into a wider world in the late prehistoric period. We present ethnohistorical data on settlement, subsistence and trade which shows the nature of these links and discuss how far sea links have affected the use of the land. If the way in which land is used is partly determined by the sea, we should think in terms of seascape, as well as landscape, extending the range of the latter term. We argue further that the key feature of all periods of Pacific prehistory is connectivity by sea and that in the process of colonisation, not only were particular sailing strategies employed but also social strategies designed to connect up large regions. This is true both of the area covered by the Lapita distribution and of eastern Polynesia.

Insights into Austronesian environmental impacts on the New Guinea mainland are negligible, as until now no conclusive evidence for Lapita settlement of mainland New Guinea had been found (e.g. Lilley 2008:79) and the period of concern... more

Insights into Austronesian environmental impacts on the New Guinea mainland are negligible, as until now no conclusive evidence for Lapita settlement of mainland New Guinea had been found (e.g. Lilley 2008:79) and the period of concern reveals 'very little correlation with [anthropogenic] environmental change' (Hope and Haberle 2005:548). The recent excavation of Lapita and post-Lapita sites dating between 2900 and 2000 years ago at Caution Bay immediately northwest of Port Moresby, southern Papua New Guinea, negates the first conclusion of a purported absence of Lapita, and provides scope to challenge the second (McNiven et al. 2011). For 40 years, the accepted view has been that Austronesian colonisation of the southern Papuan coast took place around 2000 years ago by maritime peoples possessing a pottery tradition similar to but post-dating Lapita (David et al. in press). Ethnographically, the descendants of these peoples in the Port Moresby region practised a mixed economy of marine fishing and shellfishing, along with wallaby hunting across grasslands and savannah vegetation maintained by firing. While the antiquity of this process of anthropogenic landscape modification is unknown, it is considered to be no more than 2000 years ago. Here, we extend the known antiquity of mixed economic practices and possible anthropogenic landscape modification in the Port Moresby region using recent excavation results from Caution Bay, focusing on Edubu 1 site, dating from <2350 to 2650 cal BP. Our key aim is to establish a historical framework for pre-2000 cal BP human landscape engagements and transformations along the southern coast of mainland Papua New Guinea.

The history of pottery use along the south coast of Papua New Guinea spans from Lapita times, here dated to 2900–2600 cal BP, through to mass production of pottery associated with a number of ethnographically-known interaction (and... more

The history of pottery use along the south coast of Papua New Guinea spans from Lapita times, here dated to 2900–2600 cal BP, through to mass production of pottery associated with a number of ethnographically-known interaction (and exchange) networks. Understanding the antecedents and developmental histories of these interaction networks is of considerable importance to archaeological research from local to western Pacific geographical scales. The archaeological site of Ruisasi 1 located at Caution Bay near Port Moresby provides new insights into scales of pottery production before the development of the regional Motu hiri exchange system within the past 500 years. Here faunal remains indicate occupation by marine specialists who exploited a diverse range of local marine environments. Nearly 20,000 ceramic sherds are present in Square A, mostly from a 26 cm thick 'pottery midden'. A minimum of 45 red slip/plainware vessels based on conjoined sets of sherds plus two vessels w...