Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T11:10:17.019Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Teouma Lapita site and the early human settlement of the Pacific Islands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Stuart Bedford ,
Matthew Spriggs  and
Ralph Regenvanu
Stuart Bedford
Affiliation:
1Department of Archaeology and Natural History, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Australia (Email: stuart.bedford@anu.edu.au)
Matthew Spriggs
Affiliation:
2School of Archaeology and Anthropology, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University, Australia (Email: matthew.spriggs@anu.edu.au)
Ralph Regenvanu
Affiliation:
3Vanuatu National Museum, Port Vila, Vanuatu (Email: ralph.regenvanu@vanuatuculture.org)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The Teouma site, on Efate in central Vanuatu, was uncovered during quarrying in 2003 and has proved to be one of the most significant discoveries to date for the colonisation of Remote Oceania. Not only did it bring to light a fine assemblage of the famously diagnostic Lapita ceramics, but a cemetery of more than 25 individuals along with the pots. The skeletons offer an opportunity to investigate the origins of the ‘Lapita people’ who first appeared in the Bismarck archipelago around 3300 years ago and rapidly moved through island Melanesia and Western Polynesia over the next few centuries.

Keywords

LapitaTeoumacemeterypopulation origins and movementVanuatuPacific
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 80 , Issue 310 , 1 December 2006 , pp. 812 - 828
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, J. 1984. In search of the Lapita Homeland. Journal of Pacific History 19: 186–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, A. & Clark, G.. 1999. The Age of Lapita Settlement in Fiji. Archaeology in Oceania 34: 31–9.Google Scholar
Anderson, A., Bedford, S., Clark, G., Lilley, I., Sand, C., Summerhayes, G. & Torrence, R.. 2001. An Inventory of Lapita Sites containing dentate-stamped pottery, in Clark, G., Anderson, A. & Sorovi-Vunidilo, T. (ed.)The Archaeology of Lapita Dispersal in Oceania: Papers from the Fourth Lapita Conference, June 2000, Canberra, Australia: 1–14. Terra Australis 17. Canberra: Centre for Archaeological Research and Department of Archaeology and Natural History, RSPAS, ANU.Google Scholar
Anderson, A., Chappell, J., Clark, G. & Phear, S.. 2005. Comparative radiocarbon dating of lignite, pottery and charcoal samples from Babeldaob Island, Republic of Palau. Radiocarbon 47 (1): 1–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anson, D. 1983. Lapita Pottery of the Bismarck Archipelago and its Affinities. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Sydney, Australia.Google Scholar
Bedford, S. 2003. The timing and nature of Lapita colonisation in Vanuatu: the haze begins to clear, in Sand, C. (ed.) Pacific Archaeology: assessments and prospects (Proceedings of the Conference for the 50th anniversary of the first Lapita excavation. Kone-Nouméa 2002): 147–58. Nouméa: Les Cahiers de l'archéologie en Nouvelle-Calédonie 15.Google Scholar
Bedford, S. 2006. Pieces of the Vanuatu Puzzle: Archaeology of the North, South and Centre. Terra Australis 23. Canberra: Pandanus Books, Research School of Asian and Pacific Studies, ANU.Google Scholar
Bedford, S. & Spriggs, M.. 2000. Crossing the Pwanmwou; Preliminary Report on recent excavations adjacent to and southwest of Mangaasi, Efate, Vanuatu. Archaeology in Oceania 35: 120–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bedford, S. & Spriggs, M..-In prep. Birds on the rim: A Lapita carinated vessel with a difference.Google Scholar
Bedford, S., Hoffman, A., Kaltal, M., Regenvanu, R. & Shing, R.. 2004. Dentate-stamped Lapita reappears on Efate, Central Vanuatu: a four decade-long drought is broken. Archaeology in New Zealand 47 (1): 39–49.Google Scholar
Bellwood, P. 1997. Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Best, S. 2002. Lapita: A View from the East. New Zealand Archaeological Association Monograph No. 24.Google Scholar
Burley, D. 2003. Dynamic landscapes and episodic occupations: archaeological interpretation and implications in the prehistory of the Sigatoka Sand Dunes, in Sand, C. (ed.) Pacific Archaeology: assessments and prospects (Proceedings of the Conference for the 50th anniversary of the first Lapita excavation. Kone-Nouméa 2002): 307–15. Nouméa: Les Cahiers de l'archéologie en Nouvelle-Calédonie 15.Google Scholar
Burley, D., Dickinson, W., Barton, A. & Shutler, Richard Jr. 2001. Lapita on the Periphery. New data on old problems in the Kingdom of Tonga. Archaeology in Oceania 36: 89–104.Google Scholar
Clark, G. & Anderson, A.. 2000. The age of the Yanuca Lapita site, Viti Levu, Fiji. New Zealand Journal of Archaeology 22: 15–30.Google Scholar
Davidson, J., Hinds, E., Holdaway, S. & Leach, F.. 1990. The Lapita site of Natunuku, Fiji. New Zealand Journal of Archaeology 12: 121–55.Google Scholar
Donovan, L.J. 1973. A Study of the Decorative System of the Lapita Potters in Reefs and Santa Cruz Islands. Unpublished MA Research Essay, University of Auckland.Google Scholar
Fitzpatrick, S. 2003. Early human burials in the Western Pacific: evidence for c. 3000 year old occupation on Palau. Antiquity 77: 719–31.Google Scholar
Galipaud, J-C. 1998. The Lapita Site of Atanoasao Malo, Vanuatu. Field Report No. 8. Port Vila, ORSTOM.Google Scholar
Galipaud, J-C. & Swete-Kelly, M.. 2005. New Evidence relating to the transport of Talasea Obsidian to Vanuatu. Paper presented at Oceanic Explorations Conference, August 2005, Tonga.Google Scholar
Garanger, J. 1972. Archéologie des Nouvelles-Hébrides: contribution à la connaissance des îles du centre. Publications de la Société des Océanistes, No. 30. Paris: ORSTOM.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golson, J. 1961. Report on New Zealand, Western Polynesia, New Caledonia and Fiji. Asian Perspectives 5 (2): 166–80.Google Scholar
Green, R.C. 1989. Lapita People: an Introductory Context for Skeletal Materials Associated with Pottery of this Cultural Complex, Records of the Australian Museum 41: 207–13.Google Scholar
Green, R.C. 1991a. The Lapita Cultural Complex: Current Evidence and Proposed Models. Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 11 (2): 295–305. Canberra.Google Scholar
Green, R.C. 1991b. A reappraisal of the dating for some Lapita sites in the Reef/Santa Cruz Group of the Southeast Solomons. Journal of the Polynesian Society 100: 197–207.Google Scholar
Green, R.C. 2003. The Lapita horizon and traditions – Signature for one set of oceanic migrations. in Sand, C. (ed.) Pacific Archaeology: assessments and prospects. (Proceedings of the Conference for the 50th anniversary of the first Lapita excavation. Kone-Nouméa 2002): 95–120. Noumea: Les Cahiers de l'archéologie en Nouvelle-Calédonie 15.Google Scholar
Green, R.C., Anson, D. & Specht, J.. 1989. The SAC Burial Ground, Watom Island, Papua New Guinea, Records of the Australian Museum 41: 215–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Houghton, P. 1989. The Lapita-associated human material from Lakeba, Fiji. Records of the Australian Museum 41: 327–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirch, P.V. 1987. Lapita and Oceanic Cultural Origins: Excavations in the Mussau Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, 1985. Journal of Field Archaeology 12 (2): 163–80.Google Scholar
Kirch, P.V. 1997. The Lapita Peoples. Ancestors of the Oceanic World. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Kirch, P.V. & Hunt, T.. 1988. The Spatial and Temporal Boundaries of Lapita, in Kirch, P.V. & Hunt, T. (ed.) Archaeology of the Lapita Cultural Complex: A Critical Review: 9–32. Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum Research Report No. 5. Seattle: The Burke Museum.Google Scholar
Kirch, P.V., Allen, M., Butler, V. & Hunt, T.. 1987. Is there an early Far Western province? Sample size effects and new evidence from Eloaua Island. Archaeology in Oceania 22: 123–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirch, P.V., Swindler, D. & Turner, C. II. 1989. Human skeletal and dental remains from Lapita sites (1600–500 BC) in the Mussau islands, Melanesia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 79: 63–76.Google Scholar
Lenormond, M. 1948. Découverte d'un gisement de poteries indigènes à l'île des Pins. Études Mélanésiennes 3: 54–8.Google Scholar
Lepofsky, D. 1988. The environmental context of Lapita settlement locations, in Kirch, P.V. & Hunt, T. (ed.) Archaeology of the Lapita Cultural Complex: A Critical Review: 33–48. Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum Research Report No. 5. Seattle: The Burke Museum.Google Scholar
Matisoo-Smith, L. 2005. The Lapita People- An Ancient DNA Perspective. Paper presented at Oceanic Explorations Conference, August 2005, Tonga.Google Scholar
Noury, A. 2005. Le Reflet de l'âme Lapita. Versailles: Privately published.Google Scholar
Nunn, P., Kumar, R. & Matararaba, S.. 2003. Recent research relating to Lapita settlement in Fiji, in Sand, C. (ed.) Pacific Archaeology: assessments and prospects. (Proceedings of the Conference for the 50th anniversary of the first Lapita excavation. Kone-Nouméa 2002): 183–90. Nouméa: Les Cahiers de l'archéologie en Nouvelle-Calédonie 15.Google Scholar
Nunn, P., Kumar, R., Matararaba, S., Ishimura, T., Seeto, J., Rayawa, S., Kruyawa, S., Nasila, A., Oloni, B., Ram, A., Saunivalu, P., Singh, P. & Tegu, E.. 2004. Early Lapita settlement site at Bourewa, southwest Viti Levu Island, Fiji. Archaeology in Oceania 39: 139–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nunn, P., Matararaba, S., Kumar, R. & Ishimura, T.. 2005. The Probable Founder Settlement in the Fiji Islands: Bourewa, southwest Viti Levu. Paper presented at Oceanic Explorations Conference, August 2005, Tonga.Google Scholar
Pearson, G.W. 1993. High Precision Bidecadal Calibration of the radiocarbon Time Scale 500–2500 BC. Radiocarbon 35 (1): 25–33.Google Scholar
Petchey, P. & Green, R.C.. 2005. Use of three isotopes to calibrate human bone radiocarbon determinations from Kainapirina (SAC), Watom Island, Papua New Guinea. Radiocarbon 47 (2): 181–92.Google Scholar
Petchey, F., Phelan, M. & White, J.P.. 2004. New δ R Values for the Southwest Pacific Ocean. Radiocarbon 46 (2): 1005–14.Google Scholar
Pietrusewsky, M. 1996. The physical anthropology of Polynesia: a review of some cranial and skeletal studies, in Davidson, J., Irwin, G., Leach, F., Pawley, A & Brown, D. (ed.) Oceanic Culture History. Essays in Honour of Roger Green: 343–53. Dunedin: New Zealand Journal of Archaeology Special Publication.Google Scholar
Pietrusewsky, M., Galipaud, J.C. & Leach, B.F.. 1998. A skeleton from the Lapita site of Koné, Foué Peninsula, New Caledonia. New Zealand Journal of Archaeology, 18 (1996): 25–74.Google Scholar
Pietrusewsky, M., Hunt, T.L. & Ikehara-Quebral, R.M.. 1997. A Lapita skeleton from Waya Island, Fiji. Micronesica 30 (2): 355–88.Google Scholar
Poulsen, J. 1987. Early Tongan Prehistory. 2 Vols. Terra Australis 12. Canberra: Department of Prehistory, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.Google Scholar
Reimer, P.J., Baillie, M.G.L., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Bertrand, C., Blackwell, P.G., Buck, C.E., Burr, G., Cutler, K.B., Damon, P.E., Edwards, R.L., Fairbanks, R.G., Friedrich, M., Guilderson, T.P., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, F.G., Manning, S., Bronk Ramsey, C., Reimer, R.W., Remmele, S., Southon, J.R., Stuiver, M., Talamo, S., Taylor, F.W., van der Plicht, J. & Weyhenmeyer, C.E.. 2004. IntCal04 Terrestrial Radiocarbon Age Calibration, 0-26 Cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon 46: 1029–58.Google Scholar
Robin, C., Monzier, M. & Eissen, J-P.. 1994. Formation of the mid-fifteenth century Kuwae caldera (Vanuatu) by an initial hydroclastic and subsequent ignimbritic eruption. Bulletin of Volcanology 56: 170–83.Google Scholar
Sand, C. 1997. The chronology of Lapita ware in New Caledonia. Antiquity 71: 539–47.Google Scholar
Sand, C. 2000. The specificities of the ‘Southern Lapita Province’: the New Caledonian case. Archaeology in Oceania 35 (1): 20–33.Google Scholar
Sand, C., Coote, K., Bole, J. & Ouetcho, A.. 1998. A pottery pit at locality WKO013A, Lapita (New Caledonia). Archaeology in Oceania 33: 37–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Specht, J. & Gosden, C.. 1997. Dating Lapita pottery in the Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea. Asian Perspectives 36: 175–89.Google Scholar
Speiser, F. 1996. Ethnology of Vanuatu. An early twentieth century study. Bathurst: Crawford House Press.Google Scholar
Spriggs, M. 1984. The Lapita Cultural Complex: origins, distribution, contemporaries and successors. Journal of Pacific History 19 4: 202–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spriggs, M.J.T. 1997. The Island Melanesians. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Spriggs, M & Bedford, S.. 2001. Arapus: a Lapita site at Mangaasi in Central Vanuatu? in Clark, G., Anderson, A. & Sorovi-Vunidilo, T. (ed.)The Archaeology of Lapita Dispersal in Oceania: Papers from the Fourth Lapita Conference, June 2000, Canberra, Australia: 93–104. Terra Australis 17. Canberra: Centre for Archaeological Research and Department of Archaeology and Natural History, RSPAS, ANU.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., Reimer, P.J., & Reimer, R.W.. 2005. Calib. REV 5.0.1 [www.calib.qub.ac.uk/calib].Google Scholar
Summerhayes, G. 2000. Lapita Interaction. Terra Australis 15. Canberra: Department of Archaeology and Natural History and the Centre for Archaeological Research, Australian National University.Google Scholar
Summerhayes, G. 2001. Defining the chronology of Lapita in the Bismarck Archipelago, in Clark, G., Anderson, A. & Sorovi-Vunidilo, T. (ed.)The Archaeology of Lapita Dispersal in Oceania: Papers from the Fourth Lapita Conference, June 2000, Canberra, Australia: 25–38. Terra Australis 17. Canberra: Centre for Archaeological Research and Department of Archaeology and Natural History, RSPAS, ANU.Google Scholar
Valentin, F. 2003. Human skeletal remains from the site of Lapita at Koné (New Caledonia): mortuary and biological features, in Sand, C. (ed.) Pacific Archaeology: assessments and prospects (Proceedings of the Conference for the 50th anniversary of the first Lapita excavation. Kone-Nouméa 2002): 285–93. Nouméa: Les Cahiers de l'archéologie en Nouvelle-Calédonie 15.Google Scholar
White, J.P. & Allen, J.. 1980. Melanesian Prehistory: Some recent advances. Science 207: 728–34.Google Scholar