The use of strontium isotopes as an indicator of migration in human and pig Lapita populations in the Bismarck Archipelago,Papua New Guinea

This paper examines the potential use of strontium isotopes (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) for identifying migration within Lapita populations and their commensal animals, specifically the pig (Sus scrofa). Lapita people (ca. 3300–2200 BP) were the initial colonists of the island groups to the east of the Solomon Islands, spreading from Papua New Guinea to Tonga and Samoa within a few centuries. Mobility is assumed to have been an important mechanism for maintaining cultural solidarity between Lapita communities. It has been previously argued that Lapita populations became progressively more sedentary over time after the initial colonising events. Two Lapita sites, Kamgot and Balbalankin, from the Anir Islands in the Bismarck Archipelago are included in the analysis and fall within the Early (ca. 3300–3000/2900 BP) and Middle (ca. 3000/2900–2700 BP) Lapita periods respectively.     

Examining dispersal mechanisms for the translocation of chicken (Gallus gallus) from Polynesia to South America

DNA sequencing and radiocarbon dates from the archaeological site of El Arenal-1 (Arauco Peninsula, south central Chile) suggest that Polynesians may have introduced chicken (Gallus gallus) to South America prehistorically (A.D. 1300–1420). The Chilean specimen identified has the exact same amplified mtDNA pattern as samples recovered from archaeological sites in Samoa and Tonga, but is only one base different from prehistoric chicken samples from Tonga (n = 1), Niue (n = 1), Easter Island (n = 1 of 6), and Hawai'i (n = 1). To examine the possible dispersal mechanisms of chicken between Polynesian islands and the Americas, we conducted computer simulations of seafaring from these six island groups and the Tuamotus, as well as return voyages. Simulation results from sailed vessels suggest that in certain months, landfall on the Pacific Coast of South America from Samoa and Tonga was fairly successful at around 40% (particularly in March for the former and January/February for the latter). For Niue, sailed vessels were 21% successful in January with only 2% success in December. Sailed vessels from the Tuamotus (a proxy for closer island groups to the west with evidence for chicken such as the Cook Islands) were successful in January and December, with 15% and 23% of the vessels making landfall in South America. Vessels sailing from all simulations heading east from Easter Island resulted in landfall. Hawai'i had only a 1% success rate if sailing in January, but high numbers of vessels reached southern Mexico and Central America in August and September. Most landfalls occurred much farther north than Chile, in Ecuador and Peru. Unsuccessful voyages from all of the islands other than Easter Island and Hawai'i often made landfall on islands to the east. Return voyages from Chile were not possible or extremely rare during most times of the year. Overall, seafaring simulations suggest that Polynesians may not have initially landed in close proximity to El Arenal-1—contemporaneous or even earlier archaeological evidence of translocated chicken remains may indeed be found further north. In addition, if Polynesians found it difficult or impossible to return to their homeland, the possibility exists that co-mingling between Polynesians and South American groups resulted in offspring that carried an admixture of genetic traits.     

Geochemical Characterization of Lapita Pottery Via Inductively Coupled Plasma–mass Spectrometry (ICP–MS)

We have obtained high‐resolution elemental data on Lapita ceramics (3200–2700 cal year bp ) from Fiji, Tonga and New Ireland using chemistry‐based inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP–MS). These data show clear elemental distinctions between Lapita pottery manufactured in Fiji, Tonga and New Ireland, and demonstrate significant elemental variation in Fijian ceramics collected from settlements in close proximity to one another. Therefore, we anticipate that ICP–MS will become an effective technique for tracking the transfer of Lapita pottery within and between different island groups in Oceania.     

Plainware ceramics from Sāmoa: Insights into ceramic chronology,cultural transmission,and selection among colonizing populations

The first people in Sāmoa produced a varied ceramic archaeological record including a single deposit with decorated Lapita ceramics on the island of ‘Upolu in the west of the archipelago and a nearly contemporaneous plainware deposit over 250 km to the east on Ofu Island. Post-Lapita ceramic change across Sāmoa is similar with almost no decoration, local ceramic production, limited vessel form diversity, and changing frequencies of thin- and thick-wares. This Sāmoan ceramic record is different from nearby Tonga and Fiji where early decorated Lapita ceramics are widely distributed, there are no thickness-defined ware types, and for Fiji, post-Lapita ceramics are more variable. Here we investigate the apparent uniqueness of the Sāmoan ceramic record through an analysis of early plainware ceramics, the second oldest after the Ofu deposits, from Tutuila Island in the center of the Sāmoan archipelago. Our assemblage-specific findings are similar to other Sāmoan plainware analyses, but we suggest the ceramic and other archaeological evidence from Sāmoa and the region indicates Sāmoa was colonized by a few isolated groups and that within the context of cultural transmission of ceramic variants, selection explains thickness variation and likely other aspects of Sāmoan ceramic change.     

Geographical Influences on Settlement-Location Choices by Initial Colonizers: a Case Study of the Fiji Islands

From 3200 to 2850 cal BP (1250–900 BCE), the Lapita people of the Bismarck Archipelago (Papua New Guinea) undertook voyages eastward that led to their colonization of the eastern outer Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. The earliest (Lapita) settlements in Fiji were along the Rove Peninsula in southwest Viti Levu Island. At the time of colonization, sea level was 1.5 m higher than today. The Rove Peninsula was then a smaller island off the coast of larger Viti Levu, with a broad, fringing reef along its windward coasts, which was probably the main attraction for Lapita colonizers. As elsewhere during Lapita times in the western tropical Pacific Islands, settlement choice for the initial colonizers of the Fiji Islands was at one level driven by site access, at another by the presence of broad, fringing coral reefs suitable for marine foraging. The earliest settlement along the Rove Peninsula was at Bourewa, occupied first in 3050 cal BP (1100 BCE), where people lived in houses on stilt platforms built along the axis of a subtidal sand barrier; on one side was a broad coral reef, on the other a partly-enclosed tidal inlet. There is no evidence that the Bourewa settlers practised horticulture or agriculture at this time, their subsistence being predominantly marine foraging. After some 300 years of following this subsistence strategy, the inhabitants of Bourewa responded to sea-level fall and the arrival of cultivars (of taro and yam) by including horticulture. As sea level fell further, a total of 550 mm during the Lapita era, the tidal inlet dried up and marine-food resources diminished to a point where the natural environment of the Rove Peninsula could no longer sustain its Lapita inhabitants. All Lapita sites in the area were abandoned about 2500 cal BP (550 BCE), at the same time as the Lapita culture, marked by the end of dentate-pottery manufacture, came to an end in Fiji.     

Evidence for introduced taro (Colocasia esculenta) and lesser yam (Dioscorea esculenta) in Lapita-era (c. 3050–2500 cal. yr BP) deposits from Bourewa,southwest Viti Levu Island,Fiji

Starch residue, pollen and phytolith analysis was carried out on coralline deposits from a c. 3050–2500 cal. yr BP Lapita site at Bourewa, Viti Levu, Fiji. Starch grains, calcium oxalate crystals and xylem cells of introduced Colocasia esculenta and Dioscorea esculenta were identified, involving a process of elimination of possible taxa by cross-correlation of microfossil types. The data provide an eastward extension of direct evidence of Lapita horticulture in Remote Oceania previously identified in Vanuatu.     

Among Polynesia's first pots

X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and petrographic thin section microscopy are applied to a sample of anomalous appearing Lapita pottery sherds from Nukuleka, the earliest archaeological site in Polynesia. Both analyses indicate non-local origins for the ceramic vessels, suggesting they were brought on founding canoes. Mineral inclusions in ceramic tempers eliminate sources to the west of Tonga in eastern Melanesia; rather the temper source is most probably a dacitic high island from a distant island arc of central Melanesia. Polynesian origins and settlement are issues more complex than currently recognized by the orthodox progressive settlement model for Lapita expansion across Oceania.     

The Birth and Growth of a Polynesian Women's Exchange Network

Based on ethnographic interviews and historical research, this article describes the birth and growth of a commoner women's exchange network in the Kingdom of Tonga during the twentieth century. The network developed during the first two decades of the century along with other late colonial institutions in Tonga that have been called ‘the compromise culture’. The exchange institution started with the inter-island exchange of women's prestige wealth within Tonga; the network soon expanded to incorporate Fijian and Samoan women's groups, to include western commodities and cash and, in the 1980s and 1990s, to involve Tongan migrants who are resident overseas. The detailed history of the women's exchange network over eight decades recounts an important slice of commoner women's life stories and memories. At the same time, as an account of a compromise institution, the history of the exchange network offers a window on the process of change in the twentieth century. It demonstrates the deeply conservative nature of seemingly radical institutional changes in Tonga, the increasing difficulties over time in trying to isolate ‘western’; and ‘traditional’; forces, and the profound transformations of Tongan life now underway.     

Mata'uvave and 15th Century Ha'apai: Narrative accounts and historical landscapes in the interpretation of classical tongan history

Abstract

Mata'uvave is a minor chiefly title from the northern Ha'apai Islands, Kingdom of Tonga. Traditional Tongan history, however, suggests this chief held a pivotal role in the assertion of political authority over this region by Tu'i Tonga Kau'ulufonuafekai in the mid‐15th century A.D. Published narratives and genealogies, recently collected oral accounts, place names, and archaeological sites, provide a basis from which this history is interpreted. These sources reveal much about the events and socio‐political processes of pre‐contact chiefly polity in Tonga. The account of Mata'uvave further illustrates the potential of historical landscapes as a supplementary order of data for traditional history in general. Through construction of monumental archaeological sites and through commemoration of associated activities in place names, Mata'uvave transcribed himself onto the cartography of northern Ha'apai. This landscape composes a mnemonic index by which oral accounts may be accessed and evaluated.     

Ata's Speech at the Royal Kava Ceremony Installation of Tu‘i Kanokupolu Tupou V on 30 July 2008: A Response to the Tongan Democracy Movement

His Majesty King George Tupou V, who reigned as the king of Tonga from 2008 to 2012, inherited near-absolute political power from his predecessors, yet two days before his coronation he announced that he would relinquish that power and granted amendments to the Tongan constitution, thereby making Tonga democratic. Innovative additions to the conventional speech made by the chief Ata at his taumafa kava installation ceremony as the 23rd Tu‘i Kanokupolu, on 30 July 2008 in Nuku‘alofa, suggest that the speech was composed by, or at the behest of, Tupou V himself to express his view of the contemporary ideology of his dynasty. The speech consists of 92 lines of traditionally styled Tongan poetry that rehearse the origins, history and achievements of the Tu‘i Kanokupolu dynasty, frequently employing pre-existing phraseology. Twenty-five anomalies of rhyme indicate that the speech was composed on the basis of a pre-existing composition and redacted to remind Tongans of particular aspects of the past and present character of the Tu‘i Kanokupolu dynasty.     

Advances in Polynesian Prehistory: A Review and Assessment of the Past Decade (1993–2004)

The pace of archaeological research in Polynesia has intensified in recent years, resulting in more than 500 new literature citations over the past decade. Fieldwork has continued in such previously well-studied archipelagoes as Tonga and Samoa in Western Polynesia, and Hawai’i and New Zealand in Eastern Polynesia, and has expanded into previously neglected islands including Niue, the Equatorial Islands, the Austral Islands, and Mangareva. The emergence of Ancestral Polynesian culture out of its Eastern Lapita predecessor is increasingly well understood, and the chronology of Polynesian dispersal and expansion into Eastern Polynesia has engaged several researchers. Aside from these fundamental issues of origins and chronology, major research themes over the past decade include (1) defining the nature, extent, and timing of long-distance interaction spheres, particularly in Eastern Polynesia; (2) the impacts of human colonization and settlement on island ecosystems; (3) variation in Polynesian economic systems and their transformations over time; and (4) sociopolitical change, especially as viewed through the lens of household or microscale archaeology. Also noteworthy is the rapidly evolving nature of interactions between archaeologists and native communities, a critical aspect of archaeological practice in the region.

Identification of the first reported Lapita cremation in the Pacific Islands using archaeological,forensic and contemporary burning evidence

Burnt human remains excavated from a scoop feature from a cemetery at Teouma, Vanuatu in the western Pacific (∼2850 BP) were examined to assess the nature of the deposit. Possible scenarios explaining the reason the bone was burnt and interred were assessed using osteological signatures taken from archaeological, experimental, and forensic studies. The methodology of the study included recording color change, types of bone distortion, and element representation in conjunction with archaeological evidence. The burnt and fragmented human bone (n = 430, fragments weighing 620 g) represents a single adult individual. Macroscopic evidence from the bone indicates the body had been fleshed or fresh at the time of burning and element representation follows a similar pattern to other burials excavated from the site. Excluding burning, there was no evidence of human modification to the bone such as cut marks, percussion pits or peri mortem trauma suggestive of cannibalism. The archaeological evidence from the site indicates that the body had not been burnt in the place the remains were subsequently discovered. The combined macroscopic and archaeological evidence strongly suggests that the human bone was burnt as a result of a deliberate cremation of an individual. If a conclusion of deliberate cremation is accepted, this research represents the first case of a Lapita period cremation and demonstrates how a combination of methods can explain the nature of an archaeological deposit of burnt human bone when the cause is not otherwise apparent.     

A radiocarbon chronology for Sāmoan prehistory

The corpus of radiocarbon dates for Sāmoan archaeology has grown exponentially since the pioneering work of Green and Davidson in the 1960s, enabling us to re-analyze the archipelago's cultural chronology. A reliable and valid radiocarbon chronology forms the basis for describing and explaining cultural variability and change in the central Pacific. Towards that end, in this paper we compile the available radiocarbon dates from published and unpublished (“grey literature”) sources. We critically evaluate 236 radiocarbon dates following a chronometric hygiene protocol to identify the most secure and reliable age estimates. We accept 147 dates (62.3%) as a means of addressing two significant issues for Sāmoan prehistory: (1) the chronology of settlement and human expansion across the archipelago pre-2000 cal BP, which relates to issues of Lapita colonization, and the effect of island geomorphology on settlement; and (2) analysis of the so-called “Dark Ages” (ca. 1500–1000 cal BP), a period relevant to issues of social complexity and East Polynesian settlement. Our research highlights the need for a rigorous sampling protocol for radiocarbon dating.     

Lapita subsistence strategies and food consumption patterns in the community of Teouma (Efate,Vanuatu)

The subsistence strategies of the Lapita populations (3100–2800 BP), the first colonisers of the pristine environments of the islands of Eastern Melanesia and Western Polynesia, have been a matter of ongoing debate for decades. Opinions have ranged between the two extremes of Lapita colonisers being either characterised as highly mobile foragers to fully horticultural communities. To further address the question, this paper presents stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic data obtained from analyses of human and animal collagen samples from the site of Teouma (Efate, Vanuatu) dated to between c. 3000–2500 BP. The isotopic signatures obtained from 28 samples (23 human and 5 animal), interpreted in combination with isotopic information from several coastal and insular environments, suggest a diet primarily made up of terrestrially derived animal protein with lesser contributions from vegetable produce and inshore marine species. Comparisons linking the isotopic data gleaned from the Teouma individuals and Lapita subsistence patterns reconstructed through archaeozoological and archaeobotanical remains support the hypothesis of a mixed economy, that included terrestrial foraging, inshore marine exploitation and a low level of food production for at least some of the earliest Lapita colonists in Vanuatu.     

Conflict and State Development in Ancient Tonga: The Lapaha Earth Fort

Warfare is often considered as a key factor in the formation complex societies, but in the Pacific archaeological evidence for inter-group conflict during political centralization is rare. Most earthwork forts in Tonga are assumed to have been built in the nineteenth century when the traditional system of rulership collapsed, yet few forts on Tongatapu have been excavated or 14C dated. A fort in the chiefly center of the ancient Tongan state was mapped with theodolite and LiDAR, and excavated. Radiocarbon and traditional history indicate the fort known as the Lapaha Kolotau was made in the fourteenth century AD at the same time that chiefly architecture was being built at an unprecedented scale at the new elite center. The construction of an earthwork fort provides the first evidence that political centralization in Tonga was likely to have been contested.     

‘Traditional’ Healers,Speaking and Motivation in Vava'u,Tonga: Explaining Syncretism and Addressing Health Policy

ABSTRACT Bilateral health system development in Tonga is implicated in a misrepresentation of ‘traditional’ healing that has serious implications for the provision of health care. It has strengthened the tendency to homogenise and stereotype a diverse body of healers in counter distinction with biomedicine. The diversity of and syncretism in non‐biomedical local healing practice is little appreciated in policy debates. Addressing the epistemological, social and linguistic context of syncretism in terms sensitive to healers' concerns and conceptualisations is vital to build on the pre‐existing collaborations between health professionals and a diverse body of healers in a country that has experienced a marked shift from communicable to non‐communicable disorders. This paper examines the diversity and syncretism of five of the most popular ‘spirit’ healers in Vava'u, Tonga in terms suggested by healers themselves using the Tongan concept and value of tauhi vaha'a (to evoke and intensify relatedness) as an analytic tool. The creativity implied in healers' socially constitutive use of language with ancestors, relatives, patients, churches and the hospital questions the value of any notion of traditionality and suggests considerable grounds for collaboration.     

Lapita and Proto-Oceanic

Linguistics and archaeology have been, and continue to be, entwined in the discourse on the early human history of the Pacific. It is commonly assumed, explicitly or otherwise, that the bearers of the Lapita culture were speakers of Proto-Oceanic, the ancestor of the Austronesian languages of most of the Pacific. In this discursive piece, the chronological data for the location and timing of the emergence of Lapita pottery are compared with the linguistic data for the source region of Proto-Oceanic. Although both pottery and proto-language may possibly originate in the same location, this is not the most likely scenario if the evidence from the two disciplines is evaluated independently. There is no necessary historical association for the emergence of the Proto-Oceanic language and Lapita pottery. The Proto-Oceanic language and Lapita pottery should not be assumed to represent a single historical vector, as is commonly the case; rather, they should be considered discrete and separate historical phenomena.     

Is vitrification in charcoal a result of high temperature burning of wood?

The term ‘vitrified’ is used to describe the glassy appearance of some charcoals recovered in the archaeological record. It has been generally considered that this phenomenon is a result of wood being subjected to high temperatures similar to the role of temperature in the formation of glass and pottery. Charcoals displaying characteristics of vitrification from three distinct archaeological contexts were analysed using reflectance microscopy to determine their temperature of formation. Charcoal was also generated in laboratory charring experiments at temperatures of 900–1100 °C for durations of 1, 6, 12 and 24 h to determine if subjection to high temperature led to vitrification. None of the laboratory-produced charcoals displayed characteristics of vitrification. Mean random reflectance of the vitrified archaeological fragments indicated temperature of formation from 310 to 530 °C. A charring experiment was also conducted, at 500 °C for 6 h, using green wood with some bark attached, and added sugars, but no evidence of vitrification was seen. Therefore vitrified charcoals do not result from high temperature charring or primarily from the use of green wood.     

Migration and mobility at the Late Lapita site of Reber–Rakival (SAC), Watom Island using isotope and trace element analysis: a new insight into Lapita interaction in the Bismarck Archipelago

This paper uses strontium isotope (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr), oxygen isotope (δ¹⁸O) and Ba/Sr trace element data in archaeological tooth enamel samples to investigate migration and mobility at the Late Lapita site of SAC, Watom Island in the Bismarck Archipelago. Previous archaeological models have identified Lapita mobility at a community level using obsidian distribution patterns and changes in ceramic design, whereas isotope and trace element data can potentially reconstruct prehistoric mobility on an individual level. Human and pig teeth were sampled from SAC and a selection of human teeth were included from the Late–Post Lapita site of Lifafaesing, Tanga Islands as a geographic/geological comparison.The results indicate that there is a large amount of isotopic variation in the Bismarck Archipelago which is useful for identifying non-local individuals and possibly determining their origins. One human individual and several pigs were suggested as coming from elsewhere in the region. Three potentially separate locations were identified for the non-local pigs. It is argued, using the data from SAC, that Late Lapita communities in the Bismarck Archipelago were more mobile than previously assumed. The potential for identifying individual migrants in a Lapita context are discussed in terms of assessing the more subtle aspects of Lapita society in the Southwest Pacific Islands.