Jim Specht

Lapita sites of the Bismarck Archipelago

The Lapita question The prehistory of the western Pacific has, for the last 30 years, been dominated by the problem of the origins of the present Polynesian and Melanesian cultures (Terrell 1988). In 1961 Golson drew attention to the distribution of highly decorated Lapita pottery, now known to date from between 3500 BP and 2000 BP, which crossed the present-day division between Melanesia and Polynesia. Furthermore, sites with Lapita pottery represented the first evidence of occupation on Tonga and Samoa, the most westerly Polynesian islands from which it was thought that the rest of Polynesia was colonized. Lapita pottery came to be associated with a movement of people from Melanesia to Polynesia and was seen to represent the founding group ancestral to later Polynesian groups.

Application of PIXE-PIGME to archaeological analysis of changing patterns of obsidian use in West New Britain, Papua New Guinea

During the past twenty years, PIXE-PIGME analyses of the elemental composition of obsidian have made significant contributions to the study of resource use and distribution in the western Pacific region. More recently, detailed recording and systematic sampling of obsidian exposures combined with enhancements in the characterization technique itself have led to much finer discrimination between sources in New Britain. As a result of these advances, over 1200 archaeological samples from a large suite of sites on New Britain and other islands has been assigned to their sources. The archaeological research and the extensive characterization study reported here have revealed major changes in the exploitation of New Britain obsidian during the past 20,000 years. It is concluded that the advantages of PIXE-PIGME as a rapid, nondestructive technique for sourcing obsidian merit its wider use in archaeology.

Oceanic Tooth-Size Variation as a Reflection of Biological and Cultural Mixing [and Comments and Reply]

Tooth size in Oceania varies from a minimum equivalent to the figure for the pre-Chinese inhabitants of Taiwan to a maximum equivalent to the figure for large-toothed Australian Aborigines. The minimum figure is found among the easternmost and weternmost inhabitants, and the maximum figure occurs in the highlands of New Guinea. Elsewhere, intermediate figures are evident, and it is apparent that the populations in which they can be observed display phenotypes that are intermediate in pigmentation and hair form between those on the Asian mainland and those whose identification with an equatorial habitat can be traced back into the Pleistocene. In addition, it is evident that the small-toothed populations speak languages that are most closely related to hypothetical Proto-Austronesian While the largest-toothed populations speak languages that are not related to Austronesian at all. To the extent that tooth size rises above the level of that found in the most typical Autronesian-speakers, the language deviates from hypothetical Proto-Austronesian. This suggests that the original population of New Guinea and some adjacent islands continued in situ from well back into the Pleistocene. Within the last 4,000 years, populations which had been shaped by long-term residence on the Asian mainland moved out into the Pacific via Taiwan and the Philippines. Superior navigation and resource utilization capabilities allowed them to colonize previously uninhabited islands maintaining much of their original phenotype, but where they encountered the earlier inhabitants on the larger Melanesian landmasses they display the effects of cultural and phenotypic mixing in proportion to the contribution of the two main parent populations.

Archaeobotany in Australia and New Guinea: practice, potential and prospects

Abstract Archaeobotany is the study of plant remains from archaeological contexts. Despite Australasian research being at the forefront of several methodological innovations over the last three decades, archaeobotany is now a relatively peripheral concern to most archaeological projects in Australia and New Guinea. In this paper, many practicing archaeobotanists working in these regions argue for a more central role for archaeobotany in standard archaeological practice. An overview of archaeobotanical techniques and applications is presented, the potential for archaeobotany to address key historical research questions is indicated, and initiatives designed to promote archaeobotany and improve current practices are outlined.

A Pleistocene landscape in West New Britain, PNG

Holocene volcanic activity has created a well-preserved stratigraphic series of prehistoric landscapes in West New Britain, PNG which have enabled the interpretation of changing patterns of land use (e.g. Specht et al. 1991 ; Pavlides 1993; Torrence et al. in press). Recent fieldwork on Numundo Plantation has extended this remarkable record to include five superimposed Pleistocene surfaces each sealed beneath a volcanic tephra. This older landscape was heavily eroded leaving several small hills as remnants. Holocene tephras are draped uncomformably over the older dissected landscape. Four localities provide an opportunity for studying variations in human behaviour over a relatively large area and expand on the restricted viewpoints from rock shelters and test pits on open sites.

A Pre-Lapita Structure at Apalo, Arawe Islands, Papua New Guinea

ABSTRACT Stilt structures in the inter-tidal zone or over shallow water on fringing reefs are widely accepted as a feature of settlements of the Lapita cultural complex in Near Oceania. Claims for similar structures in a pre-Lapita context at the Apalo site in the Arawe Islands, New Britain, Papua New Guinea, have been queried on several grounds. Re-evaluation of the Apalo evidence, together with 10 additional AMS radiocarbon dates, establishes human activity associated with some form of structure and possibly with a ground stone axe about 400–500 years before the Lapita pottery occupation. The paucity of occupational refuse suggests a non-residential structure perhaps associated with water transport. Comparisons with the older Dongan midden site in the Sepik-Ramu basin suggest stilt structures were probably used there as well. An apparent shift in depositional processes between the pre-Lapita and Lapita use of Apalo could reflect changed sea conditions arising from increased ENSO activity.