Peter Sheppard

Lapita Colonization across the Near/Remote Oceania Boundary

The Lapita colonization of Remote Oceania involved rapid expansion from New Guinea across one-tenth of the circumference of the earth. Implicit in most discussions of this phenomenon is a standard wave-of-advance model founded on demographic growth and the economic advantage provided by food production. The Lapita movement is also routinely embedded within a much larger narrative of the expansion of Austronesian languages and peoples out of Southeast Asia into Island Melanesia and ultimately east through East Polynesia. Although this simple narrative is very attractive, as more data become available, the details of segments of the “Austronesian” expansion require revision in order to reconcile the data from archaeology, linguistics, and biology. This paper looks closely at recent data on the Lapita portion of the “Austronesian” expansion and concludes that it is best explained as a leapfrog rather than a wave-of-advance movement out of New Guinea into Remote Oceania. This has important implications for those interested in modeling linguistic and biological variation in the region and highlights the potential importance of historical accident over process in our understanding of culture history.

The Marine ΔR for Nenumbo (Solomon Islands): A Case Study in Calculating Reservoir Offsets from Paired Sample Data

It is necessary to calculate location-specific marine ∆R values in order to calibrate marine samples using cal- ibration curves such as those provided through the IntCal98 (Stuiver et al. 1998) data. Where known-age samples are avail- able, this calculation is straightforward (i.e. Stuiver et al. 1986). In the case that a paired marine/terrestrial sample calculation is performed, however, the standard calculation (i.e. Stuiver and Braziunas 1993) requires that the samples are treated as relat- ing to isochronous events. This may not be an appropriate assumption for many archaeological paired samples. In this paper, we present an approach to calculating marine ∆R values that does not require the dated events to be treated as isochronous. When archaeological evidence allows the dated events to be tightly temporally constrained, the approach presented here and that described by Stuiver and Braziunas (1993) give very similar results. However, where tight temporal constraints are less certain, the 2 approaches can give rise to differing results. The example analysis considered here shows that a ∆R of -81 ± 64 14C yr is appropriate for samples in the vicinity of Nenumbo (Reef Islands, southeast Solomon Islands) around the period 2000-3000 BP.

The Archaeology and Ethnohistory of Exchange in Precolonial and Colonial Roviana: Gifts, Commodities, and Inalienable Possessions

Using ethnohistorical, ethnographical, historical, and archaeological evidence, this article reconstructs the development of exchange systems in Roviana, Solomon Islands, and explores their longterm transformation. It suggests that a Roviana system of multiple coexisting standards of valuation of goods and services gained preeminence in precolonial times in the context of a regional exchange system and political expansion and explores this systems subsequent articulation with European economic forms. It traces the dynamics of this system and shows its importance in the consolidation of political stratification and sociopolitical differentiation. In this system, objects moved between spheres of exchange as gifts, commodities, and inalienable possessions depending on the social, economic, and political context in which they were exchanged and/or transferred, with each sphere specifying not only the objects exchanged but also the appropriate modes of exchange and a set of attendant social relationships. Explanatory priority is given to the development of multiple modes of exchange from an autochthonous entanglement of diverse regional polities long before significant contact with Europeans.Using ethnohistorical, ethnographical, historical, and archaeological evidence, this article reconstructs the development of exchange systems in Roviana, Solomon Islands, and explores their longterm transformation. It suggests that a Roviana system of multiple coexisting standards of valuation of goods and services gained preeminence in precolonial times in the context of a regional exchange system and political expansion and explores this systems subsequent articulation with European economic forms. It traces the dynamics of this system and shows its importance in the consolidation of political stratification and sociopolitical differentiation. In this system, objects moved between spheres of exchange as gifts, commodities, and inalienable possessions depending on the social, economic, and political context in which they were exchanged and/or transferred, with each sphere specifying not only the objects exchanged but also the appropriate modes of exchange and a set of attendant social relationships. Expl...

Cult assemblages and ritual practice in Roviana Lagoon, Solomon Islands

Mortuary architecture and ritual assemblages have played a central role in archaeological inquiry since the discipline began. Most recently they have featured in the archaeology of social organization where variations in scale and value of the objects concerned are seen as reflections of religion, ideology, ethics or politics. This study looks at the shrines and cult assemblages of late prehistoric Roviana Lagoon, in the Western Solomon Islands. Drawing on a rich ethnographic record we show how these things were actively manipulated in the construction of social relations and religion. In doing so we argue that dedicatory offerings and shrines were involved in aspects of personhood and agency rather than simply serving as reflections of past social conditions.

Obsidian Source Use in Tongan Prehistory: New Results and Implications

ABSTRACT The article presents results of an obsidian sourcing study on artifacts from Tonga and Fiji. New LA-ICPMS data on obsidian source locations on Tafahi in northern Tonga are discussed in relation to inter-island mobility during two important phases in the Central Pacific: the late-Lapita phase in Fiji-West Polynesia at 2700–2600 cal. BP and during the time of the rise of Polynesian chiefdoms at ∼1000–400 cal. BP. The sourcing results indicate that two sources of obsidian were exploited during Tongan prehistory. It is suggested that different modes of interaction were responsible for obsidian movement during the early and late phases of Tongan prehistory.

Cook Island artifact geochemistry demonstrates spatial and temporal extent of pre-European interarchipelago voyaging in East Polynesia

Significance Oceania, the last region settled on Earth, witnessed the greatest maritime migration in human history. Scholars have debated how and when islands were colonized and the role of postsettlement voyaging in maintaining founding colonies and in subsequent diversification of island societies. We geochemically “fingerprinted” exotic stone artifacts from a well-dated archaeological site in the Cook Islands, matching artifacts to their geological sources and demonstrating that the geographical voyaging network extended beyond the Cook Islands to include the Austral, Samoa, and Marquesas archipelagos—up to 2,400 km distant. We further demonstrate that Polynesian interarchipelago voyaging lasted from about AD 1300 to the 1600s, suggesting that long-distance interaction continued to influence the development of social structures in East Polynesia well after initial colonization. The Cook Islands are considered the “gateway” for human colonization of East Polynesia, the final chapter of Oceanic settlement and the last major region occupied on Earth. Indeed, East Polynesia witnessed the culmination of the greatest maritime migration in human history. Perennial debates have critiqued whether Oceanic settlement was purposeful or accidental, the timing and pathways of colonization, and the nature and extent of postcolonization voyaging—essential for small founding groups securing a lifeline between parent and daughter communities. Centering on the well-dated Tangatatau rockshelter, Mangaia, Southern Cook Islands, we charted the temporal duration and geographic spread of exotic stone adze materials—essential woodworking tools found throughout Polynesia— imported for more than 300 y beginning in the early AD 1300s. Using a technique requiring only 200 mg of sample for the geochemical analysis of trace elements and isotopes of fine-grained basalt adzes, we assigned all artifacts to an island or archipelago of origin. Adze material was identified from the chiefly complex on the Austral Islands, from the major adze quarry complex on Tutuila (Samoa), and from the Marquesas Islands more than 2,400 km distant. This interaction is the only dated example of down-the-line exchange in central East Polynesia where intermediate groups transferred commodities attesting to the interconnectedness and complexity of social relations fostered during postsettlement voyaging. For the Cook Islands, this exchange may have lasted into the 1600s, at least a century later than other East Polynesian archipelagos, suggesting that interarchipelago interaction contributed to the later development of social hierarchies.

Geochemical Characterization of Lapita Ceramics From the Western Solomon Islands by Means of Portable X-Ray Fluorescence and Scanning Electron Microscopy

ABSTRACT The study of interaction and exchange among different geographic areas in the Western Pacific occupied by Lapita people (3500–2500 BP) has been an important component of research into the colonization process of the Pacific region. The Western Solomon Islands, lying in the central area of the Lapita distribution, have a unique archaeological record presenting intertidal sites with Late/Post Lapita ceramics as the only material evidence of Lapita occupation. Previous studies have indicated that Lapita ceramic production was mainly local. However, temper analysis has identified exotic ceramics in Late Lapita sites in the New Georgia Group, indicating complex ceramic transfer including from outside the Solomon Islands region. Analysis of Late Roviana (New Georgia) and historic period ceramic sherd temper has also suggested ceramic transfer from the nearby island of Choiseul, where ceramics were manufactured until recent times. Here we present results of a series of portable X-ray fluorescence and Scanning Electron Microscopy analyses carried out on ceramic pastes from the New Georgia group in the Western Solomon Islands. These results confirm that during the Early (Lapita/Post Lapita) ceramic period, production was present at multiple locations and that ceramics were transferred at different geographic scales involving occasional long-distance interactions. During the later period (AD 1400–1900) ceramic production had a more restricted occurrence with transfer networks changing and receding to become exclusively regional.

The Archaeology and Ethnohistory of Exchange in Precolonial and Colonial Roviana

Using ethnohistorical, ethnographical, historical, and archaeological evidence, this article reconstructs the development of exchange systems in Roviana, Solomon Islands, and explores their longterm transformation. It suggests that a Roviana system of multiple coexisting standards of valuation of goods and services gained preeminence in precolonial times in the context of a regional exchange system and political expansion and explores this systems subsequent articulation with European economic forms. It traces the dynamics of this system and shows its importance in the consolidation of political stratification and sociopolitical differentiation. In this system, objects moved between spheres of exchange as gifts, commodities, and inalienable possessions depending on the social, economic, and political context in which they were exchanged and/or transferred, with each sphere specifying not only the objects exchanged but also the appropriate modes of exchange and a set of attendant social relationships. Explanatory priority is given to the development of multiple modes of exchange from an autochthonous entanglement of diverse regional polities long before significant contact with Europeans.Using ethnohistorical, ethnographical, historical, and archaeological evidence, this article reconstructs the development of exchange systems in Roviana, Solomon Islands, and explores their longterm transformation. It suggests that a Roviana system of multiple coexisting standards of valuation of goods and services gained preeminence in precolonial times in the context of a regional exchange system and political expansion and explores this systems subsequent articulation with European economic forms. It traces the dynamics of this system and shows its importance in the consolidation of political stratification and sociopolitical differentiation. In this system, objects moved between spheres of exchange as gifts, commodities, and inalienable possessions depending on the social, economic, and political context in which they were exchanged and/or transferred, with each sphere specifying not only the objects exchanged but also the appropriate modes of exchange and a set of attendant social relationships. Expl...