Geochemical fingerprinting of artefacts and sources has proven to be the most effective way to us... more Geochemical fingerprinting of artefacts and sources has proven to be the most effective way to use material evidence in order to reconstruct strategies of raw material procurement, exchange systems, and mobility patterns among past societies. In order to facilitate access to this growing body of data and to promote comparability and reproducibility in provenance studies, we designed Pofatu, the first online and open-access database presenting geochemical compositions and contextual information for archaeological sources and artefacts. The data repository includes a compilation of geochemical data and supporting analytical metadata, as well as the archaeological provenance and context for each sample. All information on Samples related to sources and artefacts can be accessed on this platform or downloaded from Zenodo or GitHub. While most prehistoric quarries and surface procurement sources used in the past have yet to be identified, provenance studies must also integrate wide and r...
ABSTRACT. The use of oral tradition or oral history in archaeology is often a contentious issue. ... more ABSTRACT. The use of oral tradition or oral history in archaeology is often a contentious issue. In this paper we briefly review methodological issues surrounding the use of such data and follow this with a case study using our research into the last 1,000 years of prehistory in Roviana Lagoon (New Georgia Group, Solomon Islands). We argue that it is not possible to generalize cross-culturally about the historicity of oral tradition/history. However, in the Roviana case, careful use of ethnohistory and archaeology together indicates that: (a) Roviana oral history is linear; (b) there is a close relationship between genealogical age and radiocarbon age; and (c) the modern uses of the oral tradition by Roviana provide a theory of their use in the past. We conclude that the model for the formation of the Roviana Chiefdom which emerges from the working back and forth between archaeology and ethnohistory has much more explanatory power than one based on either source of data by itself.
It is necessary to calculate location-specific marine ∆R values in order to calibrate marine samp... more It is necessary to calculate location-specific marine ∆R values in order to calibrate marine samples using calibration curves such as those provided through the IntCal98 (Stuiver et al. 1998) data. Where known-age samples are available, 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 relating 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,...
Understanding the nature and process of initial Pacific settlement by people carrying the Lapita ... more Understanding the nature and process of initial Pacific settlement by people carrying the Lapita culture is ultimately founded upon accurate knowledge of the timing and speed of settlement. This paper reports on re-dating of one of the earliest Lapita sites (SE-SZ-8) from Santa Cruz in the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands on the western margin of Remote Oceania. Our results indicate this site is considerably younger than previously believed and comparison of this result to other early Lapita sites suggests initial settlement of Remote was at not much more than 3000 BP. This would argue for very rapid Lapita settlement of much of the South-western Pacific.
Geological analysis was conducted on a stone adze, which was accidentally dug up from an intertid... more Geological analysis was conducted on a stone adze, which was accidentally dug up from an intertidal dredging site on a reef flat in Pohnpei Island, Micronesia in the 1980s. Detailed geological obse...
The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 2021
Geological analysis was conducted on a stone adze, which was accidentally dug up from an intertid... more Geological analysis was conducted on a stone adze, which was accidentally dug up from an intertidal dredging site on a reef flat in Pohnpei Island, Micronesia in the 1980s. Detailed geological observations identified the material as metamorphic rock (schist), not basalt as originally reported. This result places its source in the continental rocks of Island Melanesia, most probably New Guinea. The location where it was recovered suggests an age that may well go back to when the island was first settled in the early centuries AD. The eastern Micronesian homeland is often thought to be eastern Melanesia based on linguistic and archaeological evidence. The adze, which may have functioned as a prestige good, was possibly brought from their homeland by early settlers or their immediate successors, or imported from New Guinea by them, suggesting that they still had interaction with the Lapita homeland region even after the decline of Lapita long-distance communications. This is the first ...
Compositional analyses have long been used to determine the geological sources of artefacts. Geoc... more Compositional analyses have long been used to determine the geological sources of artefacts. Geochemical “fingerprinting” of artefacts and sources is the most effective way to reconstruct strategies of raw material and artefact procurement, exchange or interaction systems, and mobility patterns during prehistory. The efficacy and popularity of geochemical sourcing has led to many projects using various analytical techniques to produce independent datasets. In order to facilitate access to this growing body of data and to promote comparability and reproducibility in provenance studies, we designed Pofatu, the first online and open-access database to present geochemical compositions and contextual information for archaeological sources and artefacts in a form that can be readily accessed by the scientific community. This relational database currently contains 7759 individual samples from archaeological sites and geological sources across the Pacific Islands. Each sample is comprehensi...
It is necessary to calculate location-specific marine ΔR values in order to calibrate marine samp... more It is necessary to calculate location-specific marine ΔR values in order to calibrate marine samples using calibration curves such as those provided through the IntCal98 (Stuiver et al. 1998) data. Where known-age samples are available, 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 relating 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 ΔR 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,...
Understanding the nature and process of initial Pacific settlement by people carrying the Lapita ... more Understanding the nature and process of initial Pacific settlement by people carrying the Lapita culture is ultimately founded upon accurate knowledge of the timing and speed of settlement. This paper reports on re-dating of one of the earliest Lapita sites (SE-SZ-8) from Santa Cruz in the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands on the western margin of Remote Oceania. Our results indicate this site is considerably younger than previously believed and comparison of this result to other early Lapita sites suggests initial settlement of Remote was at not much more than 3000 BP. This would argue for very rapid Lapita settlement of much of the South-western Pacific.
Abstract Although tattoos have been observed on mummies dated to over 5000 years old, the general... more Abstract Although tattoos have been observed on mummies dated to over 5000 years old, the generally poor preservation of human remains makes it difficult to use this type of adornment to understand how inscriptions on the body have been used to define self and social ascriptions. A potential method for detecting tattooing is to identify the tools used to make the markings. To assist recognition of tattooing tools, an extensive set of experiments was conducted in which retouched obsidian flakes bearing various pigments were used to pierce pig skin. Diagnostic use wear and residues associated with tattooing were identified. To illustrate the value of these results, traces preserved on a highly recognizable class of obsidian retouched artefacts from the Nanggu site (SE-SZ-8) in the Solomon Islands were analysed. Results indicate that these tools were used to pierce skin and may therefore have been tattooing implements involved in social, ritual and/or medical practices.
Review(s) of: Smith, Anita, An Archaeology of West Polynesian Prehistory, Terra Australia 18. Can... more Review(s) of: Smith, Anita, An Archaeology of West Polynesian Prehistory, Terra Australia 18. Canberra: Pandanus Books, 2002, xvi + 229 pp., app., bib., figs, maps, tables, n. p. (paper).
Geochemical fingerprinting of artefacts and sources has proven to be the most effective way to us... more Geochemical fingerprinting of artefacts and sources has proven to be the most effective way to use material evidence in order to reconstruct strategies of raw material procurement, exchange systems, and mobility patterns among past societies. In order to facilitate access to this growing body of data and to promote comparability and reproducibility in provenance studies, we designed Pofatu, the first online and open-access database presenting geochemical compositions and contextual information for archaeological sources and artefacts. The data repository includes a compilation of geochemical data and supporting analytical metadata, as well as the archaeological provenance and context for each sample. All information on Samples related to sources and artefacts can be accessed on this platform or downloaded from Zenodo or GitHub. While most prehistoric quarries and surface procurement sources used in the past have yet to be identified, provenance studies must also integrate wide and r...
ABSTRACT. The use of oral tradition or oral history in archaeology is often a contentious issue. ... more ABSTRACT. The use of oral tradition or oral history in archaeology is often a contentious issue. In this paper we briefly review methodological issues surrounding the use of such data and follow this with a case study using our research into the last 1,000 years of prehistory in Roviana Lagoon (New Georgia Group, Solomon Islands). We argue that it is not possible to generalize cross-culturally about the historicity of oral tradition/history. However, in the Roviana case, careful use of ethnohistory and archaeology together indicates that: (a) Roviana oral history is linear; (b) there is a close relationship between genealogical age and radiocarbon age; and (c) the modern uses of the oral tradition by Roviana provide a theory of their use in the past. We conclude that the model for the formation of the Roviana Chiefdom which emerges from the working back and forth between archaeology and ethnohistory has much more explanatory power than one based on either source of data by itself.
It is necessary to calculate location-specific marine ∆R values in order to calibrate marine samp... more It is necessary to calculate location-specific marine ∆R values in order to calibrate marine samples using calibration curves such as those provided through the IntCal98 (Stuiver et al. 1998) data. Where known-age samples are available, 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 relating 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,...
Understanding the nature and process of initial Pacific settlement by people carrying the Lapita ... more Understanding the nature and process of initial Pacific settlement by people carrying the Lapita culture is ultimately founded upon accurate knowledge of the timing and speed of settlement. This paper reports on re-dating of one of the earliest Lapita sites (SE-SZ-8) from Santa Cruz in the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands on the western margin of Remote Oceania. Our results indicate this site is considerably younger than previously believed and comparison of this result to other early Lapita sites suggests initial settlement of Remote was at not much more than 3000 BP. This would argue for very rapid Lapita settlement of much of the South-western Pacific.
Geological analysis was conducted on a stone adze, which was accidentally dug up from an intertid... more Geological analysis was conducted on a stone adze, which was accidentally dug up from an intertidal dredging site on a reef flat in Pohnpei Island, Micronesia in the 1980s. Detailed geological obse...
The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 2021
Geological analysis was conducted on a stone adze, which was accidentally dug up from an intertid... more Geological analysis was conducted on a stone adze, which was accidentally dug up from an intertidal dredging site on a reef flat in Pohnpei Island, Micronesia in the 1980s. Detailed geological observations identified the material as metamorphic rock (schist), not basalt as originally reported. This result places its source in the continental rocks of Island Melanesia, most probably New Guinea. The location where it was recovered suggests an age that may well go back to when the island was first settled in the early centuries AD. The eastern Micronesian homeland is often thought to be eastern Melanesia based on linguistic and archaeological evidence. The adze, which may have functioned as a prestige good, was possibly brought from their homeland by early settlers or their immediate successors, or imported from New Guinea by them, suggesting that they still had interaction with the Lapita homeland region even after the decline of Lapita long-distance communications. This is the first ...
Compositional analyses have long been used to determine the geological sources of artefacts. Geoc... more Compositional analyses have long been used to determine the geological sources of artefacts. Geochemical “fingerprinting” of artefacts and sources is the most effective way to reconstruct strategies of raw material and artefact procurement, exchange or interaction systems, and mobility patterns during prehistory. The efficacy and popularity of geochemical sourcing has led to many projects using various analytical techniques to produce independent datasets. In order to facilitate access to this growing body of data and to promote comparability and reproducibility in provenance studies, we designed Pofatu, the first online and open-access database to present geochemical compositions and contextual information for archaeological sources and artefacts in a form that can be readily accessed by the scientific community. This relational database currently contains 7759 individual samples from archaeological sites and geological sources across the Pacific Islands. Each sample is comprehensi...
It is necessary to calculate location-specific marine ΔR values in order to calibrate marine samp... more It is necessary to calculate location-specific marine ΔR values in order to calibrate marine samples using calibration curves such as those provided through the IntCal98 (Stuiver et al. 1998) data. Where known-age samples are available, 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 relating 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 ΔR 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,...
Understanding the nature and process of initial Pacific settlement by people carrying the Lapita ... more Understanding the nature and process of initial Pacific settlement by people carrying the Lapita culture is ultimately founded upon accurate knowledge of the timing and speed of settlement. This paper reports on re-dating of one of the earliest Lapita sites (SE-SZ-8) from Santa Cruz in the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands on the western margin of Remote Oceania. Our results indicate this site is considerably younger than previously believed and comparison of this result to other early Lapita sites suggests initial settlement of Remote was at not much more than 3000 BP. This would argue for very rapid Lapita settlement of much of the South-western Pacific.
Abstract Although tattoos have been observed on mummies dated to over 5000 years old, the general... more Abstract Although tattoos have been observed on mummies dated to over 5000 years old, the generally poor preservation of human remains makes it difficult to use this type of adornment to understand how inscriptions on the body have been used to define self and social ascriptions. A potential method for detecting tattooing is to identify the tools used to make the markings. To assist recognition of tattooing tools, an extensive set of experiments was conducted in which retouched obsidian flakes bearing various pigments were used to pierce pig skin. Diagnostic use wear and residues associated with tattooing were identified. To illustrate the value of these results, traces preserved on a highly recognizable class of obsidian retouched artefacts from the Nanggu site (SE-SZ-8) in the Solomon Islands were analysed. Results indicate that these tools were used to pierce skin and may therefore have been tattooing implements involved in social, ritual and/or medical practices.
Review(s) of: Smith, Anita, An Archaeology of West Polynesian Prehistory, Terra Australia 18. Can... more Review(s) of: Smith, Anita, An Archaeology of West Polynesian Prehistory, Terra Australia 18. Canberra: Pandanus Books, 2002, xvi + 229 pp., app., bib., figs, maps, tables, n. p. (paper).
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