Application of PIXE-PIGME to Archaeological Analysis of Changing Patterns of Obsidian Use in West New Britain, Papua New Guinea

Summerhayes, Glenn R.; Bird, J.R.; Fullagar, Richard; Gosden, Chris; Specht, Jim; Torrence, Robin

doi:10.1007/978-1-4757-9276-8_6

Cited by 65 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Compared with the abundance of Mopir obsidian, the relative scarcity of Kutau/Bao obsidian at these sites, nevertheless suggests that the source had not been heavily exploited, perhaps because it had not been in existence very long. Gulu obsidian is present in Pleistocene levels at Matenbek, whereas Baki is not (Summerhayes and Allen 1993), although this is not unusual because the Baki source is only rarely found outside the Willaumez Peninsula at any date (Summerhayes et al 1998;Torrence and Summerhayes 1997).…”

Section: Fission Track Datingmentioning

confidence: 95%

Pleistocene colonisation of the Bismarck Archipelago: new evidence from West New Britain

Torrence

Neall

Doelman

et al. 2004

Archaeology in Oceania

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The geological and archaeological signatures al the site of Kupona na Dari on the Willaumez Peninsula, West New Britain provide important new data about human colonisation of the Bismarck Archipelago. Analyses of the stratigraphy and weathering of paleosols and manuporls. when combined with fission track. radiocarbon, and luminescence dating, indicate that the site was first occupied at about 35-45.000 years ago. During the whole peri(Kl of occupation, people were exposed to a series of volcanic events which varied in terms of tbeir potential impacts on the local environment. A PIXE-PIGME characterisation study of the obsidian artefacts at tbe site demonstrates that from the earliest period stone resources were acquired from outcrops located across a relatively large region. When compared with Early-Middle Holocene assemblages from nearby localities, the Pleistocene stone tool technology differs in only a few minor respects. From this analysis we infer tbat groups were mobile in both periods, but slightly different strategies for tbe procurement and maintenance of tbe stone tools were required for tbe more extensive ranges exploited during the Pleistocene. The inter-disciplinary study of Kupona na Dari concludes that colonisation comprised a long term process of settling into this volcanically active environment. Due to variability in the environments tbat people encountered, the pattern of colonisation may not have been similar across the entire Bismarck Archipelago, RT: Anthropology. Tbe Australian Museum,

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Section: Fission Track Datingmentioning

confidence: 95%

Pleistocene colonisation of the Bismarck Archipelago: new evidence from West New Britain

Torrence

Neall

Doelman

et al. 2004

Archaeology in Oceania

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“…Natural sources of obsidian only occur in West New Britain (Admiralties and Fergusson Island), but obsidian is found in the eastern highlands dated to 4,500 YBP. This illustrates the evidence of interaction between New Guinea and its surrounding islands at different times in history (Summerhayes et al, 1998). It was not until around 3,300 YBP that populations are suggested to have started migrating into Remote Oceania.…”

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confidence: 93%

Characterization of population structure from the mitochondrial DNA vis‐à‐vis language and geography in Papua New Guinea

Lee

Koki

Merriwether

2010

American J Phys Anthropol

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Situated along a corridor linking the Asian continent with the outer islands of the Pacific, Papua New Guinea has long played a key role in understanding the initial peopling of Oceania. The vast diversity in languages and unique geographical environments in the region have been central to the debates on human migration and the degree of interaction between the Pleistocene settlers and newer migrants. To better understand the role of Papua New Guinea in shaping the region's prehistory, we sequenced the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region of three populations, a total of 94 individuals, located in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea. We analyzed these samples with a large data set of Oceania populations to examine the role of geography and language in shaping population structure within New Guinea and between the region and Island Melanesia. Our results from median-joining networks, star-cluster age estimates, and population genetic analyses show that while highland New Guinea populations seem to be the oldest settlers, there has been significant gene flow within New Guinea with little influence from geography or language. The highest genetic division is between Papuan speakers of New Guinea versus East Papuan speakers located outside of mainland New Guinea. Our study supports the weak language barriers to genetic structuring among populations in close contact and highlights the complexity of understanding the genetic histories of Papua New Guinea in association with language and geography.

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“…The chronology of the Teouma obsidian assemblage can potentially help delineate the changes in the exchange pattern of obsidian through the eastern Bismarcks and the Solomons from a dominance of WNB obsidian in early Lapita to Admiralty Islands obsidian in middle Lapita and back to a dominance of WNB obsidian in latest Lapita (Summerhayes 2003(Summerhayes , 2009Summerhayes et al 1998;White and Harris 1997). The WNB to Admiralties change is not seen in the large assemblages of the three main Reefs-Santa Cruz Lapita sites of SZ-8, RL-2, and RL-6 (Green 1987;Sheppard 1993).…”

Section: Time and Range Of West New Britain Obsidian Exchangementioning

confidence: 99%

Provenance and Technology of Lithic Artifacts from the Teouma Lapita Site, Vanuatu

Reepmeyer¹,

Spriggs²,

Bedford³

et al. 2010

asi

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Fifty-six obsidian artifacts and 141 non-obsidian artifacts were excavated in three field seasons at Teouma, Efate Island, central Vanuatu. Using LA-ICP-MS the majority of the obsidian artifacts were provenienced to the obsidian subsource of Kutau/Bao on West New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea. This study is the first geochemical analysis of a significant assemblage of West New Britain obsidian south of the Solomon Islands. Moreover, this finding represents only the second sizable assemblage of West New Britain obsidian in Remote Oceania beyond the Reefs–Santa Cruz Lapita sites and further establishes Vanuatu as a key area in understanding the initial Lapita settlement of Remote Oceania. Six obsidian artifacts were sourced to the Banks Islands, northern Vanuatu, supporting the hypothesis that sources there were known and utilized from the initial colonization of the Vanuatu Archipelago. A single artifact from the West New Britain subsource of Mopir was found. This is the only Lapita-period Mopir obsidian artifact found so far outside the Bismarck Archipelago. The geochemical analysis was accompanied by a quantitative attribute analysis investigating the reduction technology of the flaked assemblage.

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Application of PIXE-PIGME to Archaeological Analysis of Changing Patterns of Obsidian Use in West New Britain, Papua New Guinea

Cited by 65 publications

References 16 publications

Pleistocene colonisation of the Bismarck Archipelago: new evidence from West New Britain

Pleistocene colonisation of the Bismarck Archipelago: new evidence from West New Britain

Characterization of population structure from the mitochondrial DNA vis‐à‐vis language and geography in Papua New Guinea

Provenance and Technology of Lithic Artifacts from the Teouma Lapita Site, Vanuatu

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