Prehistoric Obsidian Exchange in Melanesia: A Perspective from the Talasea Sources

Specht, Jim; Fullagar, Richard; Torrence, Robin; Baker, Neville

doi:10.1080/03122417.1988.12093158

Cited by 38 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The generally pristine condition of the fragile obsidian edges suggests they had not moved very far from their original context. Since there are abundant outcrops of obsidian nearby, it seems likely that, as at Bitokara Mission (Specht et al 1988), the artefacts are derived from a dump of quarrying and manufacturing debris. Kamminga and Specht also found stemmed artefacts associated with manufacturing debris in the same local area near Bitokara (FDQ, FDV, FDY, FRL, FQT), Talasea and Chobu (FCR, FCS) (Specht 1973;1974).…”

Section: Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most stemmed artefacts are from surface contexts, but a small number have been found in dated layers at Bitokara Mission (Specht et al 1988;Torrence et al 1990;Torrence 1992;Fullagar 1992;1993a;1993b) and on Garua Island (Torrence et al 1990;Kealhofer et al 1999;Torrence et al 2000). The date for their inception is not known.…”

Section: Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our analyses of stemmed tools from West New Britain utilise surface collections made by Kamminga, Specht and Rhoads (Specht 1973;1974), Specht et al (1988;1989), Araho (1996), and from Garua Island by the authors and their research teams (Rath 2000;Torrence et al 2000). Although the collections are biased toward retouched artefacts, diagnostic debitage is present.…”

Section: Stemmed Blades and Flakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, within the last 3600 years the region has been buried under two thick deposits of volcanic tephra (cf. Specht et al 1988). Our sample is derived largely from road cuts and stream beds.…”

Section: Stemmed Blades and Flakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Highly distinctive retouched obsidian artefacts characterised by the presence of a distinct tang and known as 'stemmed tools' (Figs 1-3) are common surface finds at the obsidian source areas in the Willaumez Peninsula and Mopir regions of West New Britain province, Papua New Guinea (eg, Casey 1939;Specht 1973;1974;Swadling 1981, 67;Fullagar et al 1991) and have recently been recovered from stratified contexts at Bitokara Mission (Specht et al 1988;Specht et al 1991) and Garua Island (Torrence et al 1990) (Fig. 4).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Valuable and Useful: Mid-Holocene Stemmed Obsidian Artefacts from West New Britain, Papua New Guinea

Araho

Torrence

White

2002

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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Distinctive obsidian artefacts from West New Britain appear sometime before 3950 cal BC and terminate abruptly at 1650 cal BC. We propose that they had a wide range of meanings for their users and functioned in both utilitarian and ceremonial contexts, similar to more recent ground stone axes from Highland New Guinea. They therefore represent the earliest evidence for valuables in Papua New Guinea. Here we draw together studies of the technology, spatial distribution, and chemical sourcing of the artefacts, along with considerations of fragility and brightness, to evaluate competing models for their function as utilitarian items and as exchange goods. Whereas many artefacts were probably useful tools integrated within a mobile settlement pattern, others were clearly reserved for special functions, and many may have operated in both the utilitarian and ceremonial spheres.

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Section: Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Stemmed Blades and Flakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Stemmed Blades and Flakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Valuable and Useful: Mid-Holocene Stemmed Obsidian Artefacts from West New Britain, Papua New Guinea

Araho

Torrence

White

2002

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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Are islands insular? Landscape vs. seascape in the case of the Arawe Islands, Papua New Guinea

Gosden

Pavlides

1994

Archaeology in Oceania

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The predominant view of Pacific prehistory holds that the Pacific islands were isolated in most periods and that isolation is the key to their development. We question the development-inisolation model and present data from the Arawe Islands, West New Britain to show that, although close to large land masses, the sea has linked these islands into a wider world in the late prehistoric period. We present ethnohistorical data on settlement, subsistence and trade which shows the nature of these links and discuss how far sea links have affected the use of the land. If the way in which land is used is partly determined by the sea, we should think in terms of seascape, as well as landscape, extending the range of the latter term. We argue further that the key feature of all periods of Pacific prehistory is connectivity by sea and that in the process of colonisation, not only were par-

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Prehistoric social landscapes of the Arawe Islands, West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea

Gosden

1989

Archaeology in Oceania

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This paper lays out a theoretical framework for interpreting a regional archaeological record in terms of the social formations which produced it. The central idea is that of the social landscape. Past social groups are seen to operate in the landscape in order to provide and sustain a social system, rather than reacting to the structure of their environment. The idea of a social landscape is employed to examine how groups organise themselves on a local regional scale to meet social goals and to link these forms of organisation to the archaeological record they leave behind. The central social principle explored here is that of debt, which enjoins dispersal of materials and sets up landscapes which are non‐accumulative. Data from the Arawe island group on the south coast of West New Britain, Papua New Guinea are presented to illustrate these ideas.

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Prehistoric Obsidian Exchange in Melanesia: A Perspective from the Talasea Sources

Cited by 38 publications

References 6 publications

Valuable and Useful: Mid-Holocene Stemmed Obsidian Artefacts from West New Britain, Papua New Guinea

Valuable and Useful: Mid-Holocene Stemmed Obsidian Artefacts from West New Britain, Papua New Guinea

Are islands insular? Landscape vs. seascape in the case of the Arawe Islands, Papua New Guinea

Prehistoric social landscapes of the Arawe Islands, West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea

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