Radiocarbon dating of burials from the Teouma Lapita cemetery, Efate, Vanuatu

Petchey, Fiona; Spriggs, Matthew; Bedford, Stuart; Valentin, Frédérique; Buckley, Hallie R.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2014.07.002

Cited by 61 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Field et al (2009) have proposed that the change toward a richer vegetable diet occurred earlier on the largest island in Fiji. Small island size might have Petchey et al, 2014Petchey et al, , 2015. Table 4 E. Herrscher et al Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 18 (2018) 308-317 influenced rate of diet change at Talasiu, as it is the case for Naitabale and Olo diet which remained marine oriented for longer.…”

Section: Highlighting Inter-individual Isotope Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the similarity in food resources management and consumption observed between Talasiu and Teouma does not support the idea of a 'typical' Lapita diet , considering the temporal lag between Lapita settlers at Teouma (ca. 2900 BP, Petchey et al, 2014Petchey et al, , 2015, the founding colony at Nukuleka (2845-2830 cal. BP, Burley et al, 2015) and the Talasiu population settlement (2700-2600 cal.…”

Section: Dietary Pattern At Talasiu and Environmental Conditions: Drimentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multi-isotopic analysis of first Polynesian diet (Talasiu, Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga)

Herrscher¹,

Fenner²,

Valentin³

et al. 2018

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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A B S T R A C TBoth archaeological and isotopic data document dietary changes over the first five centuries of Western Pacific island settlement, a time period beginning with the Lapita expansion about 3000 years ago. This change is marked by a decrease in marine food intake and an increase in vegetal food intake occurring in the Late Lapita/ immediately post-Lapita populations. The recent discovery of human burials at Talasiu (~2700-2600 cal. BP) in the Kingdom of Tonga opens new opportunities to assess this matter. We characterize the nature of the food items consumed by the Talasiu humans (n = 21) using collagen and apatite carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios. We conducted an intra-Pacific comparison to examine the use of marine resources and the contribution of horticultural products and to look at the homogeneity of dietary practices within the Tongan group. Isotope results indicate a mixed diet of terrestrial and marine resources including a differential contribution of more specific marine foods (e.g., non-reef fish/inshore fish and shellfish). The Talasiu dietary pattern appears closer to that of the early Lapita population of Teouma than to other Late Lapita populations suggesting a different pattern of dietary change at the eastern end of the Lapita distribution. The slower rate of change may be due to the small size of both the island and the population, and also the additional potential role of social or cultural factors.

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Section: Highlighting Inter-individual Isotope Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dietary Pattern At Talasiu and Environmental Conditions: Drimentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-isotopic analysis of first Polynesian diet (Talasiu, Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga)

Herrscher¹,

Fenner²,

Valentin³

et al. 2018

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…3,000-2,850 y B.P. (29) and comparisons with prehistoric and modern populations from the Asia-Pacific region. Large-scale excavations at the Teouma site have revealed a Lapita cemetery with 68 burial features where adults were preferentially treated by inhumation (30).…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…1), two partial skulls in a disturbed context (Quarry Area), single cranial fragments associated either with incomplete inhumation or secondary deposits (B10, B12, B29, and B45), six mandibles and a fragment of a seventh (B10, B17, B30, and B29), and 98 associated teeth. Although disconnected from the infracranial skeletons these cranial remains seem to have belonged to individuals of the same group, as shown by similarities in isotopic values measured in bone collagen (29) and in dental enamel (32). In the current study, we use five of the seven skulls (labeled TEO 10a, 10b, 10c, 17, and 30a) that, after reconstruction, are almost complete and suitable for metric study (Fig.…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Early Lapita skeletons from Vanuatu show Polynesian craniofacial shape: Implications for Remote Oceanic settlement and Lapita origins

Valentin

Détroit

Spriggs

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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With a cultural and linguistic origin in Island Southeast Asia the Lapita expansion is thought to have led ultimately to the Polynesian settlement of the east Polynesian region after a time of mixing/integration in north Melanesia and a nearly 2,000-y pause in West Polynesia. One of the major achievements of recent Lapita research in Vanuatu has been the discovery of the oldest cemetery found so far in the Pacific at Teouma on the south coast of Efate Island, opening up new prospects for the biological definition of the early settlers of the archipelago and of Remote Oceania in general. Using craniometric evidence from the skeletons in conjunction with archaeological data, we discuss here four debated issues: the Lapita–Asian connection, the degree of admixture, the Lapita–Polynesian connection, and the question of secondary population movement into Remote Oceania.

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“…From a Pacific archaeology perspective, this site is of exceptional importance since it contains the earliest and most extensive collection of burials thus far associated with early human settlement (Lapita) of the Pacific Islands, and dates to around 2800-3000 years BP Petchey et al 2014). An interpretation of all of the radiocarbon samples places site abandonment no later than 2500 years BP .…”

Section: Teouma Vanuatumentioning

confidence: 99%

Prehistoric Coastal Mass Burials: Did Death Come in Waves?

Cain

Goff

McFadgen

2018

J Archaeol Method Theory

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Recent large tsunamis in the twenty-first century have provided graphic reminders of the catastrophic impacts such natural hazards can have upon coastal communities. Death tolls in the thousands give rise to the rapid adoption of coastal mass burials for the interment of the dead. While recognised as a necessary practice in the aftermath of such contemporary tragedies, the paucity of coastal mass burial sites related to earlier tsunamis reported in the archaeological record is unusual. We establish a suite of criteria for identifying the geological and archaeological evidence of inundation by past tsunamis and review case studies from two well-documented prehistoric coastal mass burial sites in the Southern Hemisphere (Solomon Islands and Vanuatu). To varying degrees, both sites possess numerous characteristics that suggest direct correlation with previously reported catastrophic palaeotsunamis. In the Northern Hemisphere, we investigate palaeotsunami inundation as an alternative hypothesis for mass burial sites in Orkney and Shetland, a relatively tectonically inactive region where such an association is unlikely to have ever been considered. The nature, chronology and location of these mass burial sites fit well with the proposed archaeological evidence for palaeotsunami inundation, and they also appear to be contemporaneous with the as-yet poorly documented Garth tsunami (~5500 years BP). We suggest that a potentially key diagnostic criterion for determining a palaeotsunami linkage is the use of diatom testing on skeletal remains to establish whether death was caused by drowning in saltwater, a test which has never been applied in this context. J Archaeol Method Theory

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Radiocarbon dating of burials from the Teouma Lapita cemetery, Efate, Vanuatu

Cited by 61 publications

References 53 publications

Multi-isotopic analysis of first Polynesian diet (Talasiu, Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga)

Multi-isotopic analysis of first Polynesian diet (Talasiu, Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga)

Early Lapita skeletons from Vanuatu show Polynesian craniofacial shape: Implications for Remote Oceanic settlement and Lapita origins

Prehistoric Coastal Mass Burials: Did Death Come in Waves?

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