Talepakemalai : Lapita and its transformations in the Mussau Islands of near Oceania / edited by Patrick Vinton Kirch ; with contributions by Melinda S. Allen, Nick Araho, Virginia L. Butler, Carla P. Catterall, Scarlett Chiu, William R. Dickinson, Patrick Vinton Kirch, I.R. Poiner, Callan Ross-Sheppard, and Marshall I. Weisler.
Publisher:
UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press,
Copyright Date:
2021
Description:
xxxi, 558 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm
List of figures -- List of tables -- List of supplementary online materials -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- List of contributors -- Abbreviations -- Chapter 1. Introduction : Talepakemalai and the Mussau Project in the context of Lapita archaeology / Patrick Vinton Kirch -- Chapter 2. The Mussau Islands : Natural and cultural environments / Patrick Vinton Kirch (with a contribution by Carla P. Catterall) -- Chapter 3. Excavations at Talepakemalai (Site ECA) / Patrick Vinton Kirch -- Chapter 4. Excavations at other Lapita and post-Lapita sites of Mussau / Patrick Vinton Kirch, Marshall I. Weisler, and Nick Araho -- Chapter 5. Radiocarbon dating and chronology of the Mussau sites / Patrick Vinton Kirch -- Chapter 6. Vertebrate fauna from the Mussau sites : Reptiles, birds, and mammals / Patrick Vinton Kirch -- Chapter 7. Fish remains from the Mussau Islands sites / Virginia L. Butler -- Chapter 8. Mollusks and other invertebrate fauna from the Mussau sites / Patrick Vinton Kirch -- Chapter 9. Human impacts on prehistoric mollusk populations of Mussau coral reef habitats / Carla P. Catterall and I.R. Poiner -- Chapter 10. Macrobotanical remains from Talepakemalai (Site ECA) and the case for Lapita arboriculture / Patrick Vinton Kirch -- Chapter 11. Ceramic assemblages of the Mussau Islands / Patrick Vinton Kirch and Scarlett Chiu -- Chapter 12. Sand tempers in Mussau ceramics : Evidence for ceramic transfer within the Bismarck Archipelago / William R. Dickinson -- Chapter 13. Non-ceramic portable artifacts from Talepakemalai and other Mussau sites / Patrick Vinton Kirch -- Chapter 14. Mid- to Late-Holocene obsidian importation in the Mussau Islands / Melinda S. Allen -- Chapter 15. Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analysis of obsidian from the Talepakemalai (Site ECA) / Callan Ross-Sheppard -- Chapter 16. Obsidian tool production and use at Talepakemalai (Site ECA) / Melinda S. Allen -- Chapter 17. Petrography of manuports from Mussau archaeological sites / William R. Dickinson -- Chapter 18. Lapita and its transformations in the Mussau Islands / Patrick Vinton Kirch -- References cited -- Index.
Summary:
"The Lapita Cultural Complex - first uncovered in the mid-20th century as a widespread archaeological complex spanning both Melanesia and Western Polynesia - has subsequently become recognized as of fundamental importance to Oceanic prehistory. Notable for its highly distinctive, elaborate, dentate-stamped pottery, Lapita sites date to between 3500-2700 BP, spanning the geographic range from the Bismarck Archipelago to Tonga and Samoa. The Lapita culture has been interpreted as the archaeological manifestation of a diaspora of Austronesian-speaking people (specifically of Proto-Oceanic language) who rapidly expanded from Near Oceania (the New Guinea-Bismarcks region) into Remote Oceania, where no humans had previously ventured. Lapita is thus a foundational culture throughout much of the southwestern Pacific, ancestral to much of the later, ethnographically-attested cultural diversity of the region. The Mussau materials are essential to understanding how Lapita developed and was transformed during the period prior to and following the Lapita diaspora into Remote Oceania. This volume thus presents the definitive "final report" on the excavation not only of Talepakemalai, but of all of the Lapita and post-Lapita sites investigated during the Mussau Project"-- Provided by publisher
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.