William R Dickinson
Biographic Data
| ID | 239785 |
|---|---|
| NAME | William R Dickinson |
| GIVEN NAMES | William R |
| FAMILY NAME | Dickinson |
| SIGNATURE | DICKINSON W R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Arizona |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 43 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 280 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 43 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1982 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Excavation on Nimowa Island, Louisiade Archipelago, Papua New Guinea
Small-scale excavation was undertaken at the Malakai site on the small island of Nimowa, located in the Louisiade Archipelago, Massim region, Papua New Guinea. This is the first excavation to be reported in detail from the archipelago, with the Malakai site providing insight into cultural practices on the island and pottery exchange in the southern Massim region. A stratified deposit was revealed with dense cultural material, first inhabited from…
Connection and competition
Results of petrographic analysis for ten New Caledonian Lapita pottery assemblages are presented in this paper. These findings enable us to identify several major pottery production areas during the Lapita period. It could be argued that the rise of pottery production traditions at the northern bank of the Diahot Valley near Ouégoa/Pouébo in the north, and the region between Tontouta and Nouméa/Saint Louis in the south, was influential in the for…
Beach Ridges as Favored Locales for Human Settlement on Pacific Islands
Coastal beach ridges have been favored locales for human habitations on Pacific islands since initial human settlement. Their smooth crests shaped by surf action form sandy substrates that differ in morphology from eolian dunes. Island beach ridges that were accreted to island cores during post‐mid‐Holocene drawdown in regional hydro‐isostatic sea level include coastal spits that partially enclose backbeach wetlands, tombolos that tie previously …
Control of paleoshorelines by trench forebulge uplift, Loyalty Islands
Unlike most tropical Pacific islands, which lie along island arcs or hotspot chains, the Loyalty Islands between New Caledonia and Vanuatu owe their existence and morphology to the uplift of pre-existing atolls on the flexural forebulge of the New Hebrides Trench. The configuration and topography of each island is a function of distance from the crest of the uplifted forebulge. Both Maré and Lifou are fully emergent paleoatolls upon which ancient…
Petrography of Temper Sands in 112 Reconstructed Lapita Pottery Vessels from Teouma (Efate)
The remarkable cache of intact and reconstructed Lapita pottery vessels excavated from the Teouma site near the south coast of Efate in Vanuatu has made possible a petrographic temper analysis for which each sherd thin section is known without doubt to derive from a different single pot. Such positive vessel-by-vessel control for the specific provenience of each sherd has not been possible during petrographic study of any other collections of pre…
Petrography of Sand Tempers in Lapita Potsherds from the Rove Peninsula, Viti Levu, Fiji
Seven Lapita sites on the Rove Peninsula of Viti Levu in Fiji or on islets close offshore include the earliest known Lapita site in Fiji at Bourewa. Petrographic study of 53 Rove sherds shows that 95 per cent contain closely related hybrid temper sands (mixed terrigenous and calcareous grains) collected locally from the shores of the ancestral Tuva River estuary and adjacent Vusama paleoisland. Terrigenous detritus was derived from the Wainimala …
Plainware ceramics from Sāmoa
Sourcing Olive Jars Using U‐Pb Ages of Detrital Zircons
We present U‐Pb ages of zircons extracted from olive jars recovered from two sites associated with Alvaro de Mendaña y Neyra's colonising expedition to the Solomon Islands, c . 1595–1596 A.D. The olive jars were previously associated with Panamanian and Peruvian origins based on petrological and geochemical studies. To further define provenance, 143 zircons were extracted from five olive jar sherds, analyzed and dated. The resultant U‐Pb ages ran…
Sourcing temper sands in ancient ceramics with U–Pb ages of detrital zircons
Geological perspectives on the Monte Verde archeological site in Chile and pre-Clovis coastal migration in the Americas
Discovery of the Monte Verde archeological site in Chile overturned the previous consensus that the first Americans into the New World from Asia were the makers of Clovis projectile points, and rejuvenated the hypothesis that migration through the Americas occurred largely on portions of the Pacific continental shelf exposed by Pleistocene drawdown in eustatic sea level. The postulate of travel along a paleoshoreline now hidden underwater is an a…
The Anomaly of Marquesan Ceramics
Fifty years ago pioneering archaeologist Robert Suggs reported a small number of pottery sherds from the Marquesas Islands. The first such finds in East Polynesia, at the time they were considered indicative of both a Marquesan homeland and local ceramic manufacture. In the intervening years, additional sherds have been recovered from three other Marquesan localities resulting in a total of 14 specimens. Prior petrographic studies demonstrate una…
Chapter 12
Petrographic study of the temper sands in fifty prehistoric potsherds from the mainland coast and nearby offshore islands of northwestern Papua New Guinea, and comparison of the temper sands with modern coastal sands of the region have shown that temper grains were derived from largely volcanogenic bedrock of the Torricelli Mountains and associated ranges lying inland from the coast. Temper aggregates include both natural tempers embedded in clay…
Among Polynesia's first pots
Stone Disc Beads from Watinglo Shelter, Northern Papua New Guinea
In 2005 the excavation of a new rockshelter in Papua New Guinea, Watinglo, unearthed the unusual find of four stone disc-shaped beads. Beads such as this have not hitherto been reported from Papua New Guinea. The context, age, technology of manufacture and petrography of the beads are described
Nukuleka as a Founder Colony for West Polynesian Settlement
Previous archaeological studies in the village of Nukuleka, Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga proposed it as a founder colony for Polynesia. Additional excavation and survey were undertaken in 2007 to evaluate this status further and to gain new insight into the nature of the occupation and its role in the subsequent peopling of west Polynesia. A review of this project and its findings are presented. Decorated ceramics of western Lapita style, the pres…
Jomon sherds from Aomori, Japan, not Mele, Efate
The presence of Japanese Jomon sherds from Aomori in an artefact collection from Vanuatu has been attributed alternately to Jomon voyaging or to adventitious mingling of artefacts of different proveniences. The paleoshoreline history of Efate indicates that the site where the Jomon sherds were purportedly collected was submerged during Jomon time, making introduction of the sherds into Vanuatu by Jomon voyagers implausible. The anomalous sherds w…
Upolu (Samoa)
From the present subsea elevation of the ferry berth Lapita archaeological site off Mulifanua at the western tip of Upolu in Samoa, Dickinson and Green (1998) inferred that the site has subsided ∼4
Holocene Paleoshoreline and Paleoenvironmental History of Palau
Information from cores into the offshore reefs of Komebail Lagoon and into the coastal fringes of Babeldaob and neighboring islets allows the first well-constrained appraisal of the Holocene paleoshoreline history of Palau. Bulk subsidence of the island group since ∼5 kyr at a rate of ∼0.55 mm/yr is indicated jointly by both the offshore and the onshore datasets. Persistent subsidence of paleoshorelines since the initial human settlement of Palau…
Geoarchaeology of Tonga
Ancient settlement patterns in central Tonga, at the southeastern limit of Lapita expansion into Remote Oceania ̃3 ka, were conditioned by island geomorphology as controlled by spatial geotectonic features and temporal changes in relative sea level on island coasts. Volcanic islands provided lithic resources, but human populations were concentrated on nonvolcanic forearc islands underlain by limestone covered by airfall tephra blankets that weath…
The Lapita Occupation at Naitabale, Moturiki Island, Central Fiji
In 2003 the authors discovered and excavated a Lapita site at Naitabale close to the southern end of Moturiki Island (central Fiji). Today the site is 350 m inland from the coast, but in Lapita times it was located behind the active beach ridge. A large collection of potsherds (including 92 dentate-stamped or incised Lapita sherds), shell, and animal bones was recovered, together with a human burial. Sherd decorations show affinities with the Wes…
Compositional analysis of Yayoi-Heian period ceramics from Okinawa
In Okinawa, locally produced pottery dates back to the Initial Jomon period ( ̃6500 14C yr B.P.). Later in time, especially during the Early Yayoi-Heian period ( ̃300 B.C.–A.D. 300), ceramic assemblages appear to contain mainland (Japan) Yayoi pottery. A greater number of these sherds present in Okinawa over time coincide with an increasing amount of interaction with mainland Japan, as evidenced by other exchange items. In this preliminary study,…
Mask Cave
Excavations at Mask Cave on the sacred islet of Pulu off Mabuyag in the central west of Zenadh Kes (Torres Strait) reveal four occupational phases: Phase 1 (2900–3800 years ago), Phase 2 (2100–2600 years ago), Phase 3 (1500–1700 years ago) and Phase 4 (last 1500 years). Faunal remains indicate marine specialization (turtle and fish) during all phases. Petrographic analysis of sherds of finely made red‐slipped pottery dating back 2400–2600 years r…
Type X Pottery, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea
Type X is one of four Post-Lapita pottery styles reported from Huon Peninsula and the Siassi Islands of Papua New Guinea. Previous petrographic work was inconclusive about its likely area of origin but indicated a possible Huon Peninsula source. Renewed analysis of a larger sample supports this conclusion and confirms the use of grog temper. This kind of temper is otherwise not recorded in the New Guinea region, and its use in the production of T…
Late Lapita occupation and its ceramic assemblage at the Sigatoka Sand Dune site, Fiji, and their place in Oceanic prehistory
The Sigatoka Sand Dune site on the island of Viti Levu, Fiji, has been continuously eroding over the past half century. Large‐scale excavations here in the mid‐1960s documented a Late Lapita ceramic horizon, one significantly including many restorable or diagnostically complete vessels. A 1998 discovery of an intact segment of this deposit led to renewed excavation and the recovery of additional vessels. The results of this excavation are present…
Ceramic petrography and cultural interaction in Palau, Micronesia
Mask Cave
Excavations at Mask Cave on the sacred islet of Pulu off Mabuyag in the central west of Zenadh Kes (Torres Strait) reveal four occupational phases: Phase 1 (2900–3800 years ago), Phase 2 (2100–2600 years ago), Phase 3 (1500–1700 years ago) and Phase 4 (last 1500 years). Faunal remains indicate marine specialization (turtle and fish) during all phases. Petrographic analysis of sherds of finely made red‐slipped pottery dating back 2400–2600 years r…
The Lapita Occupation at Naitabale, Moturiki Island, Central Fiji
In 2003 the authors discovered and excavated a Lapita site at Naitabale close to the southern end of Moturiki Island (central Fiji). Today the site is 350 m inland from the coast, but in Lapita times it was located behind the active beach ridge. A large collection of potsherds (including 92 dentate-stamped or incised Lapita sherds), shell, and animal bones was recovered, together with a human burial. Sherd decorations show affinities with the Wes…
Lapita on the Periphery. New data on old problems in the Kingdom of Tonga
Archaeological research in the Kingdom of Tonga over the past four decades illustrates a widespread distribution of Lapita coloniser sites throughout the archipelago. A 1999 re‐excavation and assessment of the Nukuleka (To 2) and Ha'ateiho (To 5) sites on Fanga 'Uta Lagoon on the southern island of Tongatapu, as well as survey of the Lapita‐age paleoshoreline of the lagoon, provide new insights on old problems relating to first human settlement. …
Implications of Petrographic Temper Analysis for Oceanian Prehistory
Impact of hydro‐isostatic holocene sea‐level change on the geologic context of Island archaeological sites, Northern Ha'apai group, Kingdom of Tonga
Archaeological sites in the northern Ha'apai Group of central Tonga occur on small islands within the uplifted forearc belt of the Tonga‐Kermadec arc‐trench system. The present inland positions of occupation sites that probably once occupied coastal settings imply significant expansion of some island shorelines during late Holocene time (ca. 3250 B.P. to present). Geologic processes leading potentially to enlargement of the islands include contin…
Sourcing temper sands in ancient ceramics with U–Pb ages of detrital zircons
Early Lapita sites, the colonisation of Tonga and recent data from northern Ha'apai
Recent and earlier archaeological research in the northern Ha'apai island group, Kingdom of Tonga, has documented several sites associated with initial colonization and expansion during the Lapita period. Excavated and other data for these sites are described in a preliminary fashion and placed within the larger context of Lapita archaeology in Tonga. The earliest sites, including Tongoleleka on Li fuka Island, Faleloa on Foa Island and Pukotala …
Geoarchaeology of Tonga
Ancient settlement patterns in central Tonga, at the southeastern limit of Lapita expansion into Remote Oceania ̃3 ka, were conditioned by island geomorphology as controlled by spatial geotectonic features and temporal changes in relative sea level on island coasts. Volcanic islands provided lithic resources, but human populations were concentrated on nonvolcanic forearc islands underlain by limestone covered by airfall tephra blankets that weath…
Ceramic petrography and cultural interaction in Palau, Micronesia
Chemical Characterization of Micronesian Ceramics Through Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis
Beach Ridges as Favored Locales for Human Settlement on Pacific Islands
Coastal beach ridges have been favored locales for human habitations on Pacific islands since initial human settlement. Their smooth crests shaped by surf action form sandy substrates that differ in morphology from eolian dunes. Island beach ridges that were accreted to island cores during post‐mid‐Holocene drawdown in regional hydro‐isostatic sea level include coastal spits that partially enclose backbeach wetlands, tombolos that tie previously …
Connection and competition
Results of petrographic analysis for ten New Caledonian Lapita pottery assemblages are presented in this paper. These findings enable us to identify several major pottery production areas during the Lapita period. It could be argued that the rise of pottery production traditions at the northern bank of the Diahot Valley near Ouégoa/Pouébo in the north, and the region between Tontouta and Nouméa/Saint Louis in the south, was influential in the for…
Sourcing Olive Jars Using U‐Pb Ages of Detrital Zircons
We present U‐Pb ages of zircons extracted from olive jars recovered from two sites associated with Alvaro de Mendaña y Neyra's colonising expedition to the Solomon Islands, c . 1595–1596 A.D. The olive jars were previously associated with Panamanian and Peruvian origins based on petrological and geochemical studies. To further define provenance, 143 zircons were extracted from five olive jar sherds, analyzed and dated. The resultant U‐Pb ages ran…
Late Lapita occupation and its ceramic assemblage at the Sigatoka Sand Dune site, Fiji, and their place in Oceanic prehistory
The Sigatoka Sand Dune site on the island of Viti Levu, Fiji, has been continuously eroding over the past half century. Large‐scale excavations here in the mid‐1960s documented a Late Lapita ceramic horizon, one significantly including many restorable or diagnostically complete vessels. A 1998 discovery of an intact segment of this deposit led to renewed excavation and the recovery of additional vessels. The results of this excavation are present…
Geologic sources and geographic distribution of sand tempers in prehistoric potsherds from the Mariana Islands
Temper sands in prehistoric potsherds of the Mariana Islands include terrigenous detritus derived from Paleogene volcanic bedrock and calcareous grains derived chiefly from modern fringing reefs, but also in part from uplifted Neogene limestones overlying volcanic bedrock. Calcareous sands are nondiagnostic of island of origin, but volcanic sands and the terrigenous component of hybrid sands composed of mixed terrigenous and calcareous grain type…
Japanese Jomon sherds in artifact collections from Mele Plain on Efate in Vanuatu
Fourteen cord‐marked sherds collected from the surface of yam gardens on Mele Plain near Port Vila on the island of Efate in Vanuatu are unlike any known prehistoric wares from Pacific islands. Based on typological analysis, comparative petrographic study of sand tempers supplemented by microprobe analysis of characteristic microperlite sand grains, and thermolumescence dating of key examples, we believe these sherds were made during the Early Jo…
Holocene Paleoshoreline and Paleoenvironmental History of Palau
Information from cores into the offshore reefs of Komebail Lagoon and into the coastal fringes of Babeldaob and neighboring islets allows the first well-constrained appraisal of the Holocene paleoshoreline history of Palau. Bulk subsidence of the island group since ∼5 kyr at a rate of ∼0.55 mm/yr is indicated jointly by both the offshore and the onshore datasets. Persistent subsidence of paleoshorelines since the initial human settlement of Palau…
Excavation on Nimowa Island, Louisiade Archipelago, Papua New Guinea
Small-scale excavation was undertaken at the Malakai site on the small island of Nimowa, located in the Louisiade Archipelago, Massim region, Papua New Guinea. This is the first excavation to be reported in detail from the archipelago, with the Malakai site providing insight into cultural practices on the island and pottery exchange in the southern Massim region. A stratified deposit was revealed with dense cultural material, first inhabited from…
Type X Pottery, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea
Type X is one of four Post-Lapita pottery styles reported from Huon Peninsula and the Siassi Islands of Papua New Guinea. Previous petrographic work was inconclusive about its likely area of origin but indicated a possible Huon Peninsula source. Renewed analysis of a larger sample supports this conclusion and confirms the use of grog temper. This kind of temper is otherwise not recorded in the New Guinea region, and its use in the production of T…
Temper Sands in Exotic Marquesan Pottery and the Significance of Their Fijian Origin
Petrographic restudy of quartzose temper sands in potsherds recovered by Suggs and Sinoto from the Ha'atuatua archaeological site on Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands confirms a previous tentative inference that they represent wares manufactured on the Rewa Delta of Viti Levu in Fiji. Temper sands in the exotic Ha'atuatua sherds and in prehistoric sherds excavated from the Nasilai site on the Rewa Delta are closely comparable, both qualitatively…
Petrographic studies and thermoluminescence dating of some potsherds from Mare and Ouvea, Loyalty Islands
Upolu (Samoa)
From the present subsea elevation of the ferry berth Lapita archaeological site off Mulifanua at the western tip of Upolu in Samoa, Dickinson and Green (1998) inferred that the site has subsided ∼4
Compositional analysis of Yayoi-Heian period ceramics from Okinawa
In Okinawa, locally produced pottery dates back to the Initial Jomon period ( ̃6500 14C yr B.P.). Later in time, especially during the Early Yayoi-Heian period ( ̃300 B.C.–A.D. 300), ceramic assemblages appear to contain mainland (Japan) Yayoi pottery. A greater number of these sherds present in Okinawa over time coincide with an increasing amount of interaction with mainland Japan, as evidenced by other exchange items. In this preliminary study,…
Sand temper of probable Fijian origin in prehistoric potsherds from Tuvalu
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Changing Times
Temper sands from prehistoric sherds excavated at Pemrang Site on Yap and from nearby Ngulu Atoll
Petrographic studies and thermoluminescence dating of some potsherds from Mare and Ouvea, Loyalty Islands
Sand temper of probable Fijian origin in prehistoric potsherds from Tuvalu
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Impact of hydro‐isostatic holocene sea‐level change on the geologic context of Island archaeological sites, Northern Ha'apai group, Kingdom of Tonga
Archaeological sites in the northern Ha'apai Group of central Tonga occur on small islands within the uplifted forearc belt of the Tonga‐Kermadec arc‐trench system. The present inland positions of occupation sites that probably once occupied coastal settings imply significant expansion of some island shorelines during late Holocene time (ca. 3250 B.P. to present). Geologic processes leading potentially to enlargement of the islands include contin…
Early Lapita sites, the colonisation of Tonga and recent data from northern Ha'apai
Recent and earlier archaeological research in the northern Ha'apai island group, Kingdom of Tonga, has documented several sites associated with initial colonization and expansion during the Lapita period. Excavated and other data for these sites are described in a preliminary fashion and placed within the larger context of Lapita archaeology in Tonga. The earliest sites, including Tongoleleka on Li fuka Island, Faleloa on Foa Island and Pukotala …
Sources of sand tempers in prehistoric Tongan pottery
The sources of volcanic temper sands in prehistoric pottery found on low-lying raised-coral islands of Tonga have long been uncertain. The paucity of noncalcareous sand on most inhabited Tongan islands has led to the suggestion that temper was imported from the active magmatic are to the west, or even that most pottery was imported to Tonga from Fiji. The simple mineralogy of the tempers, which are composed almost exclusively of pyroxene and plag…
Sand tempers in indigenous Lapita and Lapitoid Polynesian Plainware and imported protohistoric Fijian pottery of Ha'apai (Tonga) and the question of Lapita tradeware
The Lapita site at Faleloa on Foa Island in the Ha'apai Group of central Tonga lies near the southeastern end of the belt of Lapita sites spread through island Melanesia and western Polynesia during the millennium 1500–500 BC. Temper sands in Faleloa Lapita sherds closely resemble modern placer sands on beaches of islands within Ha'apai, and document local manufacture without intrusion of tradeware. Other Lapita and Lapitoid (Polynesian Plainware…
Sources of sand tempers in prehistoric Tongan pottery
The sources of volcanic temper sands in prehistoric pottery found on low-lying raised-coral islands of Tonga have long been uncertain. The paucity of noncalcareous sand on most inhabited Tongan islands has led to the suggestion that temper was imported from the active magmatic are to the west, or even that most pottery was imported to Tonga from Fiji. The simple mineralogy of the tempers, which are composed almost exclusively of pyroxene and plag…
Geoarchaeological context of Holocene subsidence at the Ferry Berth Lapita site, Mulifanua, Upolu, Samoa
The 1973 discovery of an underwater archaeological site during dredging for a ferry landing at Mulifanua on Upolu raised important unanswered questions about the prehistory of Samoa, particularly the evolution of Holocene shorelines and relative local sea levels. A cultural horizon yielding Lapita potsherds, the only decorated Lapita assemblage yet found in Samoa and dating to ca. 2.8 ka, lies at a depth of 2.25 m below modern sea level beneath a…
Temper Sands in Exotic Marquesan Pottery and the Significance of Their Fijian Origin
Petrographic restudy of quartzose temper sands in potsherds recovered by Suggs and Sinoto from the Ha'atuatua archaeological site on Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands confirms a previous tentative inference that they represent wares manufactured on the Rewa Delta of Viti Levu in Fiji. Temper sands in the exotic Ha'atuatua sherds and in prehistoric sherds excavated from the Nasilai site on the Rewa Delta are closely comparable, both qualitatively…
Holocene Sea-Level Record on Funafuti and Potential Impact of Global Warming on Central Pacific Atolls
Geomorphic features inherited from the mid-Holocene glacio-hydro-isostatic sea-level highstand that affected the central Pacific region influence the susceptibility of atoll islets to potentially enhanced wave erosion associated with rise in sea level from global warming. Shoreline morphology on multiple islets of Funafuti atoll in central Tuvalu reflects a relative mid-Holocene sea-level highstand 2.2–2.4 m above modern sea level. Typical islets…
Japanese Jomon sherds in artifact collections from Mele Plain on Efate in Vanuatu
Fourteen cord‐marked sherds collected from the surface of yam gardens on Mele Plain near Port Vila on the island of Efate in Vanuatu are unlike any known prehistoric wares from Pacific islands. Based on typological analysis, comparative petrographic study of sand tempers supplemented by microprobe analysis of characteristic microperlite sand grains, and thermolumescence dating of key examples, we believe these sherds were made during the Early Jo…
Changing Times
Implications of Petrographic Temper Analysis for Oceanian Prehistory
Petrography and geologic provenance of sand tempers in prehistoric potsherds from Fiji and Vanuatu, South Pacific
Indigenous sand tempers in prehistoric potsherds from Fiji, Vanuatu, and neighboring islands of the eastern Solomon outliers and northern Melanesian borderland have diverse compositions reflecting the varied geology of different islands in patterns controlled by regional geotectonic relations. Mineralogical compositions of noncalcareous temper sands reflect the nature of the bedrock sources on different islands. Temper analysis indicates that the…
Chemical Characterization of Micronesian Ceramics Through Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis
Lapita on the Periphery. New data on old problems in the Kingdom of Tonga
Archaeological research in the Kingdom of Tonga over the past four decades illustrates a widespread distribution of Lapita coloniser sites throughout the archipelago. A 1999 re‐excavation and assessment of the Nukuleka (To 2) and Ha'ateiho (To 5) sites on Fanga 'Uta Lagoon on the southern island of Tongatapu, as well as survey of the Lapita‐age paleoshoreline of the lagoon, provide new insights on old problems relating to first human settlement. …
Geologic sources and geographic distribution of sand tempers in prehistoric potsherds from the Mariana Islands
Temper sands in prehistoric potsherds of the Mariana Islands include terrigenous detritus derived from Paleogene volcanic bedrock and calcareous grains derived chiefly from modern fringing reefs, but also in part from uplifted Neogene limestones overlying volcanic bedrock. Calcareous sands are nondiagnostic of island of origin, but volcanic sands and the terrigenous component of hybrid sands composed of mixed terrigenous and calcareous grain type…
Ceramic petrography and cultural interaction in Palau, Micronesia
Late Lapita occupation and its ceramic assemblage at the Sigatoka Sand Dune site, Fiji, and their place in Oceanic prehistory
The Sigatoka Sand Dune site on the island of Viti Levu, Fiji, has been continuously eroding over the past half century. Large‐scale excavations here in the mid‐1960s documented a Late Lapita ceramic horizon, one significantly including many restorable or diagnostically complete vessels. A 1998 discovery of an intact segment of this deposit led to renewed excavation and the recovery of additional vessels. The results of this excavation are present…
Compositional analysis of Yayoi-Heian period ceramics from Okinawa
In Okinawa, locally produced pottery dates back to the Initial Jomon period ( ̃6500 14C yr B.P.). Later in time, especially during the Early Yayoi-Heian period ( ̃300 B.C.–A.D. 300), ceramic assemblages appear to contain mainland (Japan) Yayoi pottery. A greater number of these sherds present in Okinawa over time coincide with an increasing amount of interaction with mainland Japan, as evidenced by other exchange items. In this preliminary study,…
Mask Cave
Excavations at Mask Cave on the sacred islet of Pulu off Mabuyag in the central west of Zenadh Kes (Torres Strait) reveal four occupational phases: Phase 1 (2900–3800 years ago), Phase 2 (2100–2600 years ago), Phase 3 (1500–1700 years ago) and Phase 4 (last 1500 years). Faunal remains indicate marine specialization (turtle and fish) during all phases. Petrographic analysis of sherds of finely made red‐slipped pottery dating back 2400–2600 years r…
Type X Pottery, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea
Type X is one of four Post-Lapita pottery styles reported from Huon Peninsula and the Siassi Islands of Papua New Guinea. Previous petrographic work was inconclusive about its likely area of origin but indicated a possible Huon Peninsula source. Renewed analysis of a larger sample supports this conclusion and confirms the use of grog temper. This kind of temper is otherwise not recorded in the New Guinea region, and its use in the production of T…
Upolu (Samoa)
From the present subsea elevation of the ferry berth Lapita archaeological site off Mulifanua at the western tip of Upolu in Samoa, Dickinson and Green (1998) inferred that the site has subsided ∼4
Holocene Paleoshoreline and Paleoenvironmental History of Palau
Information from cores into the offshore reefs of Komebail Lagoon and into the coastal fringes of Babeldaob and neighboring islets allows the first well-constrained appraisal of the Holocene paleoshoreline history of Palau. Bulk subsidence of the island group since ∼5 kyr at a rate of ∼0.55 mm/yr is indicated jointly by both the offshore and the onshore datasets. Persistent subsidence of paleoshorelines since the initial human settlement of Palau…
Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies (39 works) · Archaeology (36 works) · Geography (35 works) · Geology (28 works) · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (22 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (17 works) · Paleontology (17 works) · Pottery (17 works) · Prehistory (13 works) · History (12 works)