The Mussau Islands Lapita Exchange Network: A Review of Three Decades of Analysis

Author(s): Patrick Kirch

Year: 2015

Summary

From 1985-88 the author conducted excavations at Talepakemalai (ECA) and other Lapita sites in the Mussau Islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, recovering an extensive assemblage of pottery, obsidian, lithics and manuports, and other materials. Efforts to geochemically characterize the diversity and trace the potential sources of ceramic clay and temper, as well as the obsidian and other lithic materials from Mussau have continued over three decades. Throughout this evolving research project Bill Dickinson has made significant contributions. This paper reviews the complex technical and methodological issues involved, and summarizes our current understanding of early Far Western Lapita exchange.

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Cite this Record

The Mussau Islands Lapita Exchange Network: A Review of Three Decades of Analysis. Patrick Kirch. Presented at The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco, California. 2015 ( tDAR id: 395137)

Keywords

Geographic Keywords
Oceania

Spatial Coverage

min long: 111.973; min lat: -52.052 ; max long: -87.715; max lat: 53.331 ;