Date: Wednesday July 4th 

Convener: Peter Sheppard

Department of Anthropology, University of Auckland

 

Papers 

8:30 am

"The Geomorphic Context of  Inter-tidal Ceramic Occupation in the Western Solomon Islands"

Peter Sheppard  (University of Auckland) and Richard Walter (University of Otago)

 

In a recent paper we (Sheppard and Walter 2006) have proposed that Early Lapita occupation is absent from the Western Solomons and that occupation only begins in the Late Lapita period and is signalled by the presence of numerous inter-tidal sites. It could be argued that the earlier record has been destroyed or is not visible as a function of changes in the geomorphic context of sites, for example subsidence putting early sites much deeper under water. In this paper we: 1. review the location and chronology of known Late Lapita/Post-Lapita inter-tidal sites, 2. review the available literature on the geomorphic processes acting on these regions, and 3. evaluate the probability that these processes have obscured or destroyed the earlier record. We conclude that given the variety of contexts within which sites have been found across this broad region and the complexity of geomorphic histories within the region it seems unlikely that one simple process could account for the loss of an entire archaeological record.

 

 

9:00 am

"Paleoenvironmental History in Roviana Lagoon: Results from Pollen Analysis."

Sarah Grimes (South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission)

 

 

9:30 am

"Lapita interaction in the western Solomon Islands: the case of Kolombangara pottery" 

Findlater, A.M. (University of Otago), Summerhayes, G.R. (University of Otago), Dickinson, W.R. (University of Arizona), and Scales, I. (Australian National University)

This paper primarily reports the results of chemical characterisation of a sample of the stylistically late Lapita pottery found from two sites on Kolombangara, western Solomon Islands first described by Summerhayes and Scales (Archaeol. Oceania 40(2005): 14-20). Previous archaeological work is limited on Kolombangara and prior to the research of Summerhayes and Scales above, no Lapita sites or ceramics have been reported on this island, making these particular sherds significant for addressing regional issues in the interaction of Lapita in the Solomon Chain. This paper aims to contribute to the absence of knowledge of prehistoric interaction in this region by elucidating production patterns and asking whether samples appear to be from single or multiple production centres. A description of the pottery and geological setting is presented along with the results of petrographic analysis coupled with those from chemical characterisation on the University of Otago, Geology Department’s electron microprobe using an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). Finally preliminary comparisons are made between the results of this analysis and with previous favoured research concerning the possibility of trans-Solomon-Sea interaction during the later Lapita period from pottery temper studies in the western Solomon Islands (see Felgate 2000, Felgate and Dickinson 2001). The evidence for this interpretation is reviewed in light of the new evidence from Kolombangara, following the recommendations of Felgate and Dickinson (2001: 119).

 

10:00 am

"Prehistory with some pots - recent work on Santa Isabel, Solomon Islands"

David Roe (James Cook University)

Recent work on Santa Isabel in the central Solomon Islands has expanded the known distribution of ceramics in the archipelago.  This paper will present the very preliminary results of work conducted in 2006 in the Kia and Mbughotu areas of Santa Isabel and make some comment on the possible catalysts of change in those areas.

 

10:30am

Morning Tea

  

11:00 am

Communities of practice in the archaeologies of Tetepare, Rendova and New Georgia.

Tim Thomas (University of Otago)

 

In this paper I describe recent fieldwork on the islands of Rendova and Tetepare located on the southern edge of the New Georgia group. Archaeological surveys in the Lokuru region of Rendova amongst a group of Non-Austronesian speakers, and on unoccupied Tetepare, have added a new corpus of sites helping flesh out our knowledge of variation in regional cultural sequences. For the most part these sites date to late period prehistory, but they tell us much about cultural processes post-Lapita generally – including the maintenance of regional interaction systems and the development of communities of practice amongst diverse language groups. 

 

11:30am

"Ancestral Skull Shrines: Material Dialogues of Social Interaction in the Western Solomon Islands"

Anne McKenzie (University of Auckland) 

 

This paper presents the results of my recent Master’s research (McKenzie, 2007), which was conducted as part of the Bilua Bifoa Project and funded by the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Foundation. My results clarify the relationship between the elaboration of ancestral skull shrines and social interaction in the Western Solomon Islands. Archaeological and ethnohistoric data were collected during fieldwork in two areas on Vella Lavella Island and compared with established skull shrine data from Roviana Lagoon (Nagaoka, 1999). My research demonstrates that people on Vella Lavella and in Roviana Lagoon share a common skull shrine tradition, probably as the result of competitive emulation spurned by headhunting and trade interactions during late prehistory. Vella Lavella, a non-Austronesian speaking population, also utilizes the Austronesian terminology associated with skull shrines, suggesting this cultural tradition was adopted from Vella Lavella’s Austronesian-speaking neighbours.

My research also shows that skull shrines were transformed in both form and function by cultural differences in their specific contexts. Whilst skull shrines in Roviana Lagoon were primarily repositories for skulls of chiefs and utilised to validate chiefly hierarchy and authority at the level of the individual, skull shrines on Vella Lavella were instead repositories for the skulls of descent group members, sanctioning social hierarchy at the level of the descent group. In this context, skull shrines were not only loci for consulting with the ancestors, but also important symbols of the matrilineage and powerful mnemonics of the hierarchical inter-relationships among descent groups.

This research provides the first empirical study of skull shrines on Vella Lavella Island and contributes to theoretical understanding of the relationship between regional social interaction and socio-political change in Solomon Island late prehistory, a topic and period that have been largely overlooked.

 

12:00 noon

"Update on Recent Research of the Southeast Solomons Project"

 Roger Green

 

Efforts to rework, revise, and expand on the knowledge derived from the Ulawa, Ugi, San Cristobal, and Outer Eastern Island investigations of the 1970's, and especially those of the 1976-1979 phase 2 portion that concentrated on the Outer Eastern islands of the Solomons, have been in train now for a considerable period. Also it has been necessary to revise the conditions of the custodial care of these collections, transferring that responsibility from the author to Peter Sheppard and Geoffrey Irwin of the Department of Anthropology of the University of Auckland. This has been done with the agreement of the Solomon Islands National Museum and its long time Director, Lawrence Foanaota.

The initial arrangements, whose outline is expanded on here, were made through reciprocal internal emails and set out in a memorandum of July-August 2006 from the author to all those then carrying out research on these collections. They are henceforth to be held in safe-keeping by the University of Auckland, under the supervision of Geoff and Peter, until such time as it proves feasible to return them to more secure conditions in the Solomons, whose governmental property they are, when proper curation of them can again be expected to be undertaken by the Solomon Islands National Museum.

Much as the author of this communication would love to attend this Honiara conference on 'Lapita antecedents and successors', that is not a sensible option to implement, wishing as he does to maintain his recovery from the medical problems of last year. Thus its presentation at the conference will be made by Peter Sheppard on my behalf.

The object is to outline the current research and documentation efforts that are in train for the whole body of data that was gathered by the original participants in the Southeastern Solomon Islands Project.  It should also serve to guide others to the publications, either now appearing, in press, under review, or in preparation, that are planned in relation to the ongoing research on these databases. In sum, the previous memorandum of 2006 changes from being an internal document of restricted circulation to a more formal external document available easily transmitted in electronic form to those expressing a legitimate research interest what is happening now to  these three decade old collections from this mega-project.