Crossing the Pwanmwou: preliminary report on recent excavations adjacent to and south west of Mangaasi, Efate, Vanuatu

Abstract

Abstract From 1996–1999 a joint Australian National University–Vanuatu National Museum research and training program has been carried out at the site of Mangaasi, originally made famous through the pioneering research of José Garanger. The results of this research have led to a major reassessment of the Central Vanuatu ceramic sequence proposed by Garanger. In 1999 excavation commenced at an area known as Arapus which is located across the Pwanmwou Creek, immediately south west of Mangaasi. This paper focuses on this most recent season of research. It has revealed extensive settlement remains including an earlier phase not previously identified at Mangaasi which dates to around 2900 bp. The pottery from this earlier phase is characterised by plain globular cooking pots now named the Arapus style. It would appear to be the domestic cooking component of a Lapita assemblage. The results of the 1999 excavations have further confirmed the evolutionary nature of the ceramic sequences on Efate i.e. Lapita and Arapus to Erueti to Mangaasi.

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