A shell disc bead maker's workshop from Kavewa Island, northern Fiji

Abstract

ABSTRACT Test excavations of an early Lapita colonising site on Kavewa Island off the north‐east coast of Vanua Levu in 2012 encountered an abundant assemblage of Anadara shell disc beads and preforms, as well as lithic micro‐drills for bead perforation. Concentrated in the upper strata of a 1 × 1 m unit, radiocarbon dates place this assemblage in the interval 2490–2280 calBP. Production stages (chaîne opératoire) in bead manufacture are described as is the fabrication of micro‐drills through bipolar flaking of small quartz, chalcedony and chert clasts, locally acquired from Malau breccia. A survey of the Oceanic literature relating to stone drills and shell bead production finds a comparable assemblage only at Bootless Bay, Motupore Island, Papua New Guinea. This assemblage, however, is 3500 km distant and 1750 years more recent in time. The production of beads and micro‐drills represents specialised expertise. Whether this supported an external exchange system, or was exclusively related to household use, cannot be determined.

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