A Lapita presence on Arop/Long Island, Vitiaz Strait, Papua New Guinea?

Abstract

This chapter investigates how Lapita communities used the Vitiaz Strait as a conduit for migration and exchange.We report provisional archaeological work on Arop/Long Island in the Vitiaz Strait of Papua New Guinea, providing insight into occupation prior to the c. 1660 AD eruption.This includes the finding of a potsherd overlapping in form and technology with Lapita plainware from the Siassi Islands.This sherd is tempered with sand probably deriving from Schouten Arc geology of south-west New Britain.Type X and Madang-style pottery is also present.Obsidian stone tools from surface collections all derive from the Kutau-Bao source in West New Britain and these were supplemented by local low-quality volcanic raw materials.We posit that these tentative finds are suggestive of Lapita occupation on the island, or exchange with Lapita communities around New Britain.

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