@article{406054ab6e6b4763895c2dbbdeb7a0fa,
title = "Long-distance Lapita pottery transfers and ancient social relationships: A case study from the St. Maurice-Vatcha (KVO003) Lapita site on {\^I}le des Pins, New Caledonia (Southern Melanesia)",
abstract = "In this paper we present petrographic analyses of 68 Lapita pottery sherds excavated from the St. Maurice-Vatcha Lapita site located on the southeast coast of {\^I}le des Pins, New Caledonia and dated between 950 and 800 cal BC. Nearly two-thirds of these samples were without doubt made in the Diahot River valley region at the northwestern end of the main island (Grande Terre) some 400 km away from {\^I}le des Pins. Samples from another major geological region on the west coast of Grande Terre have also been identified, but no local production has been recognized so far. We propose that long-distance pottery transportation between the Diahot River valley settlers and those who inhabited {\^I}le des Pins may indicate: (1) an early establishment of Lapita settlements (so far undiscovered) in the Diahot region before occupation of {\^I}le des Pins; and (2) a persistent and preferred relationship between {\^I}le des Pins and the Diahot River valley. Other communities located on various parts of Grande Terre also established relationship with inhabitants of St. Maurice-Vatcha, but these do not appear to have been as intensive or long-lasting as those from the Diahot River valley. Surprisingly, Lapita people of the nearby Loyalty Islands – probably the earliest Lapita settlers of the entire New Caledonia archipelago – do not appear to have supplied pottery to those occupying {\^I}le des Pins during this time period.",
keywords = "Diahot Valley, Lapita pottery, New Caledonia, Petrography, Vatcha",
author = "Scarlett Chiu and David Killick and Christophe Sand and Yuyin Su",
note = "Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments that helped improve and clarify this manuscript. We express our gratitude to Dr. Pierre Maurizot, who kindly provided us detailed geological maps of New Caledonia, and Dr. Jon Spencer for providing a complete set of the petrographic reports of the late Prof. W. Dickinson. We also like to thank Miss Jia-Zhun Chang for drawing up the geological map of {\^I}le des Pins for this publication. During the study, Christophe Sand was director of the Institute of Archaeology of New Caledonia and the Pacific (IANCP), which curates the Vatcha collections. This project has been funded by the Taiwan National Science Council (NSC-96-2628-H-001-043, NSC-101-2410-H-001-038), the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST-104-2628-H-001-006-MY2), and the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (RG006-D-14). Scarlett Chiu and Yuyin Su also thank the School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona, and its Director, Dr. Diane Austin, for their hospitality over multiple visits to Tucson. Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments that helped improve and clarify this manuscript. We express our gratitude to Dr. Pierre Maurizot, who kindly provided us detailed geological maps of New Caledonia, and Dr. Jon Spencer for providing a complete set of the petrographic reports of the late Prof. W. Dickinson. We also like to thank Miss Jia-Zhun Chang for drawing up the geological map of ?le des Pins for this publication. During the study, Christophe Sand was director of the Institute of Archaeology of New Caledonia and the Pacific (IANCP), which curates the Vatcha collections. This project has been funded by the Taiwan National Science Council (NSC-96-2628-H-001-043, NSC-101-2410-H-001-038), the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST-104-2628-H-001-006-MY2), and the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (RG006-D-14). Scarlett Chiu and Yuyin Su also thank the School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona, and its Director, Dr. Diane Austin, for their hospitality over multiple visits to Tucson. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 Elsevier Ltd",
year = "2020",
month = dec,
doi = "10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102641",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "34",
journal = "Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports",
issn = "2352-409X",
publisher = "Elsevier BV",
}