Mansiri in North Sulawesi: A new dentate-stamped pottery site in Island Southeast Asia

Abstract

This report outlines new results from the Mansiri site, close to Toraut village, in North Sulawesi. A series of small excavations in 2015 recovered red-slipped pottery with decorations including dentate stamping, most commonly in straight or curved lines, circle impression and red painting including horizontal lines sometimes associated with dentate-stamped borders. These are decorative similarities shared with middle Lapita assemblages from the southwest Pacific, but the Mansiri assemblage also shows notable differences from the highly ornate Lapita pottery. Initial radiocarbon dating from the excavation shows evidence of a possible pre-3000 BP deposit at the site.