Mission archaeology in Vanuatu: preliminary findings, problems, and prospects

Abstract

Christian missionaries were among the first permanent European settlers in the New Hebrides (as Vanuatu was called before independence in 1980). Notably, Scottish Presbyterians became established in the archipelago from the 1840s through to the early twentieth century. Most of what is known about this early period of interaction between Melanesians and foreigners comes from the official, heroic narratives written by the missionaries themselves, as well as other archival sources such as the accounts of explorers, traders, and naval officers during the nineteenth century. Archaeological research has just begun to explore the sites associated with the earliest New Hebrides missions. Material evidence from these places of interaction hints at the great potential for historical archaeology to create an account of the past that is inclusive of Melanesian and European perspectives, producing new insights about the ongoing role of colonialism in shaping interaction throughout the region.