The archaeology of Lapita dispersal in Oceania: papers from the Fourth Lapita Conference, June 2000, Canberra, Australia

Abstract

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF LAPITA DISPERSAL publishes refereed papers from the Fourth Lapita Conference held in Canberra, 2000. Lapita archaeology is of fundamental importance to understanding the Pacific since it unearths information about the first people to establish themselves beyond the Solomon Islands to as far east as Samoa around 3000 years ago, and whose descendants eventually colonised Polynesia. The wide distribution of Lapita, its relatively rapid spread, debate about its origin, composition and mode of dispersal, and the meanings to be extracted from its distinctive and often striking ceramics are issues that underpin a sustained interest in it regionally and also from perspectives in world archaeology. This volume reports new results and interpretations about the nature of the Lapita phenomena and the varied transformations that affected Lapita society.