The archaeology of Rossel Island, Massim, Papua New Guinea : towards a prehistory of the Louisiade Archipelago

Abstract

The research presented in this thesis is focused on the archaeology of Rossel Island, the easternmost island in the Milne Bay Province, otherwise known culturally as the Massim. Rossel Island is one of the larger islands in the Louisiade Archipelago, and situated 400km from the mainland it is also one of the most isolated islands in the region. The people on the island today speak a Non-Austronesian language that is unrelated to the Austronesian languages spoken elsewhere in the Massim. The complexities of their cultural traditions are also regionally unparalleled and the people themselves are genetically distinct. Rossel Island is therefore seen as a unique outlier in the Massim region. The major aims of the archaeological project were twofold. First, to develop a chronology for human occupation on Rossel Island; and secondly, to identify spatial and temporal changes in the archaeological record that relate to the cultural development of this unique island population in prehistory. To place Rossel Island in a comparative regional framework, excavation was also undertaken on Nimowa Island in the Louisiade Archipelago, 80km to the west of Rossel. Nimowa and its people are physically and culturally different to Rossel. Eight of the sites excavated on Rossel, and one excavated on Nimowa are presented in this thesis. Excavation and radiocarbon dating indicates that people have been on Rossel Island since at least 2500-2350 BP. However, waisted stone blades found on the surface suggest that the island was colonised considerably earlier than this, probably during the Late Pleistocene when sea levels were lower and the island was much larger. Lapita people are likely to have re-settled the Massim Islands after 3000 BP, but they either did not reach Rossel or did not settle on the island. Pottery and people had been on Nimowa since at least 1350-1300 BP. However, pottery was not introduced to Rossel until 550 BP. Rossel Island had an aceramic culture prior to this time. A southern Massim or Louisiade Archipelago pottery tradition had developed by 1350 BP, which consisted of a suite of relatively standardised vessel forms and decorative motifs. Pottery in the Louisiade Archipelago has then remained relatively consistent throughout the last millennia until colonial contact. The subsequent introduction of pottery to Rossel Island is argued to have coincided with the development of the Kula regional exchange network, which connected many of the islands in the Massim region. Rossel was never directly involved in Kula exchange; however one of the main Kula trade items, the bagi shell necklace, is made on Rossel Island and is recognised as a high quality and highly valued product. Archaeological evidence confirms that bagi style necklaces were being made on Rossel Island when pottery was first introduced. It appears that when the southern Massim islands became integrated into the Kula network, trade links between Rossel and the neighbouring islands in the Louisiade Archipelago were strengthened. Pottery was probably exchanged for bagi necklaces, which subsequently entered the Kula exchange. Show more