An Archaeology of Early Christianity in Vanuatu

Abstract

terra australis 44Terra Australis reports the results of archaeological and related research within the south and east of Asia, though mainly Australia, New Guinea and island Melanesia -lands that remained terra australis incognita to generations of prehistorians. Its subject is the settlement of the diverse environments in this isolated quarter of the globe by peoples who have maintained their discrete and traditional ways of life into the recent recorded or remembered past and at times into the observable present.

Prefabrication, Patrilineality, and Intergenerational Reuse: The Ruined Third Church of Aniwa, Southern Vanuatu, and its Integration into Domestic Architecture

“…The spread of the Christian religion in the Pacific coincided with the expansion of international capitalism through networks of commercial trade (e.g., Flexner 2016;Middleton 2006). One aspect of capitalism, and the ongoing effort for more efficient production, was the establishment of industries creating prefabricated structures for colonial endeavors (Hewitt et al 2018).…”

“…Christianity, in particular Presbyterianism, is a significant aspect of both Vanuatu's past and present, with 86% of ni-Vanuatu identifying as Christian in the 2009 census (Vanuatu National Statistics Office 2009: 25). The adoption of Christianity was not a uniform process but one that was flavored by local kastom (traditional beliefs and practices; see Flexner 2016). Presbyterian missionaries, primarily from Scotland, New Zealand, and Canada, were among the first permanent European settlers in the New Hebrides beginning in the 1840s (Miller 1978).…”

Archaeologies of Island Melanesia: Current Approaches to Landscapes, Exchange and Practice

“…The history of mission encounters in southern Vanuatu is a complex one, involving dramatic martyrdoms, heroic efforts by Samoan teachers (themselves only recent converts to Christianity), significant cultural misunderstandings, the creation of friendships, entanglement in local political struggles in the region, catastrophic setbacks and eventually the establishment of large, elaborate mission complexes that won large numbers of converts (Adams 1984;Flexner 2016a;Miller 1978Miller , 1981). Here we focus on early Presbyterian mission sites inhabited from 1856 to 1862.…”

Complexities and diversity in archaeologies of Island Melanesia

“…Remains of feasts are found in a variety of scales and materials, from faunal remains to microscopic residues found on the inside of pots (Leclerc et al this volume). In the period of European contacts, these systems further evolved to include settlers such as missionaries (Flexner 2016;Flexner et al this volume).…”