Excavation on Nimowa Island, Louisiade Archipelago, Papua New Guinea: Insights Into Cultural Practices and the Development of Exchange Networks in the Southern Massim Region

Abstract

Small-scale excavation was undertaken at the Malakai site on the small island of Nimowa, located in the Louisiade Archipelago, Massim region, Papua New Guinea. This is the first excavation to be reported in detail from the archipelago, with the Malakai site providing insight into cultural practices on the island and pottery exchange in the southern Massim region. A stratified deposit was revealed with dense cultural material, first inhabited from 1350 to 1290 cal. BP, with a subsequent period of settlement within the last 460-300 cal. years. Pottery, shell, and stone artifacts were recovered, as well as human skeletal remains in a primary burial context, which contributes to understanding regional patterns of prehistoric mortuary activity. It is argued that Nimowa was already part of an exchange network that encompassed many of the southern Massim islands when the Malakai site was first occupied. There is increased diversity in the number of vessel forms in later prehistory, but with remarkable continuity in the decorative motifs over time, suggesting some degree of regional social cohesion in the southern Massim. It appears that the northern Massim islands were not a major supplier of pottery to Nimowa. The implications for the prehistory of the wider region are subsequently discussed.

The origins of the Kula Ring: Archaeological and maritime perspectives from the southern Massim and Mailu areas of Papua New Guinea

“…On Rossel the Wule and Pambwa sites date the onset of SMP no earlier than 540 calBP (Shaw ). Dates of the same order have been reported from Unit A of the Malakai site on Nimowa by Shaw and Dickinson (). Three further charcoal dates from Malakai Units B and C, both excavated in 2017, were identical (420±30 BP, Beta479374, 487396 and 497398) and date the onset of SMP to no earlier than 530 calBP (upper date of the 2sd calibrated age range).…”

2500-year cultural sequence in the Massim region of eastern Papua New Guinea reflects adaptive strategies to small islands and changing climate regimes since Lapita settlement

“…Unit A (1 m 2 ) was excavated in 2012, but because of time constraints the base of the cultural deposit was not reached. The results of this preliminary investigation are presented in Shaw and Dickinson (2017), with these findings incorporated into the analyses presented here. Two 1 m 2 units (B and C) were subsequently excavated in 2017 to establish a full cultural sequence and are the focus of this paper.…”

“…BP ( ANU-32536 : charcoal) provides a terminal age for the deposition of Layer 6, a coarse pale brown beach sand which contained no cultural material except charcoal. Shaw and Dickinson (2017) had erroneously attributed this date to Layer 5. Settlement from 2490 to 1290 cal.…”

“…Trends in vessel form and decorative conventions occurred over the last 530 years reflect gradual changes in economic function and subsistence patterns (see also Shaw and Dickinson, 2017). From 530 to 400 cal.…”

“…Incision (comb and gash) was identified on >92% of decorated sherds in the form of geometric motifs. Impression and appliqué typically defined the upper and lower margins of the incised motif panels, accounting for its lower frequency in the assemblage (see also Shaw and Dickinson, 2017).…”