Geochemical Characterization of Lapita Ceramics From the Western Solomon Islands by Means of Portable X-Ray Fluorescence and Scanning Electron Microscopy

Abstract

International audienceThe study of interaction and exchange among different geographic areas in the Western Pacific occupied by Lapita people (3500-2500 BP) has been an important component of research into the colonization process of the Pacific region. The Western Solomon Islands, lying in the central area of the Lapita distribution, have a unique archaeological record presenting intertidal sites with Late/Post Lapita ceramics as the only material evidence of Lapita occupation. Previous studies have indicated that Lapita ceramic production was mainly local. However, temper analysis has identified exotic ceramics in Late Lapita sites in the New Georgia Group, indicating complex ceramic transfer including from outside the Solomon Islands region. Analysis of Late Roviana (New Georgia) and historic period ceramic sherd temper has also suggested ceramic transfer from the nearby island of Choiseul, where ceramics were manufactured until recent times. Here we present results of a series of portable X-ray fluorescence and Scanning Electron Microscopy analyses carried out on ceramic pastes from the New Georgia group in the Western Solomon Islands. These results confirm that during the Early (Lapita/Post Lapita) ceramic period, production was present at multiple locations and that ceramics were transferred at different geographic scales involving occasional long-distance interactions. During the later period (AD 1400-1900) ceramic production had a more restricted occurrence with transfer networks changing and receding to become exclusively regional

A new nondestructive approach to chemical analysis of potsherds using an X‐ray fluorescence microscope: Case study about the past pottery manufacture in the Yaeyama Islands

“…These results indicated that calcium, probably calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ), was added to some potsherds to temper them in the clay‐making process, like a seashell, and different potsherds had different mixing rates. In past studies, the addition of calcium as a dilution effect for tempering was reported, and this characterized the pottery . These results suggest that mapping analysis was effected for visible identification of the size and quantity of particles in clay.…”

“… However, these techniques are also destructive as they require thin samples, making it unsuitable for direct measurement of potsherd surface. Portable XRF enables nondestructive chemical analysis and is a useful instrument for on‐site field research of archeological material, but this method has problems arising from atmospheric conditions and manual measurement that negatively affect quantitativity and accuracy.…”

The natural variability of clay and its impact on provenance study of pottery in Vanuatu and further afield

“…(e.g., Hall, 2001; Li et al, 2008; Minc et al, 2016; Monette, Richer‐LaFlèche, Moussette, & Dufournier, 2007; Sherriff, Court, Johnston, & Stirling, 2002; Tschegg, Ntaflos, & Hein, 2009a; Vaughn & Neff, 2000). In Oceania, various pottery assemblages, from the earliest Lapita occupations (c. 3300–3200 BP) to much later traditions, have been the subject of compositional analysis involving collections from Mussau Islands (Hunt, 1989, 1993); Watom (Anson, 2000; Green & Anson, 1991, 2000); Manus (Ambrose, 1992, 1993; Ambrose, Duerden, & Bird, 1981); the Arawe Islands, West New Britain (Summerhayes, 2000); Buka Island, just north of Bougainville (Summerhayes, 1997); Papuan coastal areas such as Motupore Island on the southeastern coast of New Guinea (Rye & Duerden, 1982) and the Sepik Coast (Golitko, 2011) on the north side; Papuan islands of the Massim region (Shaw, Leclerc, Dickinson, Spriggs, & Summerhayes, 2016); Micronesia (Descantes, Neff, Glascock, & Dickinson, 2001); the Solomon Islands (Buhring, Azémard, & Sheppard, 2015; Tochilin et al, 2012); New Caledonia (Chiu, 2003a, 2003b, 2007); Vanuatu (Leclerc, ; Leclerc, Grono, Bedford, & Spriggs, ); Fiji (Bentley, 2000; Best, 1984; Clark & Kennett, 2009; Cochrane, 2004; Rutherford, Almond, & Nunn, 2012); Tonga (Burley & Dickinson, 2010); Samoa (Eckert & James, 2011); and a combination of samples from Fiji, Tonga and New Ireland (Kennett, Anderson, Cruz, Clark, & Summerhayes, 2004). The works of Allen and Rye (1982) in the Port Moresby area, Ambrose (1992, 1993) on Lapita pottery from Manus and Summerhayes (1997) on pottery from Buka, also documented clay properties and their effect on provenance studies.…”

Interaction and Isolation in New Georgia: insights from the Nabo Point ceramic assemblage, Tetepare

“…Petrographic analysis indicates this was imported from Choiseul (Buhring et al . 2015; Nagaoka 2011: 178–183).…”

“…In support of the intertidal ceramic sites of New Georgia being representative of a colonisation phase, involving the transport of people and ideas from outside the archipelago, are a series of studies on the temper and fabric of the pottery (Buhring et al . 2015; Felgate & Dickinson 2001; Findlater et al . 2009).…”