The ceramic trail: Evaluating the Marianas and Lapita West Pacific connection

Abstract

Establishing the prehistoric migration pattern from the similarity of pottery attributes is a fundamental archaeological approach that was validated in the Pacific by the recognition that Lapita ceramics dated to c. 3200-2650 years ago are distributed from south New Guinea to Samoa. Recent work has suggested a connection between Lapita ceramics and the oldest pottery from the Mariana Islands based on the similarity of selected traits that are also widespread in Neolithic and Iron Age assemblages of the region. We compared decoration, vessel form and tool type in Lapita Western Pacific and early Marianas pottery assemblages to determine whether a Marianas ceramic signal can be detected in Lapita pottery from the Bismarck Archipelago. Results indicate that Marianas ceramics are significantly different from Lapita pottery and the presence of simple ceramic traits in different assemblages do not of themselves provide evidence for a migration from the Marianas to the Bismarck Archipelago.