The following images show ancient Lapita pot sherds, excavated in 2006 from the now-famous Teouma site on the island of Efate, being reconstructed into a complete pot at the Australian Museum in Sydney. Colin Macgregor, Manager of the Collections Integrity Unit at the Australian Museum (and trained as an archaeological conservator), is overseeing the conservation and reconstruction of this pot, and has been assisted by Ms Isa Loo, a post-graduate student of conservation at the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation at the University of Melbourne.
Takaronga Kuautonga, Curator of the National Museum of Vanuatu, received training from Colin at the Australian Museum in early 2006 in the conservation of ancient pot sherds from the same site (excavated in 2005) and in their reconstruction into complete pots for display. The pots he assisted to reconstruct in 2006 are now on display in the National Museum of Vanuatu. See: http://www.vanuatuculture.org/vchss/20060706_lapita_pot_exhibit.shtml
The reconstruction of the pot displayed in these images will be complete by June 2007, at which time they will be returned to Vanuatu for display in the National Museum.
All photos courtesy of Colin Macgregor.
