"Every day at the site something new turns up... Teouma is the most interesting archaeological site I have ever worked on"
- Professor Matthew Spriggs of ANU
The Vanuatu National Museum – Australian National University (ANU) archaeological project at Teouma has begun another field season and already some unique finds have been made. The Teouma site is famous as the earliest ancient cemetery yet found in the Pacific Islands, at somewhere between 3200 and 3000 years old. After the site was discovered following bulldozing in association with the Teouma prawn farm at the end of 2003, the National Museum asked ANU archaeologists Professor Matthew Spriggs and Dr Stuart Bedford to investigate to see if there was anything still remaining after soil was quarried from the area. Bones, shells and pottery were found scattered at the site. The pottery was identified by National Museum staff as belonging to the Lapita culture, the culture of the first inhabitants of Vanuatu, and so the ANU specialists were called in to assist. With the much-appreciated support of the leaseholder, Monsieur Robert Monvoisin, Spriggs and Bedford organized an archaeological dig at the site and were amazed to find that instead of the early Lapita culture village site they expected to find, there was an ancient cemetery there instead. Indeed it was the earliest cemetery yet found by archaeologists in the region. In all cases the heads of the bodies had been removed after burial, as part of a ritual. What happened to the heads was a mystery until the burial of an old man was found with three heads placed on his chest. He too had no head and none of the skulls found on his chest belonged to him. Even more mysteriously, one of those skulls had a lower jaw with it but the jaw didn’t belong to any of the three skulls. Large pieces of decorated Lapita pottery had been scattered in the grave pits.
Monsieur Monvoisin has allowed a second season of archaeological work to take place this year and the archaeologists have had a busy 3 weeks working at the site. Given the importance of the site for Pacific history, the archaeologists have been careful to call in the assistance of specialists in biological anthropology, which includes the study of human bones. So they have been joined by experts from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, led by Dr Hallie Buckley, and by a specialist from CNRS and the University of Paris, Dr Frederique Valentin. Jacques Bole from the New Caledonia Museum, another specialist in human bones, has also joined the dig. Vanuatu National Museum staff, filworkas and villagers from Eratap are also very closely involved in the excavation. These include archaeologists Richard Shing, Andrew Hoffman and Willie Damelip from the Museum, artist Fidel Yoringmael and shellfish identification specialist Iarowoi Philip from Malakula, Eratap filwoka Silas Alben, and Salkon Jonah, filwoka from Epi, who first recognized the importance of the site and informed the National Museum staff about it at the end of 2003.
Are the heads to be found in the big pots placed next to them?
The dig will finish on 22 July but already some unique finds have been made. Lapita pots are usually found broken into many small fragments but at Teouma there are now at least 3 pots found in the last week which will be able to be put together again to form complete pots. Very few complete Lapita pots have ever been found and these are the first from Vanuatu. The first find was of a flat-bottomed dish placed upside down in the ground. Around its side were designs of human faces of two different types. When the archaeologists lifted up the pot they were amazed to find that it had been used as the lid of another large complete pot, and inside that pot was a human skull. Next door to this one was another pot placed upside down. Work continues on excavation of this pot – perhaps there is another pot and skull underneath that one too? A third pot had been badly damaged by later activity at the site, but the bottom of the pot was still whole and it contained further human bones. Next to the three pots were two skeletons, one of which had big shells placed over parts of the body. Like all the other adult skeletons found so far, the heads of these two skeletons had been removed after burial. Are the heads to be found in the big pots placed next to them? Further excavations will tell us. Several other skeletons have been found just this week and will be excavated over the remaining two weeks of the dig.
The earliest cemetery yet found by archaeologists in the region.The burials in pots are unique in the Pacific at this early period but are common in Island Southeast Asia starting about 5500 years ago in Taiwan, and a bit later in the Philippines and Indonesia
The burials in pots are unique in the Pacific at this early period but are common in Island Southeast Asia starting about 5500 years ago in Taiwan, and a bit later in the Philippines and Indonesia. They may give clues as to the origins of the Lapita culture, and therefore the origins of all Pacific peoples south and east of the main Solomons. The Lapita people were the first people to settle Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, and West Polynesia (Tonga and Samoa). Experts disagree about where they came from originally. Some think that the culture arose in the New Britain and New Ireland region of PNG, whereas others believe that it goes back to early farming peoples in Taiwan who later spread out across the Pacific, recruiting more migrants along the way. But now that we have many of the skeletons of these actual Lapita settlers it is hoped that this argument can be solved by measuring the bones and by extracting DNA from them. DNA studies will allow direct comparison with people living today in the Pacific. The DNA work will be carried out at the University of Auckland by Dr Lisa Matisoo-Smith and at the State University of New York at Binghamton in the USA by Professor Koji Lum. Professor Lum is well-known in Vanuatu for his research on malaria, in collaboration with the Department of Health. It may be possible to find out if these first inhabitants of Vanuatu suffered from malaria or whether the disease was introduced later on through continued contacts with the Solomon Islands and New Guinea.
Professor Matthew Spriggs of ANU said: “Every day at the site something new turns up which allows us insights into the religious beliefs and rituals of the first inhabitants of Vanuatu. Teouma is the most interesting archaeological site I have ever worked on. The excellent collaboration between Ni-Vanuatu specialists and institutions and top international researchers has been particularly satisfying. The National Museum of Vanuatu is the only Pacific Island institution that I know of that could organize such a major collaborative project, and the Director and staff must be congratulated. The support of the landholder, Monsieur Monvoisin, has also been critical. Without his support the project could not have taken place.”
These earliest Ni-Vanuatu had a good diet, and were big, strong people
From studies by Dr Hallie Buckley of the University of Otago, who gave a talk last Wednesday to the Friends of the National Museum, we already know that these earliest Ni-Vanuatu had a good diet, and were big, strong people. At least one third of adults had suffered some form of injury during their life, such as broken bones. The older adults also showed clear signs of degenerative diseases of the bones caused by various types of arthritis. Their upper arms were particularly strong and this is probably from paddling canoes on a regular basis. Next Tuesday 12 July, Dr Frederique Valentin of the University of Paris will give a talk at the Museum about the origins of the Lapita people from Teouma. The results will be preliminary because many months of study are still needed to complete the investigation.
Director of the National Museum Ralph Regenvanu said: “There is tremendous public interest in knowing where our ancestors came from all those thousands of years ago. Teouma is one of the most important archaeological sites yet found in the Pacific and gives us a real chance to study the culture and at the same time the biology and health of our ancestors”.
The study of the Teouma site is expected to contribute to the history curriculum in schools as the results become available. School visits are welcome to the site but should be coordinated through Marthe Yamsiu at the Museum (22129). Any Official parties wishing to visit should also coordinate their visits through Marthe.
A grant from the Snowy Mountains Electricity Commission Foundation has allowed the printing of posters and brochures and other support for the Schools program. Other funding comes from the various universities involved in the collaboration and from the Marsden Fund in New Zealand. The site is on private land and so the public are not allowed to visit. The area is off-limits to all, except with the permission of Monsieur Monvoisin, at weekends when it is guarded by security.
