Through the generosity of the National Geographic Society in Washington D.C. who provided the major funding for this year's archaeological dig at Teouma on South Efate, five students from University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji, were able to gain valuable archaeological experience in excavating Lapita skeletons and other tasks for three weeks during the break from their studies.
The students came from Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. They are Tristelle Karae from Ambae, Bronwyn Oloni from Malaita in the Solomons, Ann Zonetta Tosiro from Pentecost, Michel Leodoro from Ambae and Tony Heorake from Ulawa in the Solomons. All are studying geography among other subjects at USP and have been involved in archaeological digs there before. Eddie Alick, a student at USP in Port Vila has also been volunteering on the dig.
A kava ceremony took place at Teouma on Monday to farewell the students, who flew back to Suva on Tuesday. At the kava ceremony one of the Directors of the excavation, Professor Matthew Spriggs from the Australian National University (ANU) thanked the students for their participation and noted that USP had recently committed to start teaching archaeology but had no funds currently to provide teachers for the subject. He hoped that the students would become "ambassadors for the importance of archaeology in studies of Pacific history" at USP in pressing for priority to be given to providing teaching in this area.
Professor Spriggs said: "Unfortunately, archaeology was neglected when USP was set up and there has never been regular teaching in it there by specialists in the discipline. The students who joined our team can see that Teouma and other archaeological digs can provide important information on their history and on the ancient connections between the different islands of the Pacific. Everyone wants to know where their ancestors came from and archaeology and related subjects can provide answers."
"It seems a big pity that you can learn about the ancient past of the Pacific Islands through archaeology at Universities in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the United States but you can't get up to date information on it taught by archaeologists at the major University in the Pacific itself"
"It seems a big pity that you can learn about the ancient past of the Pacific Islands through archaeology at Universities in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the United States but you can't get up to date information on it taught by archaeologists at the major University in the Pacific itself. Some of the USP staff have been very active in trying to promote archaeology at USP and I hope the students will go back to Suva and give them their strong support".
Co-Director Dr Stuart Bedford of ANU said that the students had been very important members of the Teouma excavation project and had learned a lot about how good archaeology was carried out, and how meticulous and slow the process of excavating ancient skeletons and other remains has to be. He said the experience of working with people from many different countries on the dig, including some of the top specialists in the area, was a great opportunity for the students.
Speaking at the ceremony on behalf of the USP students Mr Tony Heorake thanked the National Geographic Society for funding their participation, the ANU and the Vanuatu National Museum for organising the dig, the Museum Fieldworker Silas Alben and his family for providing accommodation at Eratap, and the rest of the Teouma dig team for their friendship and support. He said that the students had all really enjoyed their time in Vanuatu and had learned a lot about archaeology in the process. He then presented presents to Dr Bedford and Professor Spriggs on behalf of the students.
National Museum Director Ralph Regenvanu said: "Archaeology is a very important way of finding out about our past, about who we are and where we come from. Given the many recent discoveries in Vanuatu, including the earliest cemetery yet found in the Pacific at Teouma, and our strong international collaborations with Australia, France, New Caledonia and other countries, the USP campus in Vanuatu would be the natural place for archaeology to be taught, with further possibilities for USP students to be taught international best practice in archaeology conducted in association with the National Museum, and the chiefs, fieldworkers and communities of the country."
