Seminar: Christophe SAND
30 OCTOBER 19
Speaker: Dr. Christophe SAND (Senior Archaeologist, New Caledonia Cultural Bureau)
Title: Austronesian Settlement of the Polynesian Homeland: Archaeology and the End of the Lapita Trail
Date: Wednesday, October 30. 2019. 10:00 a.m.
Venue: Room 702, Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, Taipei
Abstract:
The Austronesian dispersal across Island South-East Asia and the
Western Pacific is today fairly well documented through archaeological
and related research. The presence of the distinctive Lapita regional
ceramic tradition from New Guinea in Northern Melanesia to Samoa in the
central Pacific, spanning a total extent of 4500 km, allows to follow
the progressive advance of human settlement across Near and
Remote Oceania. But archaeology has also identified rapid local
transformations of the ceramic kit after first Lapita discovery about 3000 years ago,
leading to the definition of a number of discrete Provinces. This presentation
will detail the latest data on the geographical triangle formed by Fiji,
Tonga and Samoa in the central Pacific, which represent the Eastern end of the
Lapita expansion. Excavations have shown that this Province rapidly exhibited a
whole number of unique typological evolutions in the Lapita material culture
and adapted to more restricted and often impoverished island settings. The
recent study of early skeletal remains allows today to re-evaluate the link
between these first Lapita settlers and the Polynesians on more robust ground,
to highlight the complexity of Oceania’s past. This also allows to question
the future of Lapita studies across the region.
Organizers:
- EFEO Taipei Center
- Institute of history and philology, Academia Sinica
The talk will be given in english.
lecture
Title: Austronesian Settlement of the Polynesian Homeland: Archaeology and the End of the Lapita Trail
Date: Wednesday, October 30. 2019. 10:00 a.m.
Venue: Room 702, Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, Taipei
Abstract:
The Austronesian dispersal across Island South-East Asia and the
Western Pacific is today fairly well documented through archaeological
and related research. The presence of the distinctive Lapita regional
ceramic tradition from New Guinea in Northern Melanesia to Samoa in the
central Pacific, spanning a total extent of 4500 km, allows to follow
the progressive advance of human settlement across Near and
Remote Oceania. But archaeology has also identified rapid local
transformations of the ceramic kit after first Lapita discovery about 3000 years ago,
leading to the definition of a number of discrete Provinces. This presentation
will detail the latest data on the geographical triangle formed by Fiji,
Tonga and Samoa in the central Pacific, which represent the Eastern end of the
Lapita expansion. Excavations have shown that this Province rapidly exhibited a
whole number of unique typological evolutions in the Lapita material culture
and adapted to more restricted and often impoverished island settings. The
recent study of early skeletal remains allows today to re-evaluate the link
between these first Lapita settlers and the Polynesians on more robust ground,
to highlight the complexity of Oceania’s past. This also allows to question
the future of Lapita studies across the region.
Organizers:
- EFEO Taipei Center
- Institute of history and philology, Academia Sinica
The talk will be given in english.
lecture