© Susan BulmerExcavation of Wanelek archaeological site, New Guinea Highlands, in 1972.
A 3000-year-old fragment of pottery has solved a mystery behind the movement of an ancient people of South East Asia into the Pacific.These ancient colonisers - known as Lapita - carried with them agricultural plants derived from mainland New Guinea. However, until now there has been no evidence of an early connection between the Lapita and indigenous New Guineans.
Now, a new analysis of pottery pieces found at a site in the New Guinea Highlands reveals a connection dating back to the time before the Lapita moved into the remote Pacific.
The discovery is important because "it is suggesting on the way to the Pacific, the Austronesian-speaking people who went on to become the ancestors of Polynesians actually went on to mainland New Guinea," says study co-author Dylan Gaffney, from the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Otago.
"Until recently it was thought they bypassed New Guinea and just migrated via outlying islands but [this find] suggests the Austronesian-speaking peoples developed ties with people living in the New Guinea Highlands on their way from South-East Asia to colonise remote Oceania," Gaffney says.
The Lapita people left Southeast Asia and entered the Western Pacific 4000-3000 years ago. About 300 years later they started heading east to become the first people to settle on the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji, moving later to Samoa and Tonga.
Evidence of their settlement is found in the remains of intricately patterned pottery used for rituals.
Gaffney says the study, published today in
PLOS One, is based on analysis of a number of pottery sherds excavated from Wanelek in the Kaironk River valley, in the New Guinea Highlands in the 1970s.
The research team returned to the excavation site recently and, using carbon dating technology, were able to date the site of the find to around 3000 years ago. Chemical analysis of the clay and temper on the pottery also revealed its manufacturing origin.
Gaffney says three technological factors - manual tempering, red slip, and paddle and anvil technique - found on the samples were indicative of Austronesian manufacture.
Eleven of the 12 pottery fragments analysed were made from materials found in inland New Guinea and then "traded up" into the Highlands. However one piece was manufactured along the northeast coast of New Guinea.
Comment: "During Shivratri, thousands of pilgrims visit this place and offer pujas, a perfect time when the water level in the river is low and most of the Lingas are visible with their bases called Yonis. Each Linga also has an individual bull carved facing towards them. No one really knows when or who carved these Lingas but it is speculated that the King of Sirsi, Sadashivaraya may have ordered their construction during his reign from 1678 to 1718."