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Social networks and the spread of Lapita

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Robin Torrence  and
Pamela Swadling
Robin Torrence
Affiliation:
Anthropology, Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia (Email: [email protected])
Pamela Swadling
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Natural History, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Australia (Email: [email protected])
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Extract

Lapita pottery seems to arrive in the Pacific out of the blue, and signal a new social, economic or ideological network. The authors show that widespread interaction, articulated by obsidian tools and stone mortars and pestles decorated with various motifs, was already in existence in New Guinea and New Britain. These earlier networks provide a preview of the social interaction that was to light up with the advent of Lapita.

Keywords

Bismarck ArchipelagoPapua New GuineaNew BritainLapita potterynetworkssocial interactionobsidianmortar and pestle
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 82 , Issue 317 , September 2008 , pp. 600 - 616
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2008

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