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. 2016 Jan 12;113(2):292-7.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1516186113. Epub 2015 Dec 28.

Early Lapita skeletons from Vanuatu show Polynesian craniofacial shape: Implications for Remote Oceanic settlement and Lapita origins

Frédérique Valentin  1 , Florent Détroit  2 , Matthew J T Spriggs  3 , Stuart Bedford  4
Affiliations

Early Lapita skeletons from Vanuatu show Polynesian craniofacial shape: Implications for Remote Oceanic settlement and Lapita origins

Frédérique Valentin et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

With a cultural and linguistic origin in Island Southeast Asia the Lapita expansion is thought to have led ultimately to the Polynesian settlement of the east Polynesian region after a time of mixing/integration in north Melanesia and a nearly 2,000-y pause in West Polynesia. One of the major achievements of recent Lapita research in Vanuatu has been the discovery of the oldest cemetery found so far in the Pacific at Teouma on the south coast of Efate Island, opening up new prospects for the biological definition of the early settlers of the archipelago and of Remote Oceania in general. Using craniometric evidence from the skeletons in conjunction with archaeological data, we discuss here four debated issues: the Lapita-Asian connection, the degree of admixture, the Lapita-Polynesian connection, and the question of secondary population movement into Remote Oceania.

Keywords: Pacific Islands peopling; Polynesian origin; early Lapita; morphometric analysis; skull.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Teouma Lapita skulls TEO 10a, 10b, 10c, 17, and 30a [images of the skull courtesy of Chris Smith (Anatomy Museum Curator, University of Otago] and burial features B17 and B30 (bone collection B30 lies on the lower limbs of without-skull burial B44) [computer-assisted design courtesy of Michèle Ballinger (CNRS, UMR 7041)].
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
PCA on the log-shape ratios of 11 craniofacial variables for 270 recent and 17 archaeological specimens: scatter plot of specimens on PC1 vs. PC2, with 95% ellipses for the five geographical groups of recent specimens and plot of the 11 craniofacial variables (log shape ratio) scores for PC1 vs. PC2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
LD1 vs. LD2: scatter plot of the 270 recent specimens (with 95% ellipses for the five geographical groups) used to compute the discriminant functions and 17 archaeological specimens (predicted values).
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Bar plot of the predicted probabilities of posterior assignations to the five geographical groups: (A) Australian archaeological specimens; (B) Javanese archaeological specimens; (C) Pacific archaeological specimens. A, Australia; ME, Melanesia; C, Chinese; MI, Micronesia; P, Polynesia.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.
Teouma archaeological specimens: bar plot of the predicted probabilities of posterior assignations to the five geographical groups (AUST, Australia; MELA, Melanesia; CHIN, Chinese; MICR, Micronesia; POLY, Polynesia.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Bedford S. 2006. Pieces of the Vanuatu Puzzle: Archaeology of the North, South and Centre, Terra Australis 23 (Pandanus, Canberra, Australia)
    1. Bedford S, Clark G. 2001. The rise and rise of the incised and applied relief tradition: A review and reassessment. The Archaeology of Lapita Dispersal in Oceania, Terra Australis 17, eds Clark G, Anderson A, Sorovi-Vunidilo T (Pandanus, Canberra, Australia), pp 61–74.
    1. Hanihara T. Craniofacial continuity and discontinuity of Far Easterners in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. J Hum Evol. 1994;27(5):417–441.
    1. Pietrusewsky M. The modern inhabitants of Island Southeast Asia: A craniometric perspective. In: Indriati E, editor. Recent Advances on Southeast Asian Paleoanthropology and Archaeology. Faculty of Medicine, Gadjah Mada University; Yogyakarta, Java: 2008. pp. 185–201.

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