ABOUT 3,000 YEARS AGO
The Lapita people
What we know
- The first people to settle Fiji, about 3,000 years ago, belonged to the Lapita cultural complex.
- Lapita pottery is recognised by fine decoration pressed into the wet clay with toothed (dentate) stamps.
- Lapita pottery is found across a wide arc of the Pacific, from the Bismarck Archipelago to Tonga and Samoa.
- At the Sigatoka Sand Dunes, wind and waves have uncovered ancient pottery and burials. The dunes became Fiji’s first national park in 1989.
- Bourewa, on the south-west coast of Viti Levu, is one of the earliest known settlement sites in Fiji.
- Archaeologists date sites from the pottery styles, shells and charcoal found in each layer.
Pictures in this chapter
Lapita pottery, Vanuatu Cultural Centre, Port Vila, Vanuatu (2013)
Reconstructed Lapita woman, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
Plaster cast of a Lapita pot sherd — Metropolitan Museum of Art
map of lapita area (2008)
Prehistoric pottery vessels, including some with Lapita designs, from the island of Taumako (1982)
Plaster cast of a Lapita dish — Metropolitan Museum of Art
Decorated Lapita potsherd from Bourewa, Fiji (2008)
Part of a 3000-year old pot rim, dentate-stamped and lime infilled, found at the Bourewa site, probably Fiji's earliest (2008)
Lapita potsherd from Fiji with a face design (2008)
Display of objects of the Lapita culture, Otago Museum, 2016-01-29
The Mana burial at Naitabale, Moturiki — one of the few Lapita-age skeletons ever found
Close-up of the skull of Mana, the Lapita lady found on Moturiki Island, Fiji, and dated to 800 BC (2004)
Reconstructed head of Mana, the first and only representation of a Lapita person - head is in the Fiji Museum (and we had to guess the hair type!) (2005)
Walking along the sand dunes at Sigatoka (2011)
Sigatoka Sand Dunes National Park, Viti Levu, Fiji (2026)
Sigatoka Sand Dunes National Park, Viti Levu, Fiji (2026)
Sigatoka Sand Dunes National Park, Viti Levu, Fiji (2026)
Bourewa Beach, Fiji, with horses (2009)
Hippopus hippopus (giant clam) exposed in 2800-year old shell midden, Bourewa, Fiji - these clams disappear from Fiji about this time, a result of sea-level fall and human predation (2008)
Hippopus hippopus (giant clam) from 2800-year old shell midden, Bourewa, Fiji - (2008)
Bourewa archaeological site (Fiji) excavated pits in 2009 - most artefacts are in the shell midden, through which most pits were dug
Sieving finds at the Bourewa excavation (2009)
Bourewa archaeological site (Fiji) excavated pits in 2009
Discovered in December 2004 by Patrick Nunn, Sepeti Matararaba and Roselyn Kumar, the Bourewa site is believed to be Fiji's earliest settlement, established as much as 3100 years ago
Bourewa archaeological site, excavated pits (2009)
Bourewa archaeological site, excavated pits (2009)
Drilled shell and bone and seed beads from the Lapita site at Bourewa in Fiji (2008)
Lapita people made and wore shell jewellery (2008)
Sources
More in First settlement
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This chapter’s text is awaiting cultural and historical review. Pictures keep the credit and licence of the collection that holds them.