Lapita on an island in the mangroves? The earliest human occupation at Qoqo Island, southwest Viti Levu, Fiji

Abstract

In November–December 2004 a research team from the University of the South Pacific and the Fiji Museum undertook geoarchaeological investigations along the coast of the Rove Peninsula, part of southwest Viti Levu Island (Figure 1A) where evidence for Lapita-era occupation had been found on previous occasions (Kumar et al., 2004; Nunn et al., 2004). The main target was the extensive, early-period site at Bourewa but we were also shown a collection of pottery from nearby Qoqo Island (by owner Peter Jones) that included a dentate-stamped sherd that led to mapping and excavation of that island's coastal flat. Qoqo is a bedrock island (40,000 m²) reaching 32 m above sea level, located in the 7.3 km² mangrove swamp at the mouth of the Tuva River (Figure 1B). The island comprises two hills surrounded, particularly along their eastern side, by a 20-50 m broad coastal flat that also connects them (Figure 1C). At the time of Lapita arrival in Fiji, sea level was higher (+1.5 m, cal 3000 BP, Nunn 2005) and the hills on Qoqo are interpreted as recently-separated islands connected by a tombolo, the approximate form of which can be reconstructed today (Figure 1C).