Colonization of the Lapita peoples in Fiji: implication for the "express train to Polynesia" hypothesis

Abstract

Archaeological excavations at the Bourewa site in southwestern Viti Levu, the Fiji Islands, produced some important achievements to understand the prehistory of the Lapita peoples in Oceania. Radiocarbon dates showed the antiquity of the site around 1200 BC, which is contemporary with some earlier Lapita sites in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, the western regions of the Lapita distribution. An obsidian artifact obtained from the site was sourced to the Kutau-Bao quarry in Papua New Guinea, 4200 km away in a straight line. These evidences suggest that the initial settlement of the site was founded by direct colonizer from Papua New Guinea. Thus, these finds support the 'express-train' model presented by J. Diamond, in which the Lapita peoples arrived from the west and spread rapidly eastwards without measurable pause.