THE NEED FOR LAPITA - EXPLAINING CHANGE IN THE LATE HOLOCENE PACIFIC ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD

The changes visible in the late Holocene archaeological record of Isla nd Melanesia have traditionally been explained through a culture-histo rical framework, in which the appearance of Lapita pottery and an asso ciated suite of portable artefacts, plant and faunal remains was consi dered evidence of a distinct cultural group arriving in the region. Ev idence from pre-Lapita sites in the region, dating to as early as the late Pleistocene has demonstrated that island colonization in the Paci fic has a far greater antiquity than previously considered. Continuity in aspects of the pre-Lapita and Lapita assemblages in Island Melanes ia indicate that many of the colonization strategies previously consid ered to have first appeared with Lapita were in fact developed well be fore the late Holocene. This has necessitated reassessment of the conc ept of Lapita as a subsistence package fully imported to Melanesia fro m Island Southeast Asia, and acknowledgement of the multiple origins o f aspects of the assemblages. As a consequence, there has been a demis e in the simplistic cultural explanation for the appearance of Lapita in Island Melanesian assemblages. However, as yet the archaeological e vidence has offered no alternative explanation for the late Holocene c hanges which coincide with the initial colonization of Remote Oceania by the makers and bearers of Lapita pottery.