Teouma is a major

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

site from Teouma Bay on the island of Éfaté in

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

. The site contains the oldest known cemetery within the

Pacific Islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...

, and has been important in the gathering of information relating to the

Lapita The Lapita culture is the name given to a Neolithic Austronesian people and their distinct material culture, who settled Island Melanesia via a seaborne migration at around 1600 to 500 BCE. The Lapita people are believed to have originated fro ...

people of the ninth and tenth centuries BC.

Archaeology

In late 2003, 26

inhumation Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and object ...

s consisting of 36 individuals were found in the largest-known cemetery located on the south coast of Éfaté Island in Vanuatu in the Pacific. The cemetery is thought to be between approximately 3200 and 3000 years old. A common feature of these burials is the presence of red pottery fragments bearing intricate designs. These individuals were buried in various positions. One consistent feature of the burials was the removal of the skull, following the decomposition of the periodontal ligaments. Once removed, these skulls were replaced with cone shell rings. This demonstrates a ceremonial culture.

Isotopic analysis

Isotope Isotopes are distinct nuclear species (or ''nuclides'') of the same chemical element. They have the same atomic number (number of protons in their Atomic nucleus, nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemica ...

analysis was performed on the excavated individuals to determine the characteristics of human migration in the Pacific during this time period. Researchers were able to analyze isotopes from 17 of the individuals. Subsequently, they found that four individuals had different isotope levels from the remaining 13. It is believed that these four individuals were immigrants, and in addition to having different isotope levels, they may have been different culturally as well.

Genetics

In 2016, researchers extracted the DNA from the

petrous bone The petrous part of the temporal bone is pyramid-shaped and is wedged in at the base of the skull between the sphenoid and occipital bones. Directed medially, forward, and a little upward, it presents a base, an apex, three surfaces, and three a ...

of three of the individuals buried at Teouma. This is the first successful DNA extraction from ancient samples taken from the tropics. The remains date to around 3,110 to 2,710 years old. DNA analysis confirmed that all three of the individuals were female. They all belong to Haplogroup B4a1a1a, the typical 'Polynesian motif'. aDNA analysis shows that the three individuals cluster together with another Lapita sample, dating to around 2,680 to 2,340 years old, taken from Talasiu,

Tongatapu Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukuʻalofa, Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% o ...

, Tonga; all together, the samples form a genetically distinct population when compared against modern populations. When compared against modern populations, the ancient samples from Teouma and Talasiu are genetically closest to the Ami and

Atayal people The Atayal (Atayal language, Atayal: Tayal), also known as the Tayal and the Tayan, are a Taiwanese indigenous peoples, Taiwanese indigenous people. The Atayal people number around 90,000, approximately 15.9% of Taiwan's total indigenous popula ...

from Taiwan, and the

Kankanaey people The Kankanaey people are an Indigenous peoples of the Philippines, indigenous peoples of northern Luzon, Philippines. They are part of the collective group of indigenous peoples in the Cordillera Central (Luzon), Cordillera known as the Igorot pe ...

from the northern Philippines, while sharing little similarity with modern Papuans. According to Matthew Spriggs, the ancient population at Teouma came " straight out of Taiwan and perhaps the northern Philippines".

References

Bibliography

*Bedford, Stuart et al. 2006. "The Teouma Lapita site and the early human settlement of the Pacific Island

*Bedford, Stuart et al. 2007. "The excavation, conservation and reconstruction of Lapita burial pots from the Teouma site, Efate, Central Vanuatu."
pdf
*Hayes, Susan et al. 2009. "Faces of the Teouma Lapita People: Art, Accuracy and Facial Approximation." Leonardo, Vol. 42, No.3. pp. 284–285

External links

Teouma
''Lapita Online Database Project'',

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...

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