ISEA Neolithic and Lapita (and maybe origins of the
Polynesians)
archaeological evidence
New kinds of archaeological sites across ISEA (“Neolithic”) and Near Oceania (“Lapita”) dating to 3500-5000 BP
– Initial appearance of pottery, bones of pigs, dogs, chickens, agriculture (?)
– marine oriented: located on beaches, new fishing technology, bones of pelagic fish
– first sites in Remote Oceania (3500 BP) – related to Taiwan Neolithic (?)
ISEA Neolithic and early Lapita sites (“cleaned”)
Lapita sites
(Kirch 2000)
Lapita pottery
Distinctive fish hooks (off shore fishing?)
Linguistic evidence
Austronesian language historical relationships
Pig (Sus scrofa) DNA
Theories of ISEA Neolithic and Lapita
1. Express Train—Out of Taiwan straight to Oceania 2. Slow Train—Out of Taiwan but interaction in ISEA and Near Oceania
along the way 3. Slow Boat—Out of Wallacea (not Taiwan) 4. Entangled Bank—arises out of interaction across ISEA and Near
Oceania, no phylogenetic structure 5. Indigenous Innovation—pre-Lapita Melanesians figure it out with a little
help from SE Asia 6. Kon Tiki—Out of South America (Thor Heyerdahl), following trade winds
Fast Train