2.2 Speculative Prehistories for the Lapita Peoples
19
to the Bismarcks and Solomons, allowing for cultural interactions within this corridor, with associated cultural inputs from the Island Southeast Asian world into
Near Oceania in the interval between 6,000 and 3,100 years ago. The third variant, the “Voyaging Corridor Triple I” [7], allows for the intrusion of new elements
into the Lapita cultural complex during the migration process, with integration of
materials and technologies from indigenous inhabitants in Near Oceania and innovation, the independent development of new technologies and components within
the “voyaging corridor”.
It is easy in retrospect to see the shifting of emphasis in these prehistories as
corresponding to changing perceptions over time of the archaeological evidence. At
first Lapita pots were seen as denoting a major cultural discontinuity, corresponding
to the sudden arrival in Near Oceania of “pottery-using agriculturalists”. Matthew
Spriggs defines the change in cultural horizon for Near Oceania demarcated by the
distinctive elements of the Lapita cultural complex. Spriggs lists the attributes of
Lapita culture in contrast to earlier cultures in the region: the first convincing evidence of settled agriculture; the first appearance of the three Pacific domesticates,
pig, dog and chicken, and thus the beginnings of Pacific animal husbandry; the distinctive decorative system of Lapita pottery, using dentate-stamping and incising;
the building of stilt huts over lagoons; a distinctive Lapita stone adze kit; a distinctive range of shell ornaments; and a major extension in the trading range for New
Britain and Manus obsidian from Sabah, in Borneo, in the west to Fiji in the east, a
spread of 7,000 km [8].
Support for the theory of an Express Train from Taiwan to the Bismarcks was
based on the strong early perception of cultural discontinuity. The arrival in Near
Oceania of a more evolved culture from outside the region seemed an obvious
explanation for such a discontinuity. A Taiwanese origin for the Lapita peoples,
moreover, appeared to be supported by linguistic evidence . All three of the “Out of
Taiwan” models – the Express Train to Polynesia, the Slow Boat to the Bismarcks
and the Voyaging Corridor Triple I – rely on the fact that nine out of the ten
Austronesian languages are spoken by the isolated indigenous tribes of Taiwan.
Diversity is frequently considered a pointer to linguistic and genetic origins. But
it is an incontrovertible fact that the tenth Austronesian language (to which all
Polynesian languages and all other Austronesian languages outside Taiwan belong)
is not spoken at all in Taiwan. The diversity of Austronesian languages in Taiwan,
although the tenth language is not represented there, has driven speculative models
for Lapita prehistory which claim a late Taiwanese origin for the Lapita peoples.
Pottery-making at the time that the Out of Taiwan theory was proposed was
linked to the concept of a Neolithic revolution in which expanding farming populations replaced earlier hunter/gatherer populations. Pottery was associated with
permanent settlement and with the storage of agricultural goods. The concept of a
Neolithic expansion was tied to demographic evidence for a significant population
increase following a change to settled agriculture. Thus the adoption of agriculture
in the Fertile Crescent was seen as leading to population expansion with farmers
moving inexorably across Europe 8,000 years ago, replacing earlier hunter/gatherer
populations. Perhaps with this model in mind, Pacific prehistorians saw the Han
19
to the Bismarcks and Solomons, allowing for cultural interactions within this corridor, with associated cultural inputs from the Island Southeast Asian world into
Near Oceania in the interval between 6,000 and 3,100 years ago. The third variant, the “Voyaging Corridor Triple I” [7], allows for the intrusion of new elements
into the Lapita cultural complex during the migration process, with integration of
materials and technologies from indigenous inhabitants in Near Oceania and innovation, the independent development of new technologies and components within
the “voyaging corridor”.
It is easy in retrospect to see the shifting of emphasis in these prehistories as
corresponding to changing perceptions over time of the archaeological evidence. At
first Lapita pots were seen as denoting a major cultural discontinuity, corresponding
to the sudden arrival in Near Oceania of “pottery-using agriculturalists”. Matthew
Spriggs defines the change in cultural horizon for Near Oceania demarcated by the
distinctive elements of the Lapita cultural complex. Spriggs lists the attributes of
Lapita culture in contrast to earlier cultures in the region: the first convincing evidence of settled agriculture; the first appearance of the three Pacific domesticates,
pig, dog and chicken, and thus the beginnings of Pacific animal husbandry; the distinctive decorative system of Lapita pottery, using dentate-stamping and incising;
the building of stilt huts over lagoons; a distinctive Lapita stone adze kit; a distinctive range of shell ornaments; and a major extension in the trading range for New
Britain and Manus obsidian from Sabah, in Borneo, in the west to Fiji in the east, a
spread of 7,000 km [8].
Support for the theory of an Express Train from Taiwan to the Bismarcks was
based on the strong early perception of cultural discontinuity. The arrival in Near
Oceania of a more evolved culture from outside the region seemed an obvious
explanation for such a discontinuity. A Taiwanese origin for the Lapita peoples,
moreover, appeared to be supported by linguistic evidence . All three of the “Out of
Taiwan” models – the Express Train to Polynesia, the Slow Boat to the Bismarcks
and the Voyaging Corridor Triple I – rely on the fact that nine out of the ten
Austronesian languages are spoken by the isolated indigenous tribes of Taiwan.
Diversity is frequently considered a pointer to linguistic and genetic origins. But
it is an incontrovertible fact that the tenth Austronesian language (to which all
Polynesian languages and all other Austronesian languages outside Taiwan belong)
is not spoken at all in Taiwan. The diversity of Austronesian languages in Taiwan,
although the tenth language is not represented there, has driven speculative models
for Lapita prehistory which claim a late Taiwanese origin for the Lapita peoples.
Pottery-making at the time that the Out of Taiwan theory was proposed was
linked to the concept of a Neolithic revolution in which expanding farming populations replaced earlier hunter/gatherer populations. Pottery was associated with
permanent settlement and with the storage of agricultural goods. The concept of a
Neolithic expansion was tied to demographic evidence for a significant population
increase following a change to settled agriculture. Thus the adoption of agriculture
in the Fertile Crescent was seen as leading to population expansion with farmers
moving inexorably across Europe 8,000 years ago, replacing earlier hunter/gatherer
populations. Perhaps with this model in mind, Pacific prehistorians saw the Han