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Evidence for Social and Cultural Change in CentralVanuatu Between 3000 and 2000 BP: Comparing

Funerary and Dietary Patterns of the First and LaterGenerations at Teouma, Efate

Frédérique Valentin, Estelle Herrscher, Stuart Bedford, Matthew Spriggs,Hallie Buckley

To cite this version:Frédérique Valentin, Estelle Herrscher, Stuart Bedford, Matthew Spriggs, Hallie Buckley. Evidencefor Social and Cultural Change in Central Vanuatu Between 3000 and 2000 BP: Comparing Funeraryand Dietary Patterns of the First and Later Generations at Teouma, Efate. Journal of Island andCoastal Archaeology, Taylor & Francis, 2014, 93, pp.381 - 399. �10.1080/15564894.2014.921958�. �hal-01411008�

This article was downloaded by: [Frederique Valentin]On: 11 November 2014, At: 00:10Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

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Evidence for Social and Cultural Changein Central Vanuatu Between 3000 and2000 BP: Comparing Funerary andDietary Patterns of the First and LaterGenerations at Teouma, EfateFrédérique Valentina, Estelle Herrscherb, Stuart Bedfordc, MatthewSpriggsd & Hallie Buckleye

a CNRS, ArScAn UMR 7041, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne,Paris Ouest-La Défense, Nanterre, Franceb CNRS, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, LAMPEAUMR 7269, Aix Marseille Université, Aix-en-Provence, Francec College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University,Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australiad College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University,Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australiae Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, NewZealandPublished online: 06 Nov 2014.

To cite this article: Frédérique Valentin, Estelle Herrscher, Stuart Bedford, Matthew Spriggs & HallieBuckley (2014) Evidence for Social and Cultural Change in Central Vanuatu Between 3000 and 2000 BP:Comparing Funerary and Dietary Patterns of the First and Later Generations at Teouma, Efate, TheJournal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 9:3, 381-399, DOI: 10.1080/15564894.2014.921958

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2014.921958

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Journal of Island & Coastal Archaeology, 9:381–399, 2014Copyright © 2014 Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 1556-4894 print / 1556-1828 onlineDOI: 10.1080/15564894.2014.921958

Evidence for Social andCultural Change in CentralVanuatu Between 3000 and2000 BP: ComparingFunerary and DietaryPatterns of the First andLater Generations atTeouma, EfateFrederique Valentin,1 Estelle Herrscher,2 Stuart Bedford,3 MatthewSpriggs,4 and Hallie Buckley5

1CNRS, ArScAn UMR 7041, Universite Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne,

Paris Ouest-La Defense, Nanterre, France2CNRS, Ministere de la Culture et de la Communication, LAMPEA UMR 7269,

Aix Marseille Universite, Aix-en-Provence, France3College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra,

Australian Capital Territory, Australia4College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra,

Australian Capital Territory, Australia5Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

ABSTRACT

In the southern Melanesian islands of Vanuatu, as in New Caledo-nia, Fiji, and West Polynesia, the archaeological record indicates sig-nificant shifts in aspects such as patterns of settlement and mobility,landscape use, and pottery production, some 500 years (2500 BP) after

Received 26 June 2013; accepted 9 March 2014.Address correspondence to Frederique Valentin, CNRS, ArScAn UMR 7041, Universite Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, Paris Ouest-La Defense, Maison Rene Ginouves, 21 Allee de l’Universite, Nanterre 92023,France. E-mail: frederique.valentin@mae.u-paris10.frColor versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online athttp://www.tandfonline.com/uica.

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initial colonization. The relatively uniform Lapita Cultural Complex,the first manifestation of human activity on these islands, was trans-formed in each archipelago into various distinctive cultural entities.Using dietary (δ13C and δ15N values measured in collagen) and mor-tuary data recorded in 43 Lapita and seven immediately Post-Lapitaadult burials from the site of Teouma (Efate, Vanuatu), we demon-strate that these medium-term, transformative processes also affectedthe economic component of the social system as well as its symbolic andreligious structures. Evolutionary change adapting to changing localconditions is envisioned as the likely dominant factor influencing thiscultural trajectory, while environmental/climatic change, secondarymigration, and internal social changes unrelated to adaptive processescould have interacted to produce the recorded patterns.

Keywords evolutionary change, funerary practices, isotopic dietary simulations, Lapita,Vanuatu

INTRODUCTION

The archaeological records of Vanuatu, aswell as of New Caledonia, Fiji, and WestPolynesia, indicate a significant shift inthe patterns of mobility, environment use,settlement mode, and the production ofpottery and other materials, by 2500 BP(Clark and Anderson 2009; Kirch 2000). Therelatively uniform Lapita Cultural Complex,marking the first human colonization ofRemote Oceania (southeast Solomons toSamoa) around 3000 BP, transformed locallyin each archipelago into distinct culturalentities (Bedford 2009; Clark and Anderson2009; Sand 2010; Sand et al. 2011; Sum-merhayes 2007). Adaptation to changinglocal conditions and constraints is a favoredprimary factor seen as influencing thedistinctive intra-archipelago cultural trajec-tories that occurred across the region afterinitial arrival (Bedford 2006; Bedford andClark 2001; Clark and Anderson 2009; Kirch1984, 2000; Reepmeyer and Clark 2010;Sand 2010; see also Anderson et al. 2006;Spriggs 1997, 2003, 2004). We revisit thisproposition using mortuary and dietary datathat are generally conservative and stablecomponents of culture. Based on a sampleof 50 burials from the site of Teouma onEfate in central Vanuatu, our study demon-strates major changes in food and funerarypractices which, added to others in patternsof mobility, resource use, settlement, andartifact production, indicate a significant

intergenerational shift in the social systemby some 500 years after first settlement.

DIACHRONIC CHANGES AT TEOUMA

At the site of Teouma, on Efate in centralVanuatu, diachronic changes occur in vari-ous sets of human productions and activities(Bedford and Spriggs, 2007; Bedford et al.2006, 2009, 2010). As indicated by analysisof the ceramic decorative techniques, pot-tery temper, and obsidian geochemical com-position, the initially high level of humanmobility declined over time (Bedford et al.2009; Dickinson et al. 2013; Reepmeyer et al.2011). Ceramic production changed fromLapita to Arapus (c. 2800 BP) and then toErueti (c. 2800/2700–2300 BP) styles, withmajor changes in vessel form and decorationidentified by 2500 BP (Bedford 2009). Dur-ing the Lapita phase some 11% of potteryvessels analyzed at Teouma were importsfrom New Caledonia (8%), and from north-ernVanuatu(3%)oreven furtherafield (Dick-inson et al. 2013). In subsequent phases suchimports ceased entirely. Imported obsidiandisappeared by 2800 BP (although locallyprocured lithic material was used through-out the sequence) (Reepmeyer et al. 2011).Parallel changes in environment use are ob-served at Teouma as in other sites in Van-uatu, with an introduction of domesticatesand commensal species (pig, chicken, and

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rat) from the earliest Lapita phase (Bedfordet al. 2009; Storey et al. 2010) and a decline inmarine and local terrestrial fauna, includingextinction of giant land tortoises (?Meiola-nia damelipi), land crocodiles (Meko-suchus kalpokasi) and many bird speciesfrom Lapita through to the Erueti periods(Bedford 2006; Mead et al. 2002; Steadman2006; White et al. 2010).

Over time Teouma also displays very dis-tinctive changes in settlement pattern (Bed-ford et al. 2009, 2010). During the Lapitaphase at c. 2900 BP the site initially com-prised a cemetery and an adjacent contem-porary settlement evidenced by a middendeposit that respects the boundary of thecemetery (in Areas 2 and 3). Within a

few hundred years the settlement expandedacross the cemetery area which was buriedby the deposition of some 50 cm or more ofmidden associated with the Arapus and EarlyErueti phases, dating to c. 2800–2500 BP.Over time the settlement expanded to covera much larger area and Erueti period burials,c. 2400 BP, were interred some 70 m awayto the south and east (Area 7C and Trench 3)of the Lapita cemetery.

Material

Since 2004 a total of 79 mortuary con-texts have been identified in three local-ities of the Teouma site (Figure 1). De-tailed mortuary analyses have already been

Figure 1. Map of the site of Teouma (central Vanuatu).

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Table 1. Radiocarbon dates from Teouma (central Vanuatu) Area 7C and backhoe Trench 3.

Calibrated date (68.2%

Burial N◦ Lab N◦, 14C age probability range)

Area 7C B1 ∗Wk-24480, 2423 ± 30 BP 2460–2352 BP

Area 7C B2A ∗Wk-24481, 2455 ± 30 BP 2653–2365 BP

Area 7C B2B ∗Wk-24482, 2465 ± 30 BP 2682–2364 BP

Area 7C B3 ∗Wk-24483, 2423 ± 30 BP 2463–2355 BP

Area 7C B4 ∗Wk-24484, 2452 ± 30 BP 2655–2645 BP

Trench 3 B1 Wk-30871, 2501 ± 27 BP 2696–2460 BP

Trench 3 B2 Wk-30872, 2422 ± 27 BP 2456–2348 BP

∗In Valentin et al. (2011).Calibrated radiocarbon dates are at two standard deviations using OxCal 4.1 (Bronk Ramsey 2009),with a delta-R of 40 ± 44 for Vanuatu marine shell samples as calculated by Fiona Petchey (Universityof Waikato, Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory). The bone dates from Teouma Area 7C were calibrated byFiona Petchey using mixed marine and terrestrial curves based on measured isotope data. We haveopted to use INTCAL 09 for all terrestrial calibrations, and have not incorporated a SouthernHemisphere offset given the position of the thermal equator at the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone(ITC Z) as the boundary between the atmospheres of the Southern and Northern Hemispheres (seePetchey et al. 2011:34).

published for 29 of the 71 inhumations(Valentin et al. 2010a) and one cremation(Scott et al. 2010) from Areas 2 and 3 of theLapita cemetery. Valentin et al. (2009) brieflysummarized mortuary data recorded on 44Lapita burials there while the five Erueti buri-als from Area 7C were briefly presented inValentin et al. (2011). Published isotopic di-etary data (at the time of article acceptance)only concern Lapita individuals from Areas 2and 3, including 33 adults recovered in pri-mary contexts and seven infants (Kinastonet al 2009; Valentin et al. 2010b).

Building on these previous analyses, thisstudy for the first time compares a sam-ple of 50 adult burials from the TeoumaLapita and immediately Post-Lapita periodsusing both mortuary and isotopic dietarydata. Forty-three were Lapita inhumationsexcavated during the first three field seasons(2004–2006) in Area 2 and 3 and seven wereErueti period inhumations recovered duringthe 2008 and 2010 excavations in Area 7Cand Trench 3. Confirming their attributionto the Lapita period, burials in Areas 2 and3 were placed at the base of the stratigra-phy, associated with Lapita pots and artifactsradiocarbon dated to c. 2900 BP (Bedfordet al. 2006, 2009). In the absence of distinc-

tive material culture associations, burials inArea 7C and Trench 3 were attributed to theErueti period based on radiocarbon dating(Table 1).

METHODS

Mortuary Data Collection and“Anthropologie de Terrain”

Mortuary data collection, aiming to de-fine the type of body treatment that was un-dertaken has focused on two aspects. Thefirst deals with the anatomical compositionof each burial to identify the skeletal ele-ments present in situ, thereby identifyingand interpreting any loss in elements. Thesecond concerns the spatial distribution ofthe skeletal elements within the grave, ana-lyzed following the methodology of “Anthro-pologie de Terrain” (Duday 1990, 2009; Du-day et al. 1990; and see Ortiz et al. 2013 fora review). In short, “Anthropologie de ter-rain” attempts to reconstruct the initial con-ditions of burial (initial body position, bodymanipulation, presence of body container),taking account of subsequent taphonomicdistortions. It focuses on data collected in

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the field including: visible aspect of the bonein plan view; state of articulation of eachjoint (fully articulated, partially articulated,disarticulated); relocation of bone or bodysegmentwithin thegrave; anddelimitingandrestraining effects on the skeleton.

Stable Isotope Analysis and Modeling Diet

Stable isotope ratios are routinely usedin the Pacific area to reconstruct past di-etary behaviors and subsistence strategies(i.e., Ambrose et al. 1997; Valentin et al.2010b; and see Kinaston and Buckley 2013for a review). This is because carbon iso-tope ratios can discriminate between theconsumption of marine and terrestrial prod-ucts, and nitrogen isotope ratios allow as-sessment of the amount of animal, includ-ing marine, protein in the diet (Katzenbergand Saunders 2008; Schoeninger 2010). Inaddition, models of dietary reconstruction(Phillips and Koch 2002) allow a simplifiedrepresentation of the diet for an individual ora population by integrating the isotope val-ues of several foods potentially consumed.Based on such an approach, two modelingsets were applied for the first time both toTeouma Lapita and Erueti individuals to char-acterize human dietary patterns and quantifythe relative contributions of different dietarysources. The first set of modeling was runwith the Iso-Conc mixing model (Phillipsand Koch 2002) using exclusively isotopicdata from currently published prehistoricTeouma food resources, so as to be clos-est to the environmental conditions likely tohave been experienced by the humans re-covered from the site (individual data fromthe literature [Table 2] while another set ofdata has just been published [Kinaston et al.2014]). These resources divide into threedietary poles corresponding to flesh fromherbivores (land-turtles and fruit bats), om-nivores (pigs, rat, and chicken), and marine(reef-fish) species. The second set of model-ingwas runwith the IsoSourcemixingmodel(Phillips and Gregg 2003) which allows cal-culations of proportions of more than threedietary sources and therefore addition of asecond marine pole representing offshorefish, absent in the Teouma isotopic record.Carbon (n = 23) and nitrogen (n = 14) iso-

topic data measured on offshore fish of thePacific area and published by Ambrose et al.(1997) and Leach et al. (1996) were usedto this end. Carbon and nitrogen isotope ra-tios (δ13C and δ15N) were measured in bonecollagen of 26 of the 43 Lapita burials (in-dividual data in Valentin et al. 2010b) and6 of the 7 Erueti burials. Erueti burial bonecollagen was extracted using a protocol de-scribed elsewhere (Herrscher and Le Bras-Goude 2010). Carbon and nitrogen isotopeanalyses were carried out by Elemental Anal-ysis and Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry(Europea Scientific EA and Europa Scientific20-20 IRMS). Isotopic measurement repro-ducibility is inferior to 0.1� for both carbonand nitrogen. Six collagen extractions wereconsidered well enough preserved to inter-pret their isotope data in a dietary perspec-tive despite low percentages of carbon andnitrogen contents (Ambrose and Norr 1993;DeNiro 1985). The seventh (from Trench 3-B1) exhibited a yield of collagen extractionunder 10 mg.g−1 and was discarded (Table 3)(van Klinken 1999).

RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION

Mortuary Evidence

The mortuary evidence presents a clearcontrast between Lapita and Erueti burialsin relation to five components defining treat-ment of the deceased: body position, bonemanipulation, bone collection, ornamentsand grave goods. Comparisons between theLapita and Erueti period burials primarilyhighlight differences in body position. Origi-nal body position was reconstructed at leastpartially for 28 Lapita and 5 Erueti burials.The Lapita bodies were laid on the back (22burials) and face down (6 burials) with a highlevel of variation in lower limb positions (Ta-ble 4 and Figure 2). Hips and knees weregenerally flexed (17 burials), with variousdegrees of flexion and in various planes (Ta-ble 4). Hips and knees were fully extendedwith lower limbs parallel in only 9 burialsof this sample. In contrast, the Erueti sam-ple displays a limited range of variation ofbody positions, including on the back withthe lower limbs extended (1 burial) and onthe side with the lower limbs semi-flexed (4

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Social and Cultural Change in Central Vanuatu

Table 3. Isotopic data of Erueti (c. 2400 BP) period human remains from the Teouma site(Efate, central Vanuatu).

Yield δ13C δ15N

Burial N◦ Location Skeletal element (mg/g) C (%) N (%) C/N (‰) (‰)

Burial 1 Area 7C Long bone shaft 30.3 23.2 8.1 3.3 −19.7 9.2

Burial 2A Area 7C Parietal 21.2 28.6 10.0 3.3 −19.7 9.1

Burial 2B Area 7C Long bone shaft 14.1 26.6 9.4 3.3 −19.7 8.2

Burial 3 Area 7C Maxilla 39.3 34.4 12.1 3.3 −19.7 8.3

Burial 4 Area 7C Vertebra 21.1 27.1 9.5 3.3 −19.2 9.3

Trench 3-B1 Trench3 Long bone shaft 6.0 — — — — —

Trench 3-B2 Trench3 Long bone shaft 16.2 29.6 10.5 3.3 −19.0 8.2

burials) (Figure 3). Although in articulation,the Lapita skeletons in primary contexts (34burials minus 2 altered by further activitiesat the site) are incomplete to varying de-grees, with a similar pattern of missing el-ements (Figure 2 A, B, C). Skulls in the cor-rect anatomical position were systematicallyabsent, forearm bones were frequently lack-ing, along with clavicles, scapulae, sterna,

humeri, and ribs, while isolated teeth, hy-oid bones and hand bones were uncoveredin situ in most cases. This repetitive patternis interpreted as reflecting a practice of post-decompositionboneremovalandthusof sec-ondary burial as defined by Hertz in 1907(Valentin et al. 2009, 2010a), while tapho-nomic processes were responsible for local-ized bone loss and fragmentation (Figure 2).

Table 4. Lower limb positions in the studied Teouma Lapita burials.

Number of

Lower limb position Burials burials

Hips and knees extended, lower limb parallel B 5, 12, 15, 16, 34, 36, 38, 40, 47 9

Hips extended and knees reversed-flexed, lower

legs parallel or crossed

B 1, 4, 18, 32, 33 (see Figure 2C) 5

Hips extended with the knees flexed, lower legs

against thighs

B 9, 25, 37 3

Hips flexed and knees semi-flexed in the sagittal

plane

B 8, 10, 14, 31, 44 (see Figure 2A) 5

Hips flexed with lower limbs folded over the

torso, extended and crossed

B 48 (see Figure 2B) 1

Hips flexed with lower limbs extended, folded on

the side

B 49 1

Hips flexed with knees highly flexed against the

chest (B19)

B 19 1

Hips in abduction, knees flexed, and lower legs

crossed

B 7 1

Hips extended and knees unknown B 2 1

Hips and knee unknown B 6 1

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Figure 2. Examples of burial contexts recovered at Teouma Lapita cemetery (Efate, central Vanu-atu). A: Burials B44 and B30, B30 is a bone collection including up to five individuals thathas been placed on the knees of B44; B: Burials B48 and B46, B48 is an incomplete inhu-mation, B46 is an infant inhumation placed later above B48’s right elbow; C: Burials B33and B39, B39 comprises a bundle of forearm bones and B33 is an incomplete inhumation;Originally, B44 was laid on the back, hips extended and knees flexed in the sagittal plane,B48 was on the back with the hips flexed and the lower limbs extended and crossed, foldedover the torso, B33 was on the back, hips extended and knees reversed-flexed, lower legsover thighs. B44, 48, and 33 are incomplete inhumations of which several bones includingskull and forearm bones (B44 and 33) were removed after body decomposition. Note thein situ bone fragmentation in all burials.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, anddespite poorer relative preservation due tothe shallow depth of interment, the Eruetiburials all comprised a virtually complete in-dividual, with each part of the skeleton rep-resented. This reflects the practice of inhu-mation as a simpler and more definitive formof disposal.

Moreover, Lapita bodies were manipu-lated in situ during decomposition and seg-ments of corpse and bones were re-arrangedin the grave (4 burials). In addition, ninestructured human-bone collections of vari-ous forms (Figure 2, A and C), sometimesenclosed in dentate-stamped decorated pot-tery vessels, were deposited beside or withsome of the incomplete skeletons. Similarly

a range of burial goods such as dentate-stamped pottery vessels, sometimes of ex-otic provenience and of various shapes andsizes, unworked bivalve shells, Conus sp.shell rings, and other ornaments compris-ing shell beads and bracelets were associatedwith some of the incomplete Lapita inhuma-tions (Bedford et al. 2009, 2010). Contrastingwith this material wealth, the Erueti burialareas are characterized by a lack of any asso-ciated bone depositions. They also showedno sign of body and bone manipulation, norbone collections, ornaments, or other non-perishable grave goods (Figure 3).

Finally, the Teouma population associ-ated with the Lapita phase demonstrates ahigh level of interaction with their dead

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Figure 3. Erueti burial cluster recovered at Teouma site (area 7C) (Efate, central Vanuatu).

and their bones and had at the same timea wide sphere of interaction, indicated bylong-distance exchanges (Dickinson et al.2013; Reepmeyer et al. 2011). In con-trast, theTeoumapopulationassociatedwiththe Erueti phase maintained an apparentlylower level of interaction with the deadand presented a reduced sphere of interac-tion, significant long-distance relations hav-ing ceased by the end of the Lapita period(Reepmeyer et al. 2011). While the generalethnographic record suggests that mobilegroups are less likely to practice secondaryburial (Schroeder 2001:88), this may not ap-ply to early colonizing groups in the Pacificarriving in pristine environments. The multi-stage burial practice at Teouma may pertainto a general strategy, which aimed at facili-tating the survival of Lapita groups scatteredacross a vast and thinly populated region ofthe southwest Pacific (Bedford et al. 2011;Clark 2007). Further indications of such a

shared funerary system can be seen in the as-sociation of exotic vessels with the Teoumaburials and at the site of Lapita (Kone) inNewCaledoniawherehumanboneandbodymanipulation is in evidence (Valentin et al.2005). The burial method used during theErueti phase, expressed by a single archae-ologically visible event, reflects a radicallydifferent attitude of the living towards thedead and death, and possibly towards socialrelationships (Valentin et al. 2011).

Dietary Evidence

Considered together, animal carbon andnitrogen available data range from −23.2to −10.9� and 3.0 to 10.4� respectively,with an expected relative position of the dif-ferent species (Table 2; Figure 4). The Ara-pus/Erueti period rats and pigs present themost comparable isotopic results for bothcarbon and nitrogen, between −18.2 and

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Figure 4. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values of bone collagen from Teouma (Efate, centralVanuatu) human and animal bone data.

−20.1� and 8.3 and 12.4� respectively,indicating consumption of isotopically simi-lar food items. Land-turtles exhibit the low-est carbon and nitrogen values (−23.2 and−22.8�; 3.0 and 3.3�). These values areclose to values measured on C3 plants fromPacific Islands (Ambrose et al. 1997; Keeganand DeNiro 1988), confirming the vegetar-ian diet of these specimens. Comparison be-tween isotopic data for land-turtles and batsreveals higher carbon and nitrogen valuesamong the bats (−19.5 and −19.0�; 4.5 and5.0�), suggesting that bats may have con-sumed a wider range of food items. Despitethe small sample size, it is interesting to notethat the chicken specimens from the Lapitaperiod present a higher mean value for nitro-gen than the Arapus/Erueti omnivore speci-mens (11.1�; n = 2) versus 9.3� (n = 4).As proposed by Storey et al. (2010), such aresult could indicate higher consumption ofanimal protein. However, particular environ-mental conditions during the earliest period

could also be suggested. Specific environ-ments such as dry and hot zones are knownto induce an enrichment in nitrogen valuesacross the food web, through plants up to theend-members (Ambrose 1991; Dupras et al.2001, Schwarcz et al. 1999; Sealy et al. 1987).Aridity could have been one of the factorsthat elevated the nitrogen values of the lo-cal Lapita food web, based on a palaeoenvi-ronmental study arguing that drier environ-mental conditions were experienced in theTeouma region c. 3500–3250 cal BP, slowlyameliorating by 2500 cal BP (Wirrmann et al.2011).

The Erueti individuals exhibit carbonand nitrogen isotope values ranging respec-tively from −19.7 to −19� and 8.2 to 9.3�whereas the Lapita individuals show highervalues respectively from−18.6 to−14�and10.6 to 16.1� (Valentin et al. 2010b; Fig-ure 4; Tables 3 and 5). A U-Mann-Whitneytest indicates significant differences for bothcarbon and nitrogen values. The significant

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isotopic impoverishment in 13-carbon and15-nitrogen indicates a modification in di-etary practices through time, marked bychange in both the nature of the protein andthe quantity of animal protein consumed.In addition, as highlighted by calculationof the coefficient of variability, the variabil-ity within each group is different (Table 5).Dispersion around the mean value of bothcarbon and nitrogen isotopes are clearlyhigher in the Lapita group than in the Eruetigroup which forms a narrow cluster (Fig-ure 4). These results indicate heterogeneityin the individual Lapita dietary intake and ahigher level of homogeneity among Eruetiindividuals.

In terms of quantification, IsoConc sim-ulations based on three dietary poles indi-cate that the Lapita diet was richer and morediversified than the Erueti diet. The formerbalanced Scaridae fish-flesh (32.4%), herbi-vore flesh and/or C3 vegetal items (17.0%),and omnivore flesh (50.6%), while the latterconsisted mainly of herbivore flesh and/orC3 plants (85.4%) (Figure 5). With the addi-tion of offshore fish-flesh as a fourth dietarypole, IsoSource simulations confirm the di-etary shift between the Lapita and Eruetigroups (Figure 6). Again, whereas the Lapitadiet combines almost equally the four poles(from 16.2% of reef fish-flesh to 33.5% of her-bivore flesh), the Erueti diet is unevenly dis-tributed, involving primarily herbivore fleshand/or vegetal items (87.6%).

The decrease in high trophic level fooditems such as animal resources in the dietcould echo the decline in wild native preyavailability through extinction observed inthe Vanuatu faunal assemblages (Bedford2006). Alternatively, this dietary patternmight reflect the Erueti social structure, witha group of people sustained by a uniformdiet focused on a limited number of terres-trial items and generally excluding meat ofdomesticated animals. Remains of domesti-cated animals are regularly found through-out the central Vanuatu first millennium BCsequence(Bedford2006)suggesting that,de-spite their presence, the Teouma populationassociated with the Erueti culture were notusually dependent on this potential dietaryresource. Through time, one may observe a

Figure 5. Dietary isotopic simulations for thetwo Teouma human groups with Iso-Conc software ( C© Microsoft Excelsoftware, http://www.epa.gov/wed/pages/models.htm, 3 sources/2 iso-topes; Phillips and Koch 2002).

trend in dietary choices operated by peoplefocusing on vegetal items without exclud-ing the input of herbivore flesh as flesh ofvegetarian bats. This increasing interest invegetal foods could be seen as following onfrom favorable environmental conditions orimproved horticultural techniques.

DISCUSSION

Despite the small size of the Erueti sampleand if we consider that both samples arerepresentative of their respective cultures,the analysis presented in this paper high-lights major diachronic changes in two sig-nificant aspects of human behavior, illustrat-ing an alteration of investment in funeraryrituals at the same time as the agriculturaleconomy becomes fully established. Thefirst concerns funerary practices, with theabandonment of a lengthy and complicatedprotocol (involving bone exhumation andreburial) displaying diversity among adultsfor a simpler and definitive process of pri-mary inhumationshowinguniformityamongadults. The second change is in dietary prac-tices,withtheabandonmentofabroad-baseddiet comprising marine resources (summedIsoSource percentages: 36.9% Lapita versus4.8% Erueti) showing heterogeneity among

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Figure 6. Dietary isotopic simulations with IsoSource software for the Lapita (A) and Erueti (B)groups ( C©1.3.1 Visual Basic, http://epa.goc/wed/pages/models.htm, Phillips and Gregg2003). Offshore fish resource isotopic data from Ambrose et al. 1997 and Leach et al. 1996.

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individuals for the quasi-exclusive use of ter-restrial resources mainly composed of lowtrophic level foods by all the individuals(63.3% Lapita versus 95.3% Erueti). The twobehavioral modifications identified here con-stitute additions to changes over time fromthe Lapita period to the Erueti period, al-ready recorded at Teouma (Bedford 2009;Bedford et al. 2010; Reepmeyer et al. 2011).They include changes in mobility patterns,land use, artifact manufacture and prove-nience. Changes in ceramic production areinterpreted as the result of a gradual internalprocess, a demonstrated continuity in ves-sel form and decoration supporting the viewthat there was a local development of theceramic technology (Bedford 2009).

The changes in funerary and dietary per-ceptionandpracticecanbeseenas further in-dicationsofadaptation tochanging localcon-ditions and constraints. As for Hawai’i (Kirch1985, 2007, 2010), an archipelago character-ized by major diachronic changes in settle-ment pattern, land use, agricultural technol-ogy, and sociopolitical organization (somecenturies after initial colonization and Tahi-tian contact about AD 1300), a demographictransition concomitant with political changeandcultural innovationisaplausibleexplana-tion for the alteration in the economic, sym-bolic, and religious components of the socialsystem observed at Teouma.

Environmental and climatic conditionscould also have influenced the developmentof horticulture in central Vanuatu. Haberleand Chepstow Lusty (2000:357) noted that“increased drought stress associated withENSO [El Nino-Southern Oscillation] eventsare considered to have had a significant influ-ence on vegetation dynamics in the Pacificregion over the last five to three millennia,”although effects can vary greatly over rel-atively short geographical distances (Allen2006; Morrison and Addison 2008). The pos-sibility of a negative impact of drier condi-tions on the Teouma food web during theLapita period suggested by the isotopic dataat hand, while needing to be further assessedusing a larger isotopic faunal dataset, is sup-ported by local palaeoenvironmental data(Wirrmann et al. 2011). The difficult localgrowing conditions, which appear to have

improvedby2500BP(Wirrmannetal. 2011),might have delayed an early horticultural ex-pansion and consequently an early regularintegration of vegetable foods in the diet.

Early secondary contacts and migrationcould also have complicated the Teouma pic-ture (see Green 1963; Spriggs 1997). Indeed,it should not be entirely ruled out that culti-gens and the vegetarian trend of Erueti di-etary habits reflected in our isotopic datawere introduced later in time in Vanuatu,as has been proposed for other parts of Re-mote Oceania (Clark and Anderson 2009).There is direct evidence for several culti-vated crops in Vanuatu at least for LateLapita and Erueti periods. Non-Colocasiaaroid starch residues, Dioscorea sp. starchgrainsandbanana(Musa sp.)phytolithshavebeen identified in Late Lapita sediments fromnorthern Vanuatu while banana (Musa sp.)phytoliths are present in Early Erueti periodsediments from Epi Island in central Vanu-atu (Horrocks and Bedford 2005, 2010; Hor-rocks et al. 2009). There is also evidence thatthe change in funerary practices began tooccur at the end of the Lapita period (Bed-ford et al. 2011; Valentin et al. 2011). Sim-ple primary inhumation of adults has beenidentified in Late Lapita burials from Vao Is-land in north Vanuatu (Bedford et al. 2011)as well as in Late Lapita and immediatelyPost-Lapita burials from Fiji (Nunn 2007;Pietrusewsky et al. 1997) and New Caledo-nia (Pietrusewsky et al. 1998; Valentin 2003).Furthermore, the possibility of long-distancecontacts with northern Melanesia at the veryend of the Lapita period is now supportedby the discovery of a piece of Mopir obsid-ian at Teouma (Reepmeyer et al. 2011). TheMopir obsidian sources were covered by vol-canic deposits from the Witori eruption ofc. 3350 cal BP, and seem only to have be-come available again in small quantities inLate Lapita times (Summerhayes 2009). Itis thus a possibility that new mortuary andsubsistence practices were brought in or in-fluenced by newcomers, most likely duringthe Late Lapita phase as regional interactionlargely ended at the end of Lapita. Levels ofcontact and/or influence were likely to havevariedgreatly fromoneregiontoanotherdur-ing Late Lapita times. Such contact-induced

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changes could have contributed to the highlevels of cultural diversity suggested to haveemerged at the end of the Lapita period inIsland Melanesia (Bedford and Clark 2001;Spriggs 2004).

CONCLUSION

Analysis of the burials from the site ofTeouma (central Vanuatu) demonstrates aclear shift in both usually conservative fu-nerary and dietary habits over time and a ma-jor change affecting the economic compo-nent of the social system and its associatedsymbolic and religious structures. The Lapitaadults received a complicated, multi-stage,mortuary treatment with a high level of inter-individual diversity. These same Lapita indi-viduals appear also to have benefited from adiet including a wide range of food items, al-mostevenlyconsumed,butwithahighrangeof variation within the population. In con-trast, Erueti individuals received a simplifiedand less diversified funerary treatment. Theyalsoappear tohavebeensustainedbyadietofmore restricted breadth comprising a limitedrange of food items of low trophic level suchas vegetal resources and herbivore flesh, cou-pled with dietary homogeneity among indi-viduals.

Adaptive responses to local conditionsand/or constraints appear at this stage to bea convincing hypothesis to explain a lackof culturally stable transmission in mortuaryanddietarypractices, aswell as in someothercultural practices, from the Lapita to Eruetiperiods; but the intertwined actions of otherfactors remain to be further explored. Theremay have been climatic conditions that af-fected the environmental potential for horti-cultural development in the islands and/or alater introduction to the region of particularmortuary and subsistence practices broughtor influenced by newcomers. There couldalso have been broader initial behavioral di-versity than usually considered among Lapitasettlers and a rearrangement of cultural prac-tices over time. The significant challenge isin teasing apart these various possibilitiesand this will require more focused analy-sis of a range of human biological features

and an increased sample of archaeologicalmaterials of all types across space and timein the Vanuatu archipelago and the widerregion.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Teouma Archaeological Project is ajoint initiative of the Vanuatu NationalMuseum and The Australian NationalUniversity (ANU), directed by ProfessorMatthew Spriggs and Dr. Stuart Bedfordof the ANU and Mr. Ralph Regenvanuand Mr. Marcellin Abong, Directors of theVanuatu Cultural Centre. Funding for theproject is acknowledged in full in earlierpublications. Thanks to Guy Andre (CNRSUMR 7269, LAMPEA) for technical help incollagen preparation. Elemental and iso-topic measurements were performed at Iso-Analytical Limited (Crewe, UK). Thanksto Fiona Petchey (Waikato RadiocarbonDating Lab) for 14C date calibrations, toMaurice Hardy (CNRS UMR 7041 ArScAn)and Florence Alliese for assistance in theproduction of the illustrations, and Prof.Ian Lilley (University of Queensland, Aus-tralia) for comments on an earlier ver-sion of the manuscript. Thanks also tothe anonymous reviewers and editors fortheir helpful comments. The support of theleaseholder of Teouma, Mr. Robert Mon-voisin, and family is acknowledged, as isthe support and assistance of the tradi-tional landowners and population of Er-atap Village.

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