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Lapita period modelled ceramic face from New Caledonia.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

I report here a new Lapita period clay modelled face from the Lapita (WKO013A) site. This is similar to the seven Lapita period faces already known. I discuss the role that such faces could have played in Lapita culture and suggest they could have been made by distinct groups.

Keywords: Lapita, ceramic face

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Only seven clay modelled faces made by Lapita potters are known, very few compared to the thousands of decorated sherds in Near and Remote Oceania. Although none have been found actually on a pot, it is plausible that these faces constituted a significant part of the Lapita decorative system (Torrence and White 2001:135). Birds were also modelled, one being found at Nenumbo (RF2) (Donovan 1973 Fig 8) and four on the rim of a complete pot at Teouma (Bedford pers. comm.). Green (1979) and Donovan (1973) describes a modelled buttock from the Santa Cruz group in the Solomon Islands.

This face is the property of a French collector. It is the second known from New Caledonia, the other figure being reported by Frimigacci (1981) from Koumac, also in the north of the island.

Presentation of this report is an occasion to discuss some aspects of Lapita decoration, although there are no clear answers to some of the questions, partly because the number of known faces is so small. Were these modelled faces really part of pot decoration? Are...

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