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Pieces of the Vanuatu Puzzle. Archaeology of the North, South and Centre.

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Pieces of the Vanuatu Puzzle. Archaeology of the North, South and Centre

By Stuart Bedford

Terra Australis 23, 2006. ISBN 1 74076 093 X. Pp. xx+326. AU$49.50.

This book is the reworked version of Bedford's PhD thesis (ANU 2000), composed of 11 chapters and 4 appendixes. Although it took a long time to be finally printed, mainly due to changes in the publication process of Terra Australis, the wait was worthwhile, as this volume is one of only a few richly illustrated publications on Remote Oceania's ceramic chronology. In this respect, it follows the tradition pioneered by Jose Garanger's (1972) monograph on the Central New Hebrides.

The book follows a logical plan. The first chapter sets the scene. The position of Vanuatu at the entrance of Remote Oceania places the archipelago in a unique geographical situation in terms of first Lapita settlement. The original understanding of the deep historical roots of the Vanuatu people was complicated by the early identification of diverse ceramic traditions in the archipelago, especially incised and applied relief pots termed Mangaasi by Garanger and defined by him as culturally unrelated to Lapita. Although subsequent researchers in the late C20 have proposed alternative scenarios for the cultural chronology of Island Melanesia, it was not until the Vanuatu government lifted a 10-year research ban in 1995 that a more accurate testing of the different settlement hypotheses could be started. Bedford's research program was pan of the...

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