The Lapita are perhaps best known for their distinctive pottery, an example of which is shown here. Torbenbrinker, Wikimedia Commons
Posted on 12/28/2015 10:31:20 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Analysis of the oldest-known cemetery in the South Pacific may help resolve a longstanding debate over the origins and ancestry of Polynesians. Modern-day Polynesians bear strong cultural and linguistic similarities to the ancient people associated with the Lapita Culture who settled on Vanuatu more than 3,000 years ago. However, the origin of the Lapita people remains debated, with recent biological studies suggesting that the group may be of mixed ancestry with a strong contribution from Melanesian populations, who were already established on islands to the west near New Guinea. Frederique Valentin, Matthew Spriggs, and colleagues conducted morphological analyses involving craniometric measurements of skeletons from a roughly 3,000-year-old cemetery at Teouma on the south coast of Vanuatu’s Efate Island. Measurements were taken on five ca. 3,000 to 2,850-year-old skulls recovered from the Teouma site and 270 more skulls from Australia, Melanesia, Western Micronesia, Polynesia, and China. They found that early Lapita remains comport with present-day Polynesian and Asian populations. Later generations, by contrast, begin to exhibit characteristics associated with a Melanesian phenotype.
(Excerpt) Read more at popular-archaeology.com ...
The Lapita are perhaps best known for their distinctive pottery, an example of which is shown here. Torbenbrinker, Wikimedia Commons
I always get the Phoneticians and the Polynesians mixed up
thanks.
The ‘Phoneticians’ invented the Art of Spelling.
;’)
My pleasure.
Phoneticans know their ABC’s.
Polynesia seems like a great place to pick up a case of mononesia.
Polynesians are beautiful seafaring many-island dwelling people who love the color purple:
By sharp contrast, Phoenicians (who were also really good with phonetics) were sea-faring many-island dwelling people who loved the color purple:
I also confuse Melanesians with that poisonous stuff the chinese put in food, melamine.
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