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Prehistory and its perception in a Melanesian Archipelago: the New Caledonia example

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Christophe Sand ,
Jacques Bolé  and
André Ouetcho
Christophe Sand
Affiliation:
Département Archéologie, Service des Musées, BP: 2393, 98846 Nouméa, New Caledonia
Jacques Bolé
Affiliation:
Département Archéologie, Service des Musées, BP: 2393, 98846 Nouméa, New Caledonia
André Ouetcho
Affiliation:
Département Archéologie, Service des Musées, BP: 2393, 98846 Nouméa, New Caledonia
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Abstract

What were the social structures of prehistoric Melanesia really like – and how did they evolve? This study of the archaeology of New Caledonia shows how the west has had a double impact on its prehistory. First, explorers altered the social structure by their arrival and the introduction of western diseases, and then anthropologists created an image of communities which were ancient, simple and static. New archaeological field data by contrast is mapping nearly 3000 pre-European years of occupation which was marked by dynamic social and cultural change involving sophisticated economic strategies. The evidence suggests that the European anthropologists of the twentieth century were actually interpreting the social effects of the European explorers of the nineteenth century. The new archaeological model is providing food for thought for the modern multi-cultural country of New Caledonia.

Keywords

MelanesiaNew Caledoniacultural evolutionLapitalandscape archaeology
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 77 , Issue 297 , September 2003 , pp. 505 - 519
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2003

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