Oceania and the Circumpolar Arctic · Religion

Teouma Lapita community and cemetery

Initial settlement probably c. 970-920 BCE; cemetery use lasted only several generations, and calibrated models vary · Efate, Vanuatu

Teouma preserves an early settlement and cemetery that illuminate Lapita-associated mobility, diet, horticulture, pottery and complex treatment of the dead during the initial settlement of central Vanuatu.

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AI-generated evidence-guided visualization related to Teouma Lapita community and cemetery, c. 1050-900 BCE; calibrated ranges vary by study. — AI-generated visualization based on the cited record and period context. It is not documentary evidence or an authenticated reconstruction of a single event.

How the setting appeared

The site began beside a former coast on a raised reef terrace, with occupation deposits and burials later covered by volcanic and alluvial sediments.

Agent citation CIT-ANU-TEOUMACIT-OA-NATURE-TEOUMA Setting and material context · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

How people lived

Residents drew on marine foods, gardens and exchange; isotopic research indicates that some buried people had grown up elsewhere.

Agent citation CIT-ANU-TEOUMACIT-OA-NATURE-TEOUMA Lifeways and community · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

How people worked

People made decorated pottery, fished, gardened, sailed and prepared formal burial places.

Agent citation CIT-ANU-TEOUMACIT-OA-NATURE-TEOUMA Work, tools and exchange · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Belief, ritual and worship

Mortuary treatment is archaeologically visible, but human remains require respectful handling and do not reveal a complete theology.

Agent citation CIT-ANU-TEOUMACIT-OA-NATURE-TEOUMA Belief, ritual and evidence limits · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

World-atlas stage: Iron Age networks
Region: Oceania · Efate, Vanuatu
Languages and scripts: Likely early Oceanic languages; no written texts survive
Important people: Teouma community; Vanuatu customary and heritage authorities
Events and changes: Initial settlement probably c. 970-920 BCE; Cemetery use for several generations; Later changes in horticulture and subsistence
Evidence confidence: High for the excavated cemetery and material record; medium for exact start and duration because calibrated models differ, and for interpretations of mortuary roles and mobility.

Agent citation CIT-ANU-TEOUMACIT-OA-NATURE-TEOUMA Dates, place, language, people, events and confidence · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Historical geography

A dated anchor, not an exact border

The local map uses modern coastlines only for orientation. The marker identifies this record's geographic anchor, not the full reach of a community or polity.

Map geometry loads only when requested. Modern outlines are orientation only; historical geography and identities changed through time.

Agent citation CIT-ANU-TEOUMACIT-OA-NATURE-TEOUMA Historical-geography anchor and stated limits · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Evidence register

Guides used for this record

Each registered source ID is paired with its institutional URL for independent checking. Source count is transparent, and duplicate URLs count only once.

CIT-ANU-TEOUMA

The Teouma Lapita site and the early human settlement of the Pacific Islands

https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/items/af4183bf-5419-4299-a705-addba6e86375

Australian National University Open Research Repository

CIT-OA-NATURE-TEOUMA

Early settlement and horticultural change at Teouma

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01831-8

Communications Earth & Environment

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