Latest Lapita Stories

Mankind most likely had a hand in the extinction of the giant animals known as "megafauna" according to a new study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).A team of Australian researchers, led by Australian National University School of Archaeology and Anthropology Professor Matthew Spriggs, found the leg bones of meiolaniid, or horned turtles, on the island of Efate.However, they did not find any shells or skulls, and since the bones were...

Epic voyage to discover the origins and migration routes of the ancestors of ancient Polynesians and their animalsTwo Durham University scientists are to play a key part in a 6000km trip following the migration route of ancient Pacific cultures.Drs Keith Dobney and Greger Larson, both from the Department of Archaeology, will be joining the voyage, which will be the first ever expedition to sail in two traditional Polynesian boats - ethnic double canoes - which attempts to re-trace the genuine...

By Paul Tait SYDNEY (Reuters) - Three thousand years of history came to life on Thursday when scientists unveiled the face of one of the first people to settle Fiji at the start of the colonization of the Pacific Ocean's far-flung islands. Pacific islanders were given the first realistic glimpse of what one of their ancestors looked like after researchers from Fiji and Japan were able to construct a representation of the face of a 3,000-year-old female skeleton. "It's not a discovery...