Glossary of Terms

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Lapita Cultural Complex:  The Lapita were the founding population for Remote Oceania dating from 3500 to 2500 years ago, and the highly stylized dentate-stamped motifs on their pots created an identifiable archaeological culture. In this period, subsistence practices included taro-yam horticulture supplemented by pigs and chickens. The material inventory included ceramics, stone and shell adzes, shell fishhooks and shell valuables. This period signals human colonization and settlement of the Samoan Archipelago at approximately 3000 BP 

Lithic Analysis:  The study of stone tools in efforts to understand how they were made, used and discarded in a past society.