Lapita-Scape : Research Possibilities Using the Digital Database of Lapita Pottery

Perceived as one of the most significant cultural markers of the Austronesian movements into the Pacific, Lapita pottery appeared in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea some 3500 years ago with highly complex decorative motifs and vessel forms. Pacific archaeologists have been using various statistical means to search for patterns that may infer migration routes/directions by comparing different frequencies of certain design elements and motifs, as well as motif constructing rules, over time and space. How these highly dedicated decorative styles and pottery-making techniques had been shared or transformed from one island to another, and how many of these styles had continued to be practices for more than several hundreds of years, are the most intriguing questions that will broaden our understanding of the past. However, due to the limitations of previous coding systems and the lack of a fast and reliable communication platform, comparison of complex vessel forms and motifs amongst various island groups have been severely crippled over the past few decades.