15. Measuring social distances with shared Lapita motifs: Current results and challenges

This chapter illustrates the degree of motif similarity between 50 Lapita sites, in an attempt to measure whether social connections may be traced through the distribution of the same motifs. Data generated from 10 major motif themes identified from the Lapita Pottery Online Database are also presented, to strengthen further the hypothesis that a number of motif themes (a given motif and its alloforms) may serve the purpose of being houseor group-specific identity symbols. Current research suggests that the preference to create many regional-specific motifs while continuing to use some shared motifs is a common cultural phenomenon. In a linear diffusion model, the number of shared motifs employed by potters of all regions shows a sharp decline from west to east, with only a small number of motifs continuing to be reproduced as Lapita communities expanded further into Remote Oceania. It also shows that in most cases roughly half of the ‘traditionally shared motifs’ would be passed on to the neighbouring region located to the east of the previous one. Future examination of these motif themes, such as their temporal and spatial distribution patterns, and the motif construction rules applied by different groups to create alloforms of a certain motif theme, should contribute fruitfully to our understanding of the decorative traditions of the Lapita Cultural Complex.