Long-distance connections in Vanuatu: New obsidian characterisations for the Makué site, Aore Island JEAN-CHRISTOPHE GALIPAUD, CHRISTIAN REEPMEYER, ROBIN TORRENCE, SARAH KELLOWAY and PETER WHITE JCG: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD); CR: The Australian National University; RT: Australian Museum, and University of Sydney; SK: University of Sydney, and University of New South Wales; PW: University of Sydney ABSTRACT A geochemical study using pXRF and LA–ICP–MS to characterise artefacts from sites dating to the initial phase of colonisation on Aore and Malo islands, Vanuatu, has confirmed the dominance of obsidian from the distant Kutau/Bao source in West New Britain, with a smaller group from local outcrops in the Banks Islands, Vanuatu. Three flakes from the Umleang/Umrei source in the Admiralty Islands have also been identified in later levels. Distance fall-off analysis of metric and technological attributes suggests that during the early phase of human colonisation of Remote Oceania, obsidian circulated within a series of separate, loosely connected social spheres. Keywords: Bismarck Archipelago, LA–ICP–MS, obsidian, pXRF, Vanuatu. Correspondence: Christian Reepmeyer, ANU, Canberra, ACT, Australia. Email: christian.reepmeyer@anu.edu.au Our understanding of prehistoric interaction in Oceania is continuously refined by the use of new analytical techniques for determining the elemental composition of stone artefacts. Long-distance voyaging during the earliest colonisation phase in the Pacific, contemporary with Lapita pottery, involved the transportation of the volcanic glass, obsidian, from outcrops in the Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea, to sites in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji (Specht 2002; Summerhayes 2009). The predominance of obsidian from the Kutau/Bao source (Figure 1) in the Willaumez Peninsula, Papua New Guinea, has been the focal point for attempts to understand social interaction during initial colonisation. The nature of the transportation system has been widely discussed (Irwin & Holdaway 1996; Specht 2002; Summerhayes 2009; Terrell 1989), as well as the value of this particular raw material for colonising groups (Reepmeyer et al. 2010; Sheppard 1993; Torrence 2005). The most pervasive interpretation so far has been that early Lapita colonisers attempted to transfer interaction networks established over long time frames in the Bismarck Archipelago to newly found areas and thus continue a connection to their “homeland” or the origin of the colonisation (Green 1987; Kirch 1988). One issue that still requires clarification, however, is whether the geochemical connections between site and source indicate direct movements by people or reflect the existence of new networks created among communities in Remote Oceania. Galipaud and Swete-Kelly’s (2007a,b) relative density analysis of the Makué assemblage in Vanuatu has presented a challenge to established views, because it identified a significant quantity of artefacts that might be derived from the Lou obsidian source in the Admiralty Islands (Figure 1), although the Banks Islands was also noted as a potential source for some artefacts. To address the issue, in this paper we present a chemical study using portable X-ray fluorescence analysis (pXRF) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (LA–ICP–MS) of the Makué collection, supplemented by additional material from neighbouring Malo Island. The results enhance our understanding of interactions within Remote Oceania during the colonising phase. SITES AND ASSEMBLAGES During initial surveys in 2000 on the island of Aore, off the south coast of Santo, dentate-stamped Lapita pottery was recovered close to the surface in ancient beach deposits at the Makué site (Galipaud & Swete-Kelly 2007a). Subsequently, intensive archaeological investigations were made between 2002 and 2005. Based on the excavated stratigraphy, Galipaud and Swete-Kelly (2007a: 157) suggested an initial habitation period in “zone 3” at about 3200 calBP, a second occupation phase in “zone 2” at around 3000 calBP and a possible third in “zone 1” at 3000–2900 calBP. Our more recent re-analysis Archaeology in Oceania, Vol. •• (2014): ••–•• DOI: 10.1002/arco.5030 © 2014 Oceania Publications