Discovery of Talasea obsidian in a post-Lapita deposit in Arnavon Islands, Solomon Islands

Abstract

This paper reports on the discovery and geochemical characterisation of an obsidian artefact from a post-Lapita site on the Arnavon Islands situated between Choiseul and Santa Isabel in Solomon Islands. The flake is analysed using pXRF and sourced to the Talasea region of West New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago. Obsidian is common in the Lapita sites of the Reef-Santa Cruz Islands of the eastern Solomons and Buka at the northern end of the archipelago, but only seven pieces have been recovered in the main island chain. The finding improves our understanding of the movement of obsidian and post-Lapita exchange in Solomon Islands.