Tonga - Lapita Pottery Archaeological Sites (A National Serial Site for consideration as the Kingdom of Tonga’s contribution to a transnational serial site listing)

Archaeological sites containing Lapita pottery have been identified on all island groups in the Kingdom of Tonga and currently number over 30 sites (Burley, 2001). Most of the known sites that have been excavated are in the Ha'apai Group and are an intrinsic component of the Ha'apai cultural landscape. The archaeological deposits containing Lapita ceramics are similar in their range of artefactual material and in their locations, almost all located on or adjacent to a beach and commonly on small islands. The decorated ceramics found in these sites have a characteristic style of decoration known as ‘Lapita' (after the site at which these ceramics were first recorded, the Lapita site on New Caledonia) and also contain a range of artifacts manufactured from shell and stone, plain pottery and faunal remains.