East Melanesia (7,821 – 6,094 BCE): Early Holocene — Semi-Sedentary Villages and Root Crop Precursors

Geographic & Environmental Context

East Melanesia includes Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia, and the Solomon Islands (excluding Bougainville, which belongs to West Melanesia)

• Anchors: the Vanuatu chain (Efate, Espiritu Santo, Malekula, Tanna), the Fiji group (Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Lau islands), New Caledonia (Grande Terre, Loyalty Islands), and the central/eastern Solomons (Guadalcanal, Malaita, Makira, Santa Cruz).

• Islands now close to modern outlines; productive reefs and rich volcanic valleys.

Climate & Environmental Shifts

• Early Holocene thermal optimum: wetter, warmer conditions favored dense forests.

• Stable rainfall supported perennial streams and fertile alluvial fans.

Subsistence & Settlement

• Foragers became more semi-sedentary, with recurring large sites near lagoons.

• Early tending of yams, taro, bananas from wild stands; nut harvesting intensified (Canarium, Pandanus).

• Shellfish middens expanded; inland foraging integrated with coast.

Technology & Material Culture

• Pottery absent; ground stone and shell adzes common; net sinkers, fishhooks in bone/shell.

• Early canoe innovation: dugouts with outrigger precursors.

Movement & Interaction Corridors

• Regular inter-island voyaging evident between Vanuatu–Fiji–Solomons; obsidian moved from Banks Islands into wider networks.

Cultural & Symbolic Expressions

• Burial sites with grave goods (shell beads, ornaments); persistent use of ochre.

• Ritualized shellfish feasting inferred from midden contexts.

Environmental Adaptation & Resilience

• Diversified reef–forest–river economies and proto-horticulture buffered resource shocks.

Transition

By 6,094 BCE, East Melanesia displayed a mixed economy and strong voyaging links—precursors of the later Lapita horizon.