The emergence of Mailu as a central place in the prehistory of coastal Papua
Creators: name: Irwin, Geoffrey
Publisher: name: The Australian National University
Year: 1977
Subjects: subject: Mailu Island (Papua New Guinea) History

description: At the close of prehistory, the small Papuan island of Mailu was the location of a settlement that can be described as a central place. It was 'central' in that (1) with respect to the pattern of communications among contemporary sites in the area, it enjoyed a distinct relative locational advantage; (2) it was also very much larger, more influential and more functionally specialised than any other place. The Mailu Islanders alone maintained a fleet of large sea-going canoes and their island was the point of articulation of the local and long distance trade networks. They also held a monopoly of the manufacture and supply of pottery to a large surrounding area. The emergence of Mailu as a large and specialised centre is a major theme of this study. Archaeological evidence indicates that this area of Papua was first settled by pottery-using people approximately 2000 years ago. They practised a generalised gardening and fishing economy and lived in villages which were distributed along the coast and on offshore islands. Villages apparently were functionally unspecialised. It is suggested that Mailu developed as a central place 'in S'itu at a rate which accelerated through time. Support for this can be found in several independent areas of the archaeological evidence; (1) Mailu Island became central with respect to the pattern of local communication. (2) It acquired a monopoly of pottery making which it did not have in the beginning. (3) Pottery acquired characteristics associated with semi-specialist production. (4) It is suggested that the island population became larger and more socially stratified. (5) In the area as a whole, settlement density increased and in parts of the mainland, there was a radical shift in village location from the lowland coastal fringe to defensive hilltop situations. Inferences are made as to the processes by which these developments occurred. A number of variables are identified as associated with the emergence of Mailu and causal relationships are sought amongst them. They include (1) certain ecological factors; (2) the relative centrality of sites; (3) the role of middleman in trade; (4) other cultural factors including warfare. This work describes the initial archaeological research to be under­ taken in this part of Papua New Guinea. It began as an exploratory study whose general interest lay in the pattern of prehistoric settlement, the nature of interaction between sites and the processes of change. The thesis begins with a sketch of the archaeological background to the study and is followed by a reconstruction of the situation which existed in the area at the end of the prehistoric period. The archaeological fieldwork that is described, included an extensive field survey and several test excavations. Sampling was designed to accommodate the range of environmental and cultural diversity recognised in the survey area. A model which assigns functions to the prehistoric sites found, combines archaeological, ecological and ethnographic elements. Analysis of samples of prehistoric pottery achieves a number of objectives; (1) it derives a relative chronology of sites as the basis for identification of successive settlement patterns; (2) it describes patterns of typological variability and change; (3) it discovers groups of pottery distinct in terms of material composition and is sometimes able to attribute these geologically to their sources. There is an ethnographic study of the modern pottery industry of Mailu, which represents the current expression of a development which has continued through prehistoric and historic times. A model relates changes in the formal and decorative attributes of pots to changes in the socio-economic context of pottery making. The study of other artifactual material and faunal remains is described. A spatial analysis of prehistoric settlement in the Mailu area compares successive time periods with respect to (1) the spacing of sites and their association with certain environmental zones; (2) patterns of centrality among sites; (3) clay source utilisation and inferred patterns of pottery manufacture and trade. An attempt is made to throw light on the cultural processes making for change as documented in different areas of the archaeological evidence. Finally, the prospects for future research in the Mailu area are considered, and certain implications which arise from this study, perhaps of some importance to the study of prehistory in other areas, are noted.