page_title: Vailele
section_title: Archaeology
hierarchical_section_title: Vailele / Archaeology
caption_attribution_description: English: Excavation in Vailele, north coast of Upolu Island in Samoa, showing New Zealander Jack Golson at a dig site and members of I'iga Pisa family visiting. 1957. Gagana Samoa: O le su'esu'ega i lalo o le 'ele'ele a le saienitisi Jack Golson (Niu Sila) i Vailele, Samoa, 1957. Ae o lo'o matamata tagata mai le aiga o I'iga Pisa. Français&#160;: Archéologie d'excavation dans le village de Vailele à Samoa, 1957. Русский: Археология раскопок в селе Vailele в Самоа, 1957. Deutsch: Archäologie Ausgrabungen im Dorf Vailele, Samoa, 1957.
context_page_description: Vailele is a village situated on the central north coast of Upolu island in Samoa.
  Vailele is in the electoral constituency of Vaimauga East in the larger political district of Tuamasaga.
  The village is less than ten minutes east of the country's capital, Apia. The settlement is north facing and situated in Vailele Bay.
context_section_description: Archaeological field work in Samoa uncovered earth mounds at Vailele, including a large mound Laupule, associated with a figure called Tupuivao in oral history and another mound Tapuitea (evening star).
  The studies of the mounds during the early 1940s were carried out by New Zealand anthropologist Derek Freeman (referred to as J.D. Freeman in literature) who was a schoolteacher in Samoa from April 1940 to November 1943. Freeman also excavated the Falemauga Caves in Upolu's interior. Plainware pottery sherds were found in 1957 by archaeologist Jack Golson.
caption: Vailele excavation in 1957 with Jack Golson and the family of I'iga Pisa visiting the site.
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