Deep charcoal found at Fagali’i village, Upolu Island, Samoa: natural or anthropogenic in origin?

Abstract

While it is generally accepted that Lapita groups reachedWest Polynesia ca. three millennia ago, there are very few archaeological sites in Samoa that date back this early. The one exception is the Mulifanua site in NW Upolu from which a turtle bone associated with a Lapita pottery deposit was dated to 2,970–2,640 cal BP (NZA-5800 [2σ]; 2,838– 2722 cal BP [1σ]). This is currently the only and earliest 14C age related to prehistoric human settlement in Samoa (Cochrane et al. 2013; Petchey 2001; Rieth and Hunt 2008)