Lapita

(proper noun)

A term applied to an ancient Pacific Ocean archaeological culture which is believed by many archaeologists to be the common ancestor of several cultures in Polynesia, Micronesia, and some coastal areas of Melanesia.

Related Terms

(proper noun)

Lapita is a term applied to an ancient Pacific Ocean archaeological culture which is believed by many archaeologists to be the common ancestor of several cultures in Polynesia, Micronesia, and some coastal areas of Melanesia.

Related Terms

Examples of Lapita in the following topics:

  • The Rise of Pacific Cultures

    • From around 1000 BCE on, the Lapita people consolidated and began to create the contemporary Polynesian cultures of Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji.
    • The Lapita were an early culture with an influential artistic tradition.
    • The culture was formed by the second wave of Oceanic settlers, and the name comes from the site of Lapita in New Caledonia, which was among the first places its distinctive sculpture would be found.

  • Tonga

    • The Tongan archipelago has been inhabited for perhaps 3000 years, since settlement in late Lapita times.