Recent Survey and Excavation of the Monumental Complexes on Uneapa Island , West New Britain , Papua New Guinea

Introduction Two seasons of fieldwork, June-September 2004 and March-June 2005, were carried out on Uneapa Island, West New Britain, as part of the author’s ongoing PhD research. The project was conducted in collaboration with the West New Britain Provincial Government and involved widespread participation from the local community. The significance of Uneapa’s archaeological remains has only recently come to the attention of the archaeological community and relevant Papua New Guinea authorities, and future collaborative work needs to be undertaken in order to decide how the island’s cultural heritage should be maintained and managed.


Introduction
Two seasons of fieldwork, June-September 2004 and March-June 2005, were carried out on Uneapa Island, West New Britain, as part of the author's ongoing PhD research.The project was conducted in collaboration with the West New Britain Provincial Government and involved widespread participation from the local community.The significance of Uneapa's archaeological remains has only recently come to the attention of the archaeological community and relevant Papua New Guinea authorities, and future collaborative work needs to be undertaken in order to decide how the island's cultural heritage should be maintained and managed.
Uneapa Island is a small (30km 2 ) Quaternary volcanic island located some 60km off the northwest coast of the Willaumez Peninsula, West New Britain (Fig. 1).Three volcanoes dominate the island's landscape: Mt.Kumbu, Mt.Tamagone and Mt.Kumburi.

Background
In 2002, Torrence, Specht and Vatete carried out a reconnaissance survey of the standing archaeology on the Bali-Witu islands (Torrence et al. 2002).They visited Uneapa, Garove, Ningau, Goru, Silenge and Vambu islands recording a total of 102 locations of archaeological significance.It was on the island of Uneapa in particular that an unprecedented diversity and density of stone arrangements and rock art sites were noted.
Standing stones, quarried columnar andesite features in the form of 'seats' and 'tables', and arranged boulder groups with and without petroglyphs were noted in a wide range of contexts and landscape settings.A large number of boulders with mortars, axegrinding grooves and grinding hollows were also recorded.
By far the most common of the forms of rock art found on Uneapa are cupule marks (small circular engravings approximately 2cm in diameter).Curvilinear and rectilinear designs were also recorded, many sharing stylistic parallels with other known petroglyphs in the wider Western Pacific region.Threedimensional carved anthropomorphic boulders at Malangai village, first recorded by Riebe (1967), were re-recorded by the 2002 survey team (Fig. 2).These boulders have no obvious parallels in the surrounding regions and are possibly unique.
Although it has long been known that stone monuments of various forms are present throughout the Western Pacific region (Riesenfeld 1950), they have generally been under-studied and only a handful have been dated (Bickler and Ivuyo 2002;Sheppard et al. 2004).Substantial research needs to be carried out before we can begin to interpret possible relationships between the stone arrangements on Uneapa Island and those found in other parts of the Western Pacific.
More detailed localised studies are needed so that a substantial body of data exists before we can begin interpreting such features in their wider contexts.
Whilst prehistoric sequences on the West New Britain mainland have been extensively studied, such a chronology for the Bali-Witu islands has yet to be established.

Research Issues
As our knowledge of Uneapa's monumental landscape is still in its infancy, one of the basic concerns was to establish monument, site and rock art typologies.Through an analysis of Uneapa's archaeology and oral history, the main questions being tackled within this project are as follows: 1. How, when and for what purpose were the monumental complexes created in the first place?Were they constructed rapidly as the result of major shifts in local political organisation or settlement pattern?Alternatively, were they created more slowly over longer periods of time through generations of re-use, renovation and re-invention?What can these monumental complexes tell us about past social practices on Uneapa?
2. As we know that certain communities on Uneapa continued to erect stone monuments until at least the 1970s, how should this recent use be studied?Is a long-term chronological framework best in order to understand fully the monumental complexes as we see them today?
3. How are the monumental complexes perceived and remembered today?What impact did European colonialism have on the use and perception of these places?What role did the local cargo cult, known as the Perekuma Company, play in the re-erection and re-location of such monuments?

Fieldwork Season One: Summary
The initial aim of the first season of fieldwork (June-September 2004) was to carry out a complete survey of Uneapa's archaeological remains.After an initial two-week survey, it became apparent that the scale of archaeological remains far surpassed any previous estimates.The majority of these sites were considerably overgrown and their true extent could only be revealed through extensive bush clearing.It was therefore decided that an island-wide survey would not be possible within the timeframe of the project and that detailed analysis of one area of the island would be more productive, yielding more comprehensive results.
Western Uneapa was chosen as an appropriate case study area for understanding the stone arrangements and rock art sites found on the island.A full range of topographies can be found there: coastal, ridge, valley, foothill and highland areas.The survey was designed to include these distinct topographic categories and the resulting site gazetteer was organised accordingly.
Western Uneapa was the area of the island most affected by European colonialism.
During the late 19 th century German New Guinea Company established Bali Plantation in this region, covering an area of almost one-fifth of the island's total landmass.Local people remember how at least seven major clan groups were violently uprooted from their traditional lands during this period.
The 2004 survey recorded 105 new locations of archaeological significance islandwide, of which 91 were recorded in Western Uneapa.Combined with the 2002 survey, the total number of significant archaeological locations recorded so far is 171.Each location was mapped using a hand-held GPS console.Descriptive notes were penned and photographs taken.
Bola Ke Voki (Voki's Mat) was by far the largest site surveyed, with over 300 purposefully arranged stone features stretching over an area of 150x100m lying between two sharply incised creek beds.Features at this site include elaborately carved boulders, arranged groups of boulders with cupules, andesite 'seats' and 'tables', seven cooking areas or mumus (up to 4m in diameter) and five in situ stone mortars (Fig. 3).The majority of this area was heavily overgrown and most of the stone features have now collapsed.This site is remembered by elders as being a prominent meeting and feasting place of the Kulubago clan.

Fieldwork Season 2: Summary
It became apparent after the first season of fieldwork on Uneapa that more needed to be known about the age of monumental complexes and the activities carried out within them.Therefore, at each of the sites surveyed in detail during the previous year, two to three test pits (1m 2 and 2m 2 ) were excavated.
Excavations were very successful and a clear occupation sequence within the monumental complexes was seen at five out of the six locations with concentrated horizons of obsidian artefacts.Nidabadaba (U/73) was the only problematic site due to extensive modern intrusions and truncations.A number of partially and fully buried stone features were noted.At Bola Ke Voki (U/161) evidence pointed to at least two separate phases of monument building.The retrieval of charcoal samples for 14 C dating was very satisfactory.All excavated material is awaiting further analysis.Of particular note was the discovery of a number of knapped European glass flakes found at a depth of 15cm at the monumental complex of Nabugou (U/154).
During the second season of fieldwork, more time was spent gathering local oral history associated with the stone monuments.Over 20 hours of interviews were recorded with elders.A number of meetings were arranged at the monumental complexes themselves so that a process of joint discussion and identification of specific monuments could more easily be achieved (Fig. 5).It became apparent that the monumental complexes were largely remembered as public arenas where meetings, feasts and other public ceremonies took place.In contrast, the meaning and purpose of rock carvings was not remembered.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Map of northwest coast of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, showing location of Uneapa Island (after Torrence et al. 2002).