Shell ‐ Dense Island Off Culasawani, Vanua Levu Island, Fiji: Midden or Muddle?

Nunn, Patrick D. and Thomas, Frank R. and Fong‐Lomavatu, Mereia and McKeown, Michelle and Camailakeba, Mereoni and Nakoro, Elia and Nanuku, Meli and Tokainavatu, Niko and Lomavatu, Aaron and Kumar, Roselyn (2026) Shell ‐ Dense Island Off Culasawani, Vanua Levu Island, Fiji: Midden or Muddle? Geoarchaeology, 41 (2). NA. ISSN 0883-6353

Text - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial. Download (1MB)

Abstract

Investigations of a 3000 m2 shell‐dense island surrounded by mangroves off the coast of Culasawani, a very lightly inhabited part of northern Vanua Levu Island in Fiji, suggest it is likely to be a ‘midden island’ rather than a (tsunami) wave deposit. Building an island that reaches 60 cm above mean high tide, the shell‐dense deposit (70%–90% shell) averages 20–40 cm thick and appears unstratified, characteristics that initially suggested that it was a wave deposit. Subsequent investigations included four 1 × 1 m test pits and showed all shellfish remains in the island sediments to be from edible species and associated with
pottery fragments. Ten radiocarbon ages cluster around a median age of 1190 cal BP (760 CE/AD) with a range of
1530–910 cal BP (420–1040 CE/AD). The clustering of these ages and the nature of the shellfish remains lead to the preferred interpretation of this shell‐dense island as a true ‘midden island’, created either by people living on/above the site or by people who processed shellfish there before transporting its flesh elsewhere for consumption. If the Culasawani island is a midden island, then this is the first to be recorded in the South Pacific west of Papua New Guinea.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CC Archaeology C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CE Technical chronology. Calendar
Divisions:	School of Pacific Arts, Communication and Education (SPACE)
Depositing User:	Ms Shalni Sanjana
Date Deposited:	16 Mar 2026 23:57
Last Modified:	16 Mar 2026 23:57
URI:	https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/15301

Actions (login required)

View Item