| Abstract: |
This paper discussed the ceramic chronology of the first millenium of settlement of New Caledonia, the southern-most melanesian archipelago. After having presented the conflicting data concerning the period of first settlement and its cultural background, a short chapter proposes, from the new archaeological data obtained during the last years, to shorten the Lapita chronology to less than 500 years. This opens the room for a better understanding of the evolution of Lapita-related and non-Lapita ware during the rest of the millenium, specially with the development of incised pots related to the Puen tradition in the south of the Grande-Terre and the long tradition of paddle impressed pots of the Podtanéan tradition in the Loyalty Islands. Concluding remarks try to analyse this proposed chronology in a wider perspective, specially in relation to the development of incised series of Mangaasi-type pots in Melanesia during the first millenium BC.
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