A Key To Fiji’S Ancient Past

Fragments of pottery found in the sandhills near Sigatoka, Fiji, may help to provide anthropologists with a key to the mystery of Fiji’s pre historic past.

As described in PIM last month ( p . 28), one set of fragments has been pieced together to form a dish more than 3 ft wide, which experts believe is around 2,000 years old.

The dish, which is pictured above, was hand-moulded on a base of leaves, possibly banana leaves, and resembles pottery found in New Caledonia and Tonga. It was pieced together by Miss Molly Nicholls, an anthropology student at Auckland University, after hours of painstaking work. The dish is now in Auckland.

Fragments of about half of another dish, of similar size and with a similar leaf pattern on its base, were recently sent to the Fiji Museum in Suva. They were also unearthed at Sigatoka—by the local Agriculture Officer, Mr. P. G. Thomson.

In late September, the curator of the Fiji Museum, Mr. J. B.

Palmer, was busy reassembling them. When the job was completed, the dish was to be put on display.