Irrigation, fortification, and the proto-historic settlement landscape of the Ndughore Valley, Kolombangara, Western Solomon Islands

Abstract

Archaeological sites in the Ndughore Valley of Kolombangara Island in the New Georgia group of the western Solomon Islands were investigated in 1971. The sites include formerly-irrigated pondfield terrace complexes in the valley bottom, ridgetop residential hamlets and specialised ritual sites. The presence of European material culture such as trade beads, clay pipes, glass, a musket barrel and iron axe head all indicate that these sites were occupied and utilised during the nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, a turbulent period marked by increased inter-island raiding and head-hunting as well as by trade with Europeans. The residential hamlets and ritual sites are situated in defensible positions on ridgetops, while one site was extensively modified for musket warfare. Ancestor shrines at the residential sites are consistent with a widespread New Georgia cultural tradition, containing shell exchange valuables indicating that the Kolombangara community was linked into a larger exchange network.