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{{Short description|Archaeological site in Vanuatu}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name = Teouma
| native_name =
| alternate_name =
| image =File:Map of the location of the Teouma site on Efate Island, Vanuatu.tif
| image_size = 250px
| alt =
| caption =Location in Vanuatu and on Efate Island
| map_type = Vanuatu
| map_alt = Location in Vanuatu
| map_caption = Location in Vanuatu
| map_size = 250px
| altitude_m     = 8
| altitude_ref   =
| relief = yes
| coordinates =
| location = [[Efate]] Island, [[Shefa Province]], Vanuatu
| region =
| type = cemetery and midden complex
| part_of =
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| area = {{convert|10,000|m2|sqft|0|abbr=on}}
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| cultures = [[Lapita culture]]
| dependency_of =
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| event =
| excavations = 2004-2010
| archaeologists =
| condition = excellent (cemetery complex)
| ownership =
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}}
'''Teouma''' is a major [[archaeology|archaeological]] site {{convert|800|m|0|abbr=on}} from Teouma Bay on the island of [[Éfaté]] in [[Vanuatu]]. The site contains the oldest known cemetery within the [[Pacific Islands]], and has been important in the gathering of information relating to the [[Lapita]] people of the ninth and tenth centuries BC.
==Archaeology==
In late 2003, 26 [[burial|inhumation]]s consisting of 36 individuals were found in the largest-known cemetery located on the south coast of Éfaté Island in Vanuatu in the Pacific.<ref name="Bentley 645–656">{{cite journal|last=Bentley|first=R. Alexander|author2=Hallie R. Buckley|author3-link=Matthew Spriggs|author3=Matthew Spriggs|author4=Stuart Bedford|author5=Chris J. Ottley|author6=Geoff M. Newell|author7=Colin G. Macpherson|author8=D. Graham Pearson|date=October 2007|title=Lapita Migrants in the Pacific's Oldest Cemetery: Isotope Analysis at Teouma, Vanuatu|journal=American Antiquity|volume=72|issue=4|pages=645–656|doi=10.2307/25470438|jstor=25470438|author2-link=Hallie Buckley|hdl=1885/32441|hdl-access=free}}</ref>  The cemetery is thought to be between approximately 3200 and 3000 years old. A common feature of these burials is the presence of red pottery fragments bearing intricate designs.<ref name="Stone 360–361">{{cite journal|last=Stone|first=Richard|title=Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association Congress|journal=Science|date=21 April 2006|volume=312|series=New Series|issue=5772|pages=360–361|doi=10.1126/science.312.5772.360a |pmid=16627714|doi-access=free}}</ref>  These individuals were buried in various positions. One consistent feature of the burials was the removal of the skull, following the decomposition of the periodontal ligaments. Once removed, these skulls were replaced with cone shell rings.<ref name="Stone 360–361"/> This demonstrates a ceremonial culture.
==Isotopic analysis==
[[Isotope]] analysis was performed on the excavated individuals to determine the characteristics of human migration in the Pacific during this time period. Researchers were able to analyze isotopes from 17 of the individuals. Subsequently, they found that four individuals had different isotope levels from the remaining 13. It is believed that these four individuals were immigrants, and in addition to having different isotope levels, they may have been different culturally as well.<ref name="Bentley 645–656"/>
==Genetics==
In 2016, researchers extracted the DNA from the [[petrous part of the temporal bone|petrous bone]] of three of the individuals buried at Teouma.<ref name="Skoglund 2016">{{cite journal|last=Skoglund|first=P.|author2=C. Posth|author3=K. Sirak|author4=M Spriggs|author5=F. Valentin|author6=S. Bedford|author7= G.A. Clark|author8=C. Reepmeyer|author9=F. Petchey|author10=D. Fernandes|author11=Q. Fu|author12=E. Harney|author13=M. Lipson|author14=S. Mallick|author15=M. Novak|author16=N. Rohland|author17=K. Stewardson|author18=S. Abdullah|author19=M.P. Cox
|author20=F.R. Friedlaender|author21=J.S. Friedlaender|author22=T. Kivisild|author23=G. Koki|author24=P. Kusuma|author25=D.A. Merriwether|author26=F-X. Ricaut|author27=J.T.S. Wee|author28=N. Patterson|author29=J. Krause|author30=R. Pinhasi|author31=D. Reich|date= 2016|title= Ancient genomics and the peopling of the southwest Pacific.|journal=Nature|volume=538|issue=7626|pages=510–513|doi=10.1038/nature19844|pmid=27698418|pmc=5515717}}</ref> This is the first successful DNA extraction from ancient samples taken from the tropics.<ref name="ANU 2016">{{cite web|title=Origins of Vanuatu and Tonga's first people revealed|url=http://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/origins-of-vanuatu-and-tongas-first-people-revealed|publisher=[[Australian National University]]|access-date=4 October 2016|date=4 October 2016}}</ref> The remains date to around 3,110 to 2,710 years old.<ref name="Petchey 2014">{{cite journal|last=Petchey|first=F.|author2=M. Spriggs|author3=S. Bedford|author4=F. Valentin|author5=H. Buckley.|
date= 2014|title= Direct radiocarbon dating of burials from the Teouma Lapita cemetery, Efate, Vanuatu.
|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|volume=50|pages=277–242|doi=10.1016/j.jas.2014.07.002|hdl=10289/8676|hdl-access=free}}</ref>
DNA analysis confirmed that all three of the individuals were female. They all belong to [[Haplogroup B (mtDNA)|Haplogroup B4a1a1a]], the typical 'Polynesian motif'.<ref name="Skoglund 2016"/>
aDNA analysis shows that the three individuals cluster together with another Lapita sample, dating to around 2,680 to 2,340 years old, taken from Talasiu, [[Tongatapu]], Tonga; all together, the samples form a genetically distinct population when compared against modern populations.<ref name="Skoglund 2016"/>
When compared against modern populations, the ancient samples from Teouma and Talasiu are genetically closest to the [[Ami people|Ami]] and [[Atayal people]] from Taiwan, and the [[Kankanaey people]] from the northern Philippines, while sharing little similarity with modern Papuans.<ref name="Skoglund 2016"/> According to [[Matthew Spriggs]], the ancient population at Teouma came "[[Out of Taiwan|straight out of Taiwan and perhaps the northern Philippines]]".<ref name="ANU 2016"/>
==See also==
*[[Austronesian peoples]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
*Bedford, Stuart et al. 2006. "The Teouma Lapita site and the early human settlement of the Pacific Islands"[http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=18458326]
*Bedford, Stuart et al. 2007. "The excavation, conservation and reconstruction of Lapita burial pots from the Teouma site, Efate, Central Vanuatu." ([http://press.anu.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/ch147.pdf pdf])
*Hayes, Susan et al. 2009. "Faces of the Teouma Lapita People: Art, Accuracy and Facial Approximation." Leonardo, Vol. 42, No.3. pp.&nbsp;284–285. [http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/leon.2009.42.3.284?journalCode=leon]
{{refend}}
==External links==
*[http://lapita.rchss.sinica.edu.tw/web/?p=1158 Teouma], ''Lapita Online Database Project'', [[Academia Sinica]]
{{coord|-17.7856|168.3862|type:landmark_region:VU|display=title}}
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Vanuatu]]
[[Category:Cemeteries in Vanuatu]]
[[Category:Shell middens]]