Proper noun
Lapita
An ancient material culture of Oceania who may have spoken Proto-Oceanic and were the ancestors of many modern peoples in the region.
Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin 60 Nonetheless, reaching the Tongan islands (without Western navigational tools and techniques) was a remarkable feat accomplished by the Lapita peoples. Source: Internet
Archaeological dating places Tonga as the oldest known site in Polynesia for the distinctive Lapita ceramic ware, at 2800–2750 years before present. Source: Internet
These islands are surrounded by "a protective and resource-rich labyrinth of fringing, apron and off-shore barrier reefs" that have supported most of the human settlement in Tonga ever since the first Lapita People arrived circa 900 BCE. Source: Internet
Cosimo Posth said the earlier Lapita culture and language remained strong in Vanuatu despite being Melanesian. Source: Internet
But many archaeologists thought the Lapita mixed with the Papuan population as they travelled down through New Guinea and the Solomon Islands before setting out towards the remote islands 3,000 years ago. Source: Internet
Kirch 1997:273 Some of the oldest sites pertaining to the first occupants of the Tongan Islands are found on Tongatapu which is also where the first Lapita ceramics were found by WC McKern in 1921. Source: Internet