A SMALL but significant exhibition at the Fiji Museum is offering visitors a rare glimpse into one of the Pacific’s most important archaeological sites — the Sigatoka Sand Dunes.
Opened on October 30, the exhibition was organised in response to growing concerns about threats to the heritage site. It highlights the dunes’ archaeological, cultural and historical significance and the importance of preserving them for future generations.
Mereoni Camailakeba, of the museum’s archaeology services section, said the exhibition provided an overview of research and excavation work carried out at the dunes from 1944 to the early 2000s.
“The research and excavations were carried out by researchers in partnership with the Fiji Museum, and during that time, a wide range of archaeological remains were uncovered,” she said.
Finds included human remains, stone adzes, pottery and shells. Further analysis has helped researchers establish when the site was first inhabited.
Ms Camailakeba said the Sigatoka Sand Dunes site was about 2800 years old, with its significance reflected in the pottery discovered there.
“What is very significant about the site is that there are about six pieces of pottery patterns linked to the Lapita migrations.”
Researchers identified five phases at the site: Lapita, Plainware, Navatu, Vuda and Late Lapita.
These phases reflect different periods of migration and changes in pottery decoration, she said.
The exhibition allows visitors to view artefacts from the different phases, including Lapita, Late Lapita and Plainware pottery, offering an insight into the different periods of the site’s history.
Ms Camailakeba said the exhibition not only showcased archaeological finds but also highlighted the significance of the dunes themselves.
The dunes are the largest in the Pacific and also provided a naturally fortified site for the people who lived there.
She said the exhibition brought together decades of research, demonstrating how the dunes had helped archaeologists understand Fiji’s early settlement, cultural changes and the movement of people across the Pacific.
