March/April 2013 Issue

TONGA: The site of Nukuleka in Tonga is the oldest known site occupied by the Lapita peoples who initially settled remote Oceania, but it has been difficult to date the first settlement precisely. Scientists have now used uranium-thorium dating on thirteen small coral files to find that people of the Lapita culture arrived between 2,830 and 2,846 years ago, nailing down the founding event of Polynesia with unprecedented precision. —Samir S. Patel

NEW ZEALAND: Archaeological sites are often described as “time capsules,” but rarely does the term apply as well as it does to a recent discovery in Christchurch. In the foundations of an office building—demolished as part of the recovery after the city’s deadly 2011 earthquake—archaeologists found a room containing 1,600 artifacts from the 19th century, including a lady’s tiny pocket watch, a pot of ointment, and a variety of pottery and glass fragments. —Samir S. Patel

JAPAN: Examples of ancient Japanese armor have been found before, but never on the remains of their wearer. At the site of Kanai Higashiura, archaeologists have found the skeletons of an infant and an armor-clad warrior, both entombed in ash from a volcanic eruption in the early sixth century. This type of armor, made of small overlapping metal plates, is sometimes found among grave goods. The style suggests he may have been an elite warrior or a guard at an elite residence. —Samir S. Patel