November/December 2017 Issue

NEW ZEALAND: The remains of a Maori village dating to between 1600 and 1800 were recently uncovered during a road construction project near Papamoa on the country’s North Island. Several hundred archaeological features of the settlement were exposed, including crop storage pits, cooking pits, and postholes from several large Maori communal houses known as whares. The discovery is not only providing researchers with new insights into the layout and organization of native communities, but is also revealing aspects of daily life. —Jason Urbanus

VIETNAM: A grinding stone used to shape, repair, and maintain stone axes attests to the unexpected presence, some 3,500 years ago, of specialized toolmakers at the southern Vietnamese site of Rach Nui. Previously it was thought that the manufacture of stone tools only occurred near the sources of material, but the closest quarry to Rach Nui is 50 miles away. Researchers now believe a sophisticated Neolithic trade network enabled raw materials to be imported into Rach Nui, where they were crafted into finished products. —Jason Urbanus

ZANZIBAR: For the past 1,000 years, African, Arab, and European traders have fought over this island because of its key location along Indian Ocean trade routes. Although it was under the control of the Portuguese during the 15th and 16th centuries, until recently very little evidence of their occupation was apparent. But now, beneath Stone Town’s old fortress, archaeologists have unearthed the ruins of a large Portuguese church and the burial of a priest, identifiable by his sacred heart brooch, ring, and small crucifix. —Jason Urbanus