The islands around Misima form part of the wider Massim region, an important setting for understanding Pacific movement and exchange.
In 2022, ANSTO described research led by Dr Ben Shaw, working with researchers and representatives of Brooker and Panaeati communities. Excavations on Brooker Island revealed evidence of people living there before the arrival of Lapita-associated material.
Encounters, not empty islands
The radiocarbon chronology placed stone tools associated with earlier occupation deeper in the excavation, with Lapita pottery in later layers. The findings help explain how newcomers interacted with existing communities.
This research concerns Brooker and the wider region. It gives Misima’s island neighbourhood a deeper historical setting without assigning an unverified excavation or date to Misima itself.