The recent discovery of Lapita pottery at Caution Bay, on the southern coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has transformed our understanding of the Lapita culture complex by confirming the migration of Lapita peoples into the southern coast of mainland PNG from around 2900 cal BP where they encountered an extant population who had occupied the Caution Bay area from around 5000 years ago (David et al. completed ms; McNiven et al. 2011). Although Lapita peoples have been traditionally characterised as ‘marine specialists’, relatively little is known about their shellfish subsistence economies in comparison to their distinctive ceramic traditions. This thesis primarily focuses on understanding temporal and spatial changes in how shellfish were exploited throughout the antiquity of human occupation at Caution Bay, especially in relation to before, during and after contact with Lapita peoples. ...

A dissertation submitted by Anbarasu 'Eddie' Thangavelu BA (Hons) For the award of Doctor of Philosophy University of Southern Queensland Toowoomba, Australia (313 p)