Discovered in 1952 by two American archaeologists, Lapita pottery is one of the oldest and original traces of the human presence in New Caledonia.
Dated to 2500 BC, this pottery made by the Austronesians with clay from swamps and sand was designed for ceremonies. Generally dispersed along the coast, facing the entrance of the passes in the reef, it disappears completely in the 2nd and 3rd century AD. The sudden end of the Lapita period marks without a doubt a watershed in the history of New Caledonia. It was probably a period of change, in which a part of the population moves within the Chain on Grande Terre - the Mainland, where the Kanak culture is born.
The exceptional quality of the ornaments of this pottery has led to a persistent interest of specialists and of the general public. These strange dotted patterns were found within a radius of more than 4,500 kilometres across the Pacific southwest. Furthermore, New Caledonia has the privilege of being the Pacific archipelago where the largest number of well-preserved fragments of Lapita pottery has been discovered until now. No fewer than 30 different sites were acknowledged for the discovery of large fragments of pottery. Of these, the site of Foué in Koné represents a major concentration of such objects.
