Early Lapita colonisation of Remote Oceania: An update on the leapfrog hypothesis

Abstract

It is now more than 10 years since the original Lapita leapfrog hypothesis was proposed by Sheppard and Walter (2006) for the movement of Lapita out of Near Oceania into the southeast Solomon Islands. Data have continued to accumulate over the last decade and can be used to evaluate the original argument. This chapter will review new linguistic, genetic and archaeological data from the Solomon Islands and how they relate to the early colonisation of Remote Oceania.