Houses, Shrines and the Social Landscape: a study of architecture on Tetepare, Solomon Islands

Abstract

By the late pre-contact period a distinctive cultural tradition involving skull shrine architecture, headhunting raids, and shell valuable exchange had emerged in the New Georgia archipelago of the Solomon Islands. This thesis addresses the architecture of Tetepare, an abandoned island located on the periphery of the New Georgia group. Using surveying data collected by Thomas (2008) 143 sites are subjected to two primary forms of analysis: classificatory and spatial. First, the morphology and materials of individual structures are examined to establish what types of architecture are present on the island. Second, two kinds of spatial analysis are employed to investigate different spatial patterns. To begin, architecture is quantitatively analysed at three scales of analysis: micro, semi-macro, and macro. Following this, quantitative and network analyses are employed to investigate the regional distribution of architectural forms identified on Tetepare. Certain differences in shrine architecture are seen to be localised expressions of practices more widely adopted, suggesting the exchange of ritual knowledge began to break down as Tetepare communities slowly dropped out of wider social networks. To some extent, the distribution of settlements to the east of Tetepare reinforces this narrative, as the most geographically distanced sites are the most heavily fortified.