Enhancing Oral Tradition in Fiji for the Study of Archaeological Remains. The Case of the Hillforts in the Nadroga-Navosa Province
(2023) 29th EAA (European Association of archaeology) Annual Meeting — Location: Belfast (30.August.2023)
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- Authors
Lancini, Loredana 
- Abstract
- The Fiji Islands represent a stimulating case study for cross-cultural research combining archaeology and the oral tradition. In fact, they present favourable conditions for exploring the oral tradition, since Fijian society retains many contexts where the oral transmission of knowledge is still practiced. The local oral tradition comprises diverse and varied stories bearing valuable contents for the community, well worth being recorded. There are also stories, legends and beliefs linked to old sites inhabited in the past and considered sacred for their symbolic role. Their memory is preserved through ritual practices and is kept vivid in the minds of the local population by performing traditional narratives. In June 2022 the authors conducted fieldwork in Fiji, in the province of Nadroga-Navosa (Viti Levu, Fiji) as part of the project ‚Environmental Changes and Heritage in the Fijian Islands‘. The project aimed to study hillforts as well as the oral traditions of the local populations, by means of both archaeological fieldwork and oral surveys. The collected data from the sites of Tabuqutu, Kavukavu, Old Tau, Nakaro, Vasilaulau, and Koromani show that landscape and archaeological remains are well-integrated in local memories and beliefs. Local people are indeed well informed of the type of archaeological remains that could be found on site. Moreover, we were able to collect stories of origins 732 and foundations, still vivid in the memory of the villages, and to understand that place names are directly related to historical and topographical elements. Finally, the symbolic role of the hillforts as the home of ancestors is well rooted in traditional beliefs. This paper aims to present the results of the oral enquiries held in Fiji and to provide insights on the enhancement of local tradition for the comprehension of archaeology in a society where oral tradition is the main tool of social memory.
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Citations
Duval, H., Nunn, P., Compatangelo-Soussignan, R., Lancini, L., Nakoro, E., & Tikoinavatu, N. (2023). Enhancing Oral Tradition in Fiji for the Study of Archaeological Remains. The Case of the Hillforts in the Nadroga-Navosa Province. 29th EAA (European Association of archaeology) Annual Meeting, Belfast. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/239670