Japanese Jomon sherds in artifact collections from Mele Plain on Efate in Vanuatu

Fourteen cord‐marked sherds collected from the surface of yam gardens on Mele Plain near Port Vila on the island of Efate in Vanuatu are unlike any known prehistoric wares from Pacific islands. Based on typological analysis, comparative petrographic study of sand tempers supplemented by microprobe analysis of characteristic microperlite sand grains, and thermolumescence dating of key examples, we believe these sherds were made during the Early Jomon period in Aomori Prefecture near the north tip of Honshu. Although we are unable to specify the time or means of their introduction into Vanuatu, the sherds cannot represent indigenous pottery and are not part of the Oceanian ceramic legacy.