Pofatu Database

Database of geochemical fingerprints for stone artefacts and archaeological sources maintained by @aymerichermann and Robert Forkel | @MPI_EVA_Leipzig @CNRS

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

The ministry of Research in France has awarded Pofatu and its founders an open science award that highlights the collaborative efforts to create a resource that is open and FAIR.

[Comité pour la science ouverte @ouvrirlascience]

Suite des présentation des projets nominés au #prixscienceouverte des #donneesrecherche
Reconstituer les voyages interinsulaires passés dans le Pacifique grâce à la géochimie
Richelieu - Histoire du quartier
@sup_recherche
#scienceouverte

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

Seth Quintus and colleagues (2022) used pXRF and MC-ICP-MS techniques to highlight exchange within Western Polynesia, as well as the transfer of one artefact from East Polynesia to Samoa.
https://t.co/InqaoIdS4n

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

The new release of the Pofatu database contains 14 new datasets, with a total of 481 new artefacts and sources documented from 11 regions/countries across the Pacific and Island South East Asia.
Pofatu 1.3 is on Zenodo https://t.co/ClcjtLOvVg
and GitHub https://t.co/k7xKOBI6CJ

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

David Burley and colleagues (2011) present a provenance study of volcanic glass specimens from 12 archaeological sites in the Kingdom of Tonga.
https://t.co/OPvxiIUV4U

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

Peter Sheppard and colleagues (2001) compare the elemental composition of a basaltic adze from Walpole with known quarries in the region and conclude it was made of basalt from New Caledonia.
https://t.co/5mc1bRpbJg

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

Christophe Sand and Peter Sheppard (2000) used PIXE-PIGME to source obsidian flakes from Lapita contexts in New Caledonia to the Talasea region of New Britain.
https://t.co/gMEYU44gpr

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

Aymeric Hermann and colleagues (2023) have used a set of ICP techniques to study long distance mobility patterns in 3 Polynesian Outlier Islands of the Western Pacific during the last millennium CE https://t.co/PnVnHb2lRL

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

Takuya Nagaoka and colleagues (2022) have used pXRF to document the composition of an obsidian point found on Welua Islet, Kapingamarangi atoll Caroline Islands). The artefact is sourced to the Admiralty Islands in Papua New Guinea over about 900 km.
https://t.co/V9XjeQgEQx

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

Marshall Weisler (1990) used Electron-microprobe to document geochemical compositions of two volcanic glass sources in the Waiahewahewa area (East Moloka'i), as well as from 9 other locations through the Hawaiian archipelago.
https://t.co/dGV9RmmrGz

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

Marshall Weisler (2004) documented fine-grained basalt flakes from workshops on 'Ata (Southern Tonga), in one of the oldest quarry site in Polynesia.
https://t.co/8F8n3IvbQP

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

Ben Shaw and colleagues (2021) used pXRF on 49 obsidian artefacts from Tubetube Island and 53 geological samples from all known source regions in Papua New Guinea, and show that these artefacts come from Fergusson Island.
https://t.co/cEQNKBOOJw

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

Back in 1968, C.A. Key provided the first geochemical analysis of archaeological obsidians in the Pacific Islands, where he found that an artefact from Watom was from Talasea on the Willaumez Peninsula of New Britain. https://t.co/dv6NiOsLfH

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

Stephen Chia and colleagues (2007 & 2014) document obsidian industries and sources from several sites in Java and Luzon.
https://t.co/xfytvugZMQ
https://t.co/kAzlC9VuVE

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

Mara Mulrooney and colleagues (2016) document the geochemical composition of an obsidian stemmed tool in the collections of the Bishop Museum, which was once thought to be a mata‘a from Rapa Nui actually comes from New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
https://t.co/KEGIafSvJt

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

New research using Pofatu, and showcasing the use of SQL queries embedded in R scripts - these are available at https://t.co/f7vRDlUH9r

[Aymeric Hermann @aymerichermann]

Here is a paper out now in @ScienceAdvances where we used geochemical fingerprinting of stone artefacts to highlight long-distance voyaging in the western Pacific during the last millenium.
https://t.co/9Kod9aYEe2
@umr8068 @CNRS @MPI_EVA_Leipzig 🧵 1/9

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

The Pofatu database is featured in EOS
https://t.co/4fDmpPWTW7

[DIGIS @DIGISgeo]

It is time to acknowledge the huge amount of work Bärbel Sarbas has put into #GEOROC over the years. Without her as the GEOROC coordinator at @maxplanckpress the database wouldn’t be what it is today. We are very lucky to have Bärbel’s support in the transition to GEOROC 2.0!

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

Robert Tykot and Stephen Chia documented long-distance exchange between the Bukit Tengkorak site in Borneo and islands in the Talaud group (Sulawesi) and Talasea (New Britain). Electron microprobe analyses by the authors at Harvard University. https://t.co/V7d4BKgf9J

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

The new release of the Pofatu database now fully covers the Pacific area and is expanding to Island South East Asia. Pofatu 1.2 is on Zenodo https://t.co/nAZwXfYeW4 and GitHub https://t.co/nDTa6aGW47. Short descriptions of newly added datasets below

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

Christian Reepmeyer and colleagues recently analysed stone adzes and obsidian tools from Tongatapu (Tonga), and tentatively sourced these to north Tonga, Samoa and Fiji. Geochemical analyses by Christian Reepmeyer and Redbird Fergusson at the ANU. https://t.co/E5XG4BrpC7

[Pofatu Database @pofatu]

Alana Pengilley and colleagues recently presented a pXRF study of artefacts from archaeological contexts in New Britain and ethnographic collections at the Australian Museum which shows complex social networks matching those known for the recent past. https://t.co/ZSBOrbqgd9