Editing History of Vanuatu (section)

==Premodern history==
{{Main|Vanuatu#Prehistory}}
The pre-European history of Vanuatu can be reconstructed by combining insights from [[linguistics]] (particularly [[historical linguistics]]), [[anthropology]], [[archaeology]] and [[human genetics]]. 

Archaeological evidence supports that peoples speaking [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] [[language]]s first came to the islands some 3,300 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bedford |first1=Stuart  |last2=Spriggs |first2=Matthew |title=Northern Vanuatu as a Pacific Crossroads: The Archaeology of Discovery, Interaction, and the Emergence of the "ethnographic Present" |journal=Asian Perspectives |year=2008 |volume=47 |issue=1|pages=95–120 |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |doi=10.1353/asi.2008.0003 |jstor=42928734 |hdl=10125/17282 |s2cid=53485887 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> [[Pottery]] fragments have been found dating back to 1300 BC.<ref>Ron Adams, [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-53977 "History (from Vanuatu)"], ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', 2006.</ref> 

The first inhabitants of Vanuatu were carriers of the [[Lapita culture]], speakers of the [[Proto Oceanic language]].<ref>{{Citation
| last1    = François
| first1   = Alexandre
| author-link  =Alexandre François
| last2   =Franjieh
| first2  =Michael
| last3   =Lacrampe
| first3  =Sébastien
| last4   =Schnell
| first4  =Stefan
| editor-last   =François
| editor-first  =Alexandre
| editor2-last  =Lacrampe
| editor2-first =Sébastien
| editor3-last  =Franjieh
| editor3-first =Michael
| editor4-last  =Schnell
| editor4-first =Stefan
| date     =2015
| title    =The Languages of Vanuatu: Unity and Diversity
| chapter  =The exceptional linguistic density of Vanuatu
| contribution-url = http://alex.francois.online.fr/data/Francois-et-al_2015_Languages-of-Vanuatu_Intro-chapter.pdf
| series  =Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia
| publisher =Asia Pacific Linguistics Open Access
| location =Canberra
| pages = 1–21
| citeseerx = 10.1.1.730.9327
| isbn =9781922185235
| ref = density
}}.</ref> That first wave of migration was likely followed, about 500 BC, by a second wave of [[Melanesians|Melanesian populations]].<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1038/s41559-018-0498-2| issn = 2397-334X| volume = 2| issue = 4| pages = 731–740| last1 = Posth| first1 = Cosimo| last2 = Nägele| first2 = Kathrin| last3 = Colleran| first3 = Heidi| last4 = Valentin| first4 = Frédérique| last5 = Bedford| first5 = Stuart| last6 = Kami| first6 = Kaitip W.| last7 = Shing| first7 = Richard| last8 = Buckley| first8 = Hallie| last9 = Kinaston| first9 = Rebecca| last10 = Walworth| first10 = Mary| last11 = Clark| first11 = Geoffrey R.| last12 = Reepmeyer| first12 = Christian| last13 = Flexner| first13 = James| last14 = Maric| first14 = Tamara| last15 = Moser| first15 = Johannes| last16 = Gresky| first16 = Julia| last17 = Kiko| first17 = Lawrence| last18 = Robson| first18 = Kathryn J.| last19 = Auckland| first19 = Kathryn| last20 = Oppenheimer| first20 = Stephen J.| last21 = Hill| first21 = Adrian V. S.| last22 = Mentzer| first22 = Alexander J.| last23 = Zech| first23 = Jana| last24 = Petchey| first24 = Fiona| last25 = Roberts| first25 = Patrick| last26 = Jeong| first26 = Choongwon| last27 = Gray| first27 = Russell D.| last28 = Krause| first28 = Johannes| last29 = Powell| first29 = Adam| title = Language continuity despite population replacement in Remote Oceania| journal = Nature Ecology & Evolution| date = 2018| pmid = 29487365| pmc = 5868730}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|date=12 July 2017|title=Vanuatu profile – Timeline|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16426561|access-date=17 May 2021}}</ref>

Around the 16th or 17th century AD, the last chief with the title [[Roi Mata]], died in central Vanuatu. He was buried in a large mound with several retainers &ndash; a place which is now one of the [[World Heritage Site|UNESCO World Heritage Sites]]. The memory of Roi Mata is still told today in oral histories and legends.<ref>{{cite book |language=en|author1=Chris Ballard|author2=Meredith Wilson|title=Chief Roi Mata's Domain|type=Nomination by the Republic of Vanuatu for Inscription on the World Heritage List|date=2008|url=http://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/1280.pdf |ref=unescopdf}}</ref>