Talepakemalai, in the Mussau Islands of Papua New Guinea, excavated by Patrick Kirch between 1985-1988, is the earliest and largest site of the Lapita Cultural Complex, which was ancestral to most of the later cultures of island Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. With a unique waterlogged component, Talepakemalai preserved the wooden posts of a stilt house dated to 1300-1100 BCE. Associated with the stilt house was a large assemblage of elaborately decorated pottery, many of the vessels displaying human face motifs, along with a diversity of artifacts in shell, bone, and stone. Prof. Kirch will discuss these finds, and their significance for understanding the role of the Lapita people in the settlement of Oceania.