A new assessment of site WKO013A of Xaapeta (Lapita), New Caledonia.

The eponymous "site 13" of Lapita on the West Coast of New Caledonia's Grande Terre, has a unique historical importance in the study of the Lapita cultural complex, being the first archaeological locality with dentate stamped sherds to have been dated. It has shown its richness, especially with the discovery of a series of complete pots, burial pits as well as preserved habitation features in the original sandy matrix. This paper proposes in a first part a review of the different phases of archaeological study that have been made on the site over one century, highlighting the major destructions witnessed over the passed decades. The second part of the paper will present a set of new data retrieved in early 2015, during the first phases of a CRM project, as part of a road extension that will ultimately lead to the destruction of about 2500 square meters of the original Lapita occupation. A better understanding of the overall stratigraphic diversity of the site, the presentation of a new set of 14C dates and of the main archaeological remains recovered, will allow us to highlight the spatial complexity of site WKO013A and begin to expand on the large spatial excavation to be conducted at the end of the year.