• It has been established that just before human arrival at Teouma, a thick and still largely unweathered orange/yellow tephra, which has been identified in other areas of Efate (2–4), was deposited across the uplifted terrace (Fig. S2). This created a level surface across the once jagged uplifted reef. Burials were subsequently placed in shallow graves dug into the tephra in gaps in the uplifted reef and in the upper beach zone. The cemetery is concentrated along a northeast to southwest trending zone, 10 to 15 m wide and adjacent and parallel to the former beach. Evidence of initial habitation, possibly contemporary with the use of the cemetery, was identified in the form of concentrated midden dumping, adjacent and east of the cemetery, in area 6B and the east/west aligned trench extension of area 2. Further excavation in this area is required to confirm the nature of this deposit