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The Roy Mata site complex in Vanuatu is significant because it allows for a close connection between archaeology and oral history, with related sites including the burial ground of Roy Mata, his village site at Mangaasi, and the Feles Cave where funeral rites were performed. Excavations at the Mangaasi site revealed distinctive pottery known as the Mangaasi style, which is comparable to ceramics found across the Western Pacific. This pottery style dates back to around 2400/2300 BP and continued until about 1500 BP or slightly later. Further excavations at Mangaasi have uncovered two earlier pottery styles, extending the archaeological sequence at the site to around 2900 BP. The Mangaasi site experienced flooding, scouring, and alluvial deposition, as well as tsunami or storm surge events that deposited clean sand over the site at different times. The pottery at the site evolved from the Arapus ware to the Erueti style, with changes in rim form and other artifact forms. The settlement pattern at the site shifted seawards over time due to tectonic uplift and beach progradation, resulting in both horizontal and vertical stratigraphy. Extinct species found in the Arapus layers at the site include a previously unknown land crocodile species, a locally extinct hawk, and an extinct megapode form.