Pre-historic artifacts discovered on Ofu by archaeological field work in the 1980s significantly furthered understanding of the ancient history of Ofu in particular, and the Samoa Islands and Polynesia in general. The artifacts include ceramics, adzes, and worked shell and bone pieces. Samples of red-slipped plainware ceramics were found that appear to have been crafted in the tradition of the Lapita culture. The field work, carried out by a team that included Pacific archaeology specialist Patrick Vinton Kirch, focused on a site called To'aga "(site AS-13-1)", a coastal stretch on the south coast of Ofu. Dating of the artifacts suggested that Ofu has been continuously inhabited by humans for about 3,000 years.