[en] Preliminary archaeological data from the east coast of the Grande Terrre of New Caledonia have been interpreted for some time as indicating an early prehistoric settlement of the southernmost Melanesian Archipelago by two cultural groups. Absence of Lapita sites on this coast, as well as very early dates published for the appearance of paddle-impressed pottery of the Podtanean tradition, led to the proposal of a pre-Lapita, non-Austronesian, 'Melanesian' settlement of southern Melanesia. This paper presents data on the first early Lapita site from Grande Terre's east coast, and discusses the implications of these new archaeological data for the definition of the characteristics of first human settlement in this region of Remote Oceania. (author). 59 refs., 6 figs