The catastrophic Kuwae eruption defined the present landscape of Central Vanuatu. Epi is by far the largest remnant of the former landmass, yet its contribution to understandings of regional prehistory is disproportionate to its size and position in the Vanuatu archipelago. This is largely because Epi has received relatively little attention from archaeological or oral historical studies. We begin to address this discrepancy by studying sites on Epi in order to investigate the social phenomena in which Epi communities engaged both prior to and after the Kuwae event, and to gain insight into the nature and extent of its impact. Furthermore, work on Epi reveals a complex stratigraphic record incorporating ash and tephra layers from numerous volcanic events spanning the length of the island’s human occupation. These deposits probably represent activity from several volcanoes, including Ambrym and Lopevi, and their presence demonstrates that human communities on Epi lived with the effects of regular volcanic activity prior to Kuwae, and continued to do so afterward.