Archaeological History of a Fijian Island: Moturiki, Lomaiviti Group

Moturiki is one of the high islands in the Lomaiviti Group, central Fiji. In this article we present exhaustive empirical information on archaeological survey and test pit excavations carried out in 2008 and 2010. An interesting archaeological landscape emerged, with 89 archaeological sites found on Moturiki and neighboring islands Yanuca Levu, Leleuvia, and Caqalai. The sites include ring-ditch villages, terraced villages, isolated house mounds (yavus), and burial sites. Results from one of the test pits on the southeast of the island indicate possible landscape changes in the last millennium, since the ancient coastline is currently buried at around 1 m below the surface. This lowland area has therefore received large amounts of sediment from higher areas, a likely result of human activity. We also documented remains from a previously recorded Lapita site in the island. Overall, a shift in the settlement patterns from the coast, to the interior areas, back to the coast, has been documented. This shift, taking place on extremely small islands, can hardly be explained by environmental changes. The article puts together our findings and hypothesis, as well as providing the emphasis of our methodological approach

MAVE MAl, THE MARQUESAS ISLANDS (Review)

MAVE MAl, THE MARQUESAS ISLANDS by Sharon Chester, Heidy Baumgartner, Diana Frachoso, and James Oetzel, 1998 Wandering Albatross, 724 Laurel Av. #21 1, San Mateo, CA 94401, Fax (650) 342-6507. ISBN 0-9638511-8-7. A total of 139 pages with 172 photographs, 29 illustrations, 23 maps, and one table. Approx. $18. Review by Sidsel Millerstrom University of CaIifornia, Berkeley</p

TATTOO TRADITIONS OF HAWAI'I (review)

I AM DELIGHTED THAT TRlCIA ALLEN, with her unique experiences as an anthropologist and a practicing tattoo artist, has used her wealth of knowledge to weave the complex cultural tapestry of ancient and contemporary tattoo practices into a book.</p

Archaeological Art on Mo'orea, French Polynesia: an Overview

Aside from Roger C. Green's pioneering settlement pattern archaeology carried out in the Opunahu Valley in the early 1960s (Green 1961a; 1961b; Green et al. 1967; Green and Decantes n.d.), followed by Dana Lepofsky's (1994) work on prehistoric agricultural intensification in the same valley in 1991, no systematic survey has been undertaken on Mo'orea. Generally, archaeological inquiry has been limited to documentation and analysis of the elite architecture that is visible on the surface (e.g., Emory n.d., 1933; Decantes 1993; Wallin 1993).</p

Tiki: Anthropomorphic Sculptures, Sacred Structures and Powerful Places in Marquesas Islands

The ancient Marquesan anthropomorphic stone and wood sculptures or tiki have received wide attention since they were first noted in 1595. However, they have not been systematically and scientifically studied until the Marquesas Rock Art Project was created in 1984. Over several years eighty‑four anthropomorphic sculptures were located through intensive field survey and interviews with local Marquesan. Information gathered at each site included metric data, archaeological, social, architectural and environmental context. Stylistically the Marquesan stone tiki are remarkably similar and followed certain social rules. The similar characteristics also seen in Marquesan rock art, tattoo, and material objects suggest that the fundamental principles regarding the symbolic order remained unchanged for a long time. Moreover, the homogeneous decorative system demonstrates that the Marquesan adhered to a common ideology and belief system.Les pierres anthropomorphiques et les sculptures sur bois anciennes des Marquises appelées tiki ont fait l’objet d’une large attention depuis qu’elles furent découvertes en 1595. Cependant, elles n’avaient pas été étudiées de manière systématique et scientifique avant la création du Marquesas Rock Art Project en 1984. Sur plusieurs années, 84 sculptures anthropomorphiques ont été localisées grâce à un intense travail de terrain et des entretiens avec des habitants des Marquises. Des données métriques et des informations sur le contexte environnemental, architectural, social et archéologique ont été recueillies sur chaque site. Les tiki de pierre des Marquises ont des similitudes de style remarquables et témoignent d’un certain ordre social. Le fait que des caractéristiques semblables se retrouvent dans l’art rupestre des Marquises, les tatouages et les objets matériels, suggère que les principes fondamentaux qui sous‑tendaient l’ordre symbolique sont restés inchangés sur une longue période. De plus, l’homogénéité du système décoratif montre que les tous les habitants des Marquises adhéraient à une même idéologie et à un même système de croyances

Sailing Ship and Dog-Poni

During the Marquesan Archaeological Rock Art Survey (1984 to 1989), over 6,000 petroglyphs, 110 pictographs, and 81 sculptured anthropomorphic figures (tiki) were located and recorded (e.g., Edwards and Millerstrom 1995; Millerstrom and Edwards 1998; Millerstrom 1997, 2001, 2003). Some forty-one valleys were visited on five of the presently six inhabited islands; Nuku Hiva, Ua Huka, Ua Pou, Hiva Oa, and Tahuata. The majority of the rock art occurs on Nuku Hiva (Table 1).</p

Pre-Contact Arboriculture and Vegetation in the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia: Charcoal Identification and Radiocarbon Dates from Hatiheu Valley, Nuku Hiva

In order to address long-standing questions in the field of Pacific Island archaeology regarding the extent, timing, and causes of human-induced environmental change, as well as the deep history of the development of distinct regional agricultural and arboricultural adaptations, this study presents and discusses taxonomic identification data for 15 wood charcoal samples recovered from archaeological excavations in the Hatiheu Valley, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands. This is some of the first archaeobotanical data collected and analyzed from this archipelago, and the only direct evidence of past distributions of economic and indigenous tree and shrub taxa in specific temporal and spatial contexts. The 14 native and Polynesian-introduced tree and shrub taxa identified are analyzed in view of their archaeobotanical and more modern distributions, as well as in consideration of radiocarbon dates obtained from five of the charcoal samples. Finally, these results are evaluated in regard to the degree to which they can provide useful cultural and environmental information relating to existing models of prehistoric Marquesan and broader Pacific Island settlement, economy, and environmental change over time. KEYWORDS: archaeology, archaeobotany, anthracology, charcoal, Marquesas Islands

Te Henua Enana: Images and Settlement Patterns in The Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia

This monograph represents the first attempt in Polynesian archaeology to systematically examine rock art in the Marquesas Islands in relation to settlement patterns and excavation data. Sidsel N. Millerstrom’s groundbreaking archaeological research is based on more than 15 years of field work in the islands. Surveying the dramatic landscapes of the deep valleys and thick forests of the Marquesas, Millerstrom and her team found a significant quantity of rock art. They learned that every image was not randomly placed but rather purposefully positioned according to prehistoric Marquesan cultural norms. The images were found on public and private prehistoric architecture, on outcrops, rock shelters, walls of underground pits, narrow ridges and springs. Based on our present understanding of science, Millerstrom also explains what the prehistoric petroglyphs, pictographs and anthropomorphic sculptures probably signified to the past inhabitants

Te Henua Enana: Images and Settlement Patterns in The Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia

This monograph represents the first attempt in Polynesian archaeology to systematically examine rock art in the Marquesas Islands in relation to settlement patterns and excavation data. Sidsel N. Millerstrom’s groundbreaking archaeological research is based on more than 15 years of field work in the islands. Surveying the dramatic landscapes of the deep valleys and thick forests of the Marquesas, Millerstrom and her team found a significant quantity of rock art. They learned that every image was not randomly placed but rather purposefully positioned according to prehistoric Marquesan cultural norms. The images were found on public and private prehistoric architecture, on outcrops, rock shelters, walls of underground pits, narrow ridges and springs. Based on our present understanding of science, Millerstrom also explains what the prehistoric petroglyphs, pictographs and anthropomorphic sculptures probably signified to the past inhabitants