Skeletal and Dental Health of Early Tongans: The Bioarchaeology of the Human Skeletons from the To-At-36 Site, Ha‘ateiho, Tongatapu, Tonga

Abstract

Using a variety of skeletal and dental indicators (e.g., stature, linear enamel hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia, infection, trauma, dental pathologies) recorded in 33 adult and 11 subadult skeletons from the To-At-36 site at Ha‘ateiho, Tongatapu, this study examines the health, diet, and lifestyle of precontact Tongans during the Tongan Chiefdom Period (ca. 750–150 BP). Limited comparisons with skeletons from the ‘Atele mound sites (To-At-1 and To-At-2) on Tongatapu and other Pacific Island series are also made. Very few differences in the indicators of health were observed between the adult male and female skeletons from the To-At-36 site and between To-At-36 and the ‘Atele skeletons. Regional comparisons indicate that precontact Tongans and Polynesians were relatively tall and less subject to physiological stress than other Pacific Islanders. Bone infection, most likely attributable to yaws, was more prevalent in early Tongans. Although not significant, the frequency of bone fractures, including spondylolysis, is higher in the Tongan skeletons compared to other precontact Pacific Islanders. Advanced degenerative joint disease in precontact Tongans is comparable to other Pacific Island series. The oral-dental health of early Tongans was generally good. Overall, the frequencies of skeletal and dental indicators of health observed in the precontact Tongan skeletons fall in the medium range and are most similar to those reported for skeletons from the Hane dune site in the Marquesas and the Mariana Islands. Although evidence for physiological stress and bone infection is documented in the subadult skeletons from To-At-36, the prevalence of bone infection is generally higher in other subadult series examined.

Keywords:

• bioarchaeology
• post-Lapita skeletons
• health
• dental pathology
• Polynesia
• Tonga

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Our thanks to Dirk Spennemann for information he provided on the excavation of the To-At-36 site. Our thanks to Roger Green, Alexandra Brewis, and Nicola Van Dijk who helped facilitate the study of the To-At-36 skeletons in the Department of Anthropology at Auckland University in 1994. Our thanks also to Ms. Raewyn Curin, Department of Radiology, Auckland Hospital, for making the radiographs of selected bones and Mr. Marween Yagin, Center of Instructional Support, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, for producing the map and figures used in this paper. We thank three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions to improve the quality of this article, and the editors of JICA for guiding us through this process. Any errors in this manuscript remain the responsibility of its authors. Finally, we wish to thank the people of the Kingdom of Tonga whose ancestors are the subject of our research.

FUNDING

The University of Hawai‘i Research Relations Fund Travel Award and University of Hawai‘i Research Training Revolving Fund Seed Money Grant helped fund this research in 1993–1994.