Chronogeographic Variation in Initial East Polynesian Construction of Monumental Ceremonial Sites

ABSTRACT

In the orthodox model of change in East Polynesian material culture, the rise of monumental ceremonial sites is predicted as occurring earlier in the central archipelagos than at the margins. We have used existing and new radiocarbon dates from marae and ahu respectively to test this proposition in relation to the Society Islands and Easter Island (Rapa Nui). The data contradict the anticipated trend by showing that the initial phase of complex ceremonial sites began earlier, ca. cal AD 1300–1400 on Rapa Nui than in the Societies, ca. cal AD 1400–1600. Different explanations are canvassed. The sample size used here is still quite small; future investigations and larger sample sizes may change or confirm the results.

Keywords:

• ahu
• East Polynesia
• marae
• monumental ceremonial sites
• radiocarbon dates
• Rapa Nui
• Society Islands

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In the process of gathering the data for this article we are grateful for the support of Consejo de Monumentos in Chile and Rapa Nui, and we also like to thank Coordinadora Sonia Haoa-Cardinali, Dr. Christopher Stevenson, and Museum Director of MAPSE Fransisco Torres-Hochstetter for their kind assistant and friendship. In French Polynesia we thank the Service de la Culture et du Patrimoine for helping out with excavation permits and we are grateful to Dr. Yoshi Sinoto of the Bishop Museum for kind help, interest, and collaboration during our work in Huahine. We are also grateful to The Kon-Tiki Museum and The Norwegian Research Council for financial support. We also like to extend our gratitude to all collaborators in the field who aided in the process of gathering the data, and last but not least the reviewers of our manuscript whose constructive comments has improved the quality of the article.