David V. Burley

Radiocarbon and DNA evidence for a pre-Columbian introduction of Polynesian chickens to Chile

Two issues long debated among Pacific and American prehistorians are (i) whether there was a pre-Columbian introduction of chicken (Gallus gallus) to the Americas and (ii) whether Polynesian contact with South America might be identified archaeologically, through the recovery of remains of unquestionable Polynesian origin. We present a radiocarbon date and an ancient DNA sequence from a single chicken bone recovered from the archaeological site of El Arenal-1, on the Arauco Peninsula, Chile. These results not only provide firm evidence for the pre-Columbian introduction of chickens to the Americas, but strongly suggest that it was a Polynesian introduction.

Tongan Archaeology and the Tongan Past, 2850–150 B.P.

Archaeological research in the Kingdom of Tonga has documented a continuous sequence of human settlement, adaptation, and change for the period 2850–150 B.P. Tongan culture history is synthesized using a four phase chronology that includes an Early Eastern Lapita Ceramic Period, a Polynesian Plain Ware Ceramic Period, an aceramic Formative Development Period, and a Complex Centralized Chiefdom Period. Beyond description of the archaeological record for this chronology, discussions center on a history of archaeological research in the Kingdom, a review of complementary data sources and approaches that inform upon the Tongan past, and an examination of Tongan data within the broader framework of Fijian/Western Polynesian prehistory. Problems and challenges for future archaeological studies in Tonga are identified as a conclusion.

Rapid prehistoric extinction of iguanas and birds in Polynesia

The Tongoleleka archaeological site on Lifuka Island, Kingdom of Tonga, is a rich accumulation of pottery, marine mollusks, and nonhuman bones that represents first human contact on a small island in Remote Oceania ≈2,850 years ago. The lower strata contain decorated Lapita-style pottery and bones of an extinct iguana (Brachylophus undescribed sp.) and numerous species of extinct birds. The upper strata instead feature Polynesian Plainware pottery and bones of extant species of vertebrates. A stratigraphic series of 20 accelerator-mass spectrometer radiocarbon dates on individual bones of the iguana, an extinct megapode (Megapodius alimentum), and the non-native chicken (Gallus gallus) suggests that anthropogenic loss of the first two species and introduction of the latter occurred on Lifuka within a time interval too short (a century or less) to be resolved by radiometric dating. The geologically instantaneous prehistoric collapse of Lifukas vertebrate community contrasts with the much longer periods of faunal depletion on some other islands, thus showing that the elapse time between human arrival and major extinction events was highly variable on oceanic islands as well as on continents.

Origin and significance of a founding settlement in Polynesia

Selected prehistoric potsherds from the deepest cultural level of the oldest known archaeological site in the Kingdom of Tonga, within the Eastern Lapita province of western Polynesia, display decorative motifs characteristic of the Western Lapita province of modern-day Island Melanesia, to the west. Most of the stylistically anomalous sherds contain temper sands exotic to Tonga but, in one case, petrographically indistinguishable from temper in a Lapita sherd recovered from the Santa Cruz Islands of Melanesia, and are inferred to record maritime transport of Lapita ceramics into Tonga from Melanesia far to the west. The non-Tongan sherds found on Tongatapu provide direct physical evidence for interisland transfer of earthenware ceramics between Western and Eastern Lapita provinces, and the Nukuleka site, where they occur, is interpreted as one of the founding settlements of Polynesia.

High Precision U/Th Dating of First Polynesian Settlement

Previous studies document Nukuleka in the Kingdom of Tonga as a founder colony for first settlement of Polynesia by Lapita peoples. A limited number of radiocarbon dates are one line of evidence supporting this claim, but they cannot precisely establish when this event occurred, nor can they afford a detailed chronology for sequent occupation. High precision U/Th dates of Acropora coral files (abraders) from Nukuleka give unprecedented resolution, identifying the founder event by 2838±8 BP and documenting site development over the ensuing 250 years. The potential for dating error due to post depositional diagenetic alteration of ancient corals at Nukuleka also is addressed through sample preparation protocols and paired dates on spatially separated samples for individual specimens. Acropora coral files are widely distributed in Lapita sites across Oceania. U/Th dating of these artifacts provides unparalleled opportunities for greater precision and insight into the speed and timing of this final chapter in human settlement of the globe.

Function, meaning and context: Ambiguities in ceramic use by the hivernant Metis of the northwestern plains

The 19th century hivernant Metis of the northwestern Canadian plains and parklands followed a way of life centered on communal bison hunting and frequent mobility. Contrary to what might be expected, excavations at five hivernant wintering sites consistently have recovered a variety of fragile, transfer printed, earthenware ceramics. In this context, ceramics, as a form of material culture, are seen to incorporate an ambiguity in function and meaning. In exploring this ambiguity, it is suggested that Metis ceramic use originates with an initial concern for female status and etiquette in Red River fur trade society. Ultimately, ceramics are argued to have assumed a much greater symbolic role. This role was integral in hivernant Metis social interaction and integration.

Monumentality and the development of the Tongan maritime chiefdom

On Tongatapu the central place of the rising kingdom of Tonga developed in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries AD. Marked out as a monumental area with a rock-cut water-carrying ditch, it soon developed as the site of a sequence of megalithic tombs, in parallel with the documented expansion of the maritime chiefdom. The results of investigations into these structures were achieved with minimum intervention and disturbance on the ground, since the place remains sacred and in use

Bayesian modeling and chronological precision for Polynesian settlement of Tonga

First settlement of Polynesia, and population expansion throughout the ancestral Polynesian homeland are foundation events for global history. A precise chronology is paramount to informed archaeological interpretation of these events and their consequences. Recently applied chronometric hygiene protocols excluding radiocarbon dates on wood charcoal without species identification all but eliminates this chronology as it has been built for the Kingdom of Tonga, the initial islands to be settled in Polynesia. In this paper we re-examine and redevelop this chronology through application of Bayesian models to the questioned suite of radiocarbon dates, but also incorporating short-lived wood charcoal dates from archived samples and high precision U/Th dates on coral artifacts. These models provide generation level precision allowing us to track population migration from first Lapita occupation on the island of Tongatapu through Tonga’s central and northern island groups. They further illustrate an exceptionally short duration for the initial colonizing Lapita phase and a somewhat abrupt transition to ancestral Polynesian society as it is currently defined.

Mid-Sequence Archaeology at the Sigatoka Sand Dunes with Interpretive Implications for Fijian and Oceanic Culture History

Continued erosion of the Sigatoka Sand Dunes on the western coast of Viti Levu, Fiji has exposed discrete assemblages of ceramics associated with all phases of Fijian prehistory. Excavations here in 2000 investigated stratigraphically separated occupation floors associated with Fijian Plainware and Navatu phase components, respectively radiocarbon dated to between ca. 450-550 C.E. and 550-650 C.E. The excavations and analysis of recovered data allow for a clarification of previous misunderstandings of the mid-sequence occupation at the site as well as its associated uses and features. These data further bear upon the Plainware/Navatu phase transition for Fiji as a whole. In the Lau Islands of southeastern Fiji this transition is described as abrupt and attributable to influences or a population movement from Vanuatu. Mid-sequence ceramic and other data from Sigatoka illustrate a similar break that potentially represents different cultural traditions.

Fijian Polygenesis and the Melanesian/Polynesian Divide

Cultural, linguistic, and phenotypic differences between Fijian and West Polynesian peoples demarcate the historically defined Melanesian/Polynesian divide. As both regions are claimed to have a common Lapita ancestry, the question of how Fijians became Fijian and not Polynesian is addressed. A 3,000-year-long process of polygenesis is argued, beginning initially with a founder event and interaction sphere discrete from West Polynesia. Polygenesis subsequently amplifies through engagement with and outright immigration by groups from both the west and east.