Monumental Architecture and Landscape History of the Tongan Classical Chiefdom
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Monumental Architecture and Landscape History of the Tongan Classical Chiefdom by Travis A. C. Freeland B.A., Trent University, 2010 M.A., Simon Fraser University, 2013 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Archaeology Faculty of Environment Travis A. C. Freeland 2018 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2018 Approval Name: Travis A. C. Freeland Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title: Monumental architecture and landscape history of the Tongan Classical Chiefdom Examining Committee: Chair: Catherine D'Andrea Professor David Burley Senior Supervisor Professor Francesco Berna Supervisor Assistant Professor Dana Lepofsky Internal Examiner Professor Department of Archaeology Patrick V. Kirch External Examiner Chancellor’s Professor Emeritus Department of Anthropology University of California, Berkeley Date Defended/Approved: April 3, 2018 ii Abstract Beginning ca. AD 950, increasing populations and the rise of socio-political hierarchies in Tonga, West Polynesia, resulted in the development of a dynastic, geographically integrated, paramount chiefdom. The principal island of Tongatapu was the epicentre of this polity. Ranked chiefs affirmed power and rights to land through monumental construction and a dispersed settlement pattern that fully occupied inherited estates. In this dissertation, I characterize monumental architecture on Tongatapu, particularly the form and distribution of earthen mounds. Aerial LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) survey in 2011 revealed the totality of monumental and community-level construction on Tongatapu. Thousands of mounds and other earthen features, the product of some 1,000 years of funerary behaviour, chiefly competition, and conflict, are highly structured in their arrangement on the landscape. Using a combination of automated and manual identification approaches, combined with field checks, I have mapped and characterized the mounds and other features of Tongatapu. The distribution of mounds and other monumental features reflects key elements of Tongan culture and socio-political organization, namely, the segmentary, clan-based spatial organization associated with ramage-based societies, as well as the senior-junior ranking that made Tonga one of the most socially stratified cultures in Oceania. The LiDAR imagery also reveals evidence of the first royal “capital” of the political dynasty that would rule Tonga for nearly a millennium. Massive earthen platforms at this site suggest strategic use of power by an emergent elite at a time of apparent population increase and resumed oceanic voyaging from West Polynesia after a 1,700-year hiatus. Keywords: Kingdom of Tonga; landscape archaeology; remote sensing; monumental architecture; burial mounds; social inequality iii Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the guidance and support of my senior supervisor, Dr. David Burley. Dave has given me many opportunities to participate in fieldwork in Fiji and Tonga since my first trip to Fiji in 2011, in the summer before I began my MA under his supervision. These irreplaceable experiences have been formative, both in my career as an archaeologist, and as a person. It has been a great honour to benefit and learn from Dave’s unparalleled knowledge of Fijian and Tongan cultures, histories, and protocols. Not to mention the stories over Fiji Bitters in far-flung towns and villages. The faculty and staff of the Department of Archaeology have provided an excellent intellectual and social community in which to grow over these past seven-and-a-half years. I wish to thank my second supervisor, Dr. Francesco Berna, for supporting my research in archaeometry, and for lending a friendly ear on many occasions. Many faculty members have given their time and energy to sit on my various committees (defences, proposals, comps…) and for that I am grateful. Through coursework, reading groups, TA-ships, and seminars, I have benefited from the knowledge and experience of all these people. I want to acknowledge Dr. George Nicholas, in particular, for all the conversations, books lent, and advice given. I will always have profound gratitude for the support and friendship of our exceptional department staff. From Day 1 of my graduate school career, I have relied heavily on the expertise and kindness of these wonderful people. Merrill Farmer, Chris Pappaianni, and Laura Walker were instrumental in getting me through the MA and started on the PhD. The newer office folks, with whom I’ve not become closely acquainted, have continued to provide excellent support as I’ve worked remotely. Peter Locher and Shannon Wood have happily answered every email, phone call, and door knock over the years with technical support and access to equipment and lab space. I have seen seven “generations” of archaeology graduate cohorts. Each year I am more impressed with the quality of people our department attracts. Among my fellow grad students I count many friends and many current and future colleagues. I thank them for the companionship and motivation. Thursday pub nights (and, let’s face it, pub nights on iv Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays…) are fertile ground for intellectual growth as well as crucial time for cooling off and griping about the rain. I hope to return to SFU many years from now and find this tradition intact. Geographers Dr. Anders Knudby, Dr. Brandon Heung, and Marco Jorge generously lent their time and skills to developing the LiDAR project. Without them, I would still be struggling to open ArcMap. Dr. Geoff Clark of the Australian National University graciously contributed to the first LiDAR paper and has provided invaluable insight into Tongan archaeology. Sopolemalama Filipe Tohi generously allowed me to use his illustrations of the sia heu lupe of Vaʻepopua, Tongatapu. I wish to acknowledge to the friendship and field assistance of Ratu Jone Balenaivalu of the Fiji Museum (vinaka vakalevu!), Tenisi Tuʻinukuafe of Nukuʻalofa, Tonga (malo ʻaupito!), and Shane and Christine Egan of Kanokupolu, Tonga (cheers!). And a big thank you to my various companions in the field: Dr. Kathleen LeBlanc, Kody Huard, Vienna Chichi Lam, Nyra Chalmer, Bre Jakobsen, and the students of the 2014 South Pacific field school. Dr. Jennifer Lewis-Botica, Amanda Marshall, and the Kleanza gang have provided welcome friendship and mentorship for the past few years. They understand the challenges of having one foot in academia and the other in industry and have supported me all the way. I would not have even considered starting this journey without the love and support of my incredible parents, Chris and Janet Freeland, my brother, Spenser, my in-laws, Yves and Janice Brodeur, and my amazing wife, Elisha. Leeshy, this has been one adventure in a lifetime of adventures. Je t’aimerai toujours. Maps and illustrations are attributed to their original sources. All photographs and GIS illustrations in this dissertation are my own. v Dedication For Nina vi Table of Contents Approval .......................................................................................................................... ii Abstract .......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ iv Dedication ...................................................................................................................... vi Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... vii List of Tables .................................................................................................................. ix List of Figures.................................................................................................................. x Glossary of abbreviations and Tongan terms ................................................................xiv Chapter 1. Archaeology and landscape history in Tonga ....................................... 1 1.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Research context .................................................................................................... 2 1.3. Research questions ................................................................................................ 6 1.4. The “geospatial revolution” in archaeology ............................................................. 7 1.5. The LiDAR dataset ............................................................................................... 11 1.6. Organization of the dissertation ............................................................................ 12 Chapter 2. Tonga and Tongan prehistory in Oceanic context............................... 15 2.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 15 2.2. Socio-political structure ......................................................................................... 23 2.3. Traditional histories and genealogy ...................................................................... 30 2.4. Culture history and the rise of the Tongan Chiefdom ............................................ 32 2.5. The Tongan Maritime Empire ............................................................................... 33 2.6. Power and Monumentality