ELEMENTAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL ANALYSES OF BASALT ADZE MANUFACTURE ON TUTUILA, AMERIKA SAMOA: ECONOMIC INTENSIFICATION AND SPECIALIZATION DURING THE MONUMENT BUILDING PERIOD A Dissertation by PHILLIP RAY JOHNSON II Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Chair of Committee, Suzanne Eckert Committee Members, William D. James Michael R. Waters Ted Goebel Head of Department, Cynthia Werner August 2013 Major Subject: Anthropology Copyright 2013 Phillip Ray Johnson II ABSTRACT This dissertation research presents the elemental and technological analyses of basalt adze quarries from the Samoan Island of Tutuila. Both Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) were utilized in the chemical characterization of basalt samples and artifacts. Elemental concentration data derived from both INAA and EDXRF successfully differentiated between multiple Tutuilan basalt adze quarries, and these data were utilized to determine the most efficacious elemental analysis technique for Tutuilan basalt adze provenance study. Elemental concentration data from the Lau’agae quarry were utilized with technological attribute analysis of artifacts recovered from that archaeological site to investigate the potential for economic specialization in the manufacture of basalt adzes. Analysis of both the technological attribute data and the elemental concentration data provided evidence for potential specialization at the Lau’agae quarry. When these data were compared to similar data from other Polynesian archaeological sites it further supported the potential for specialized production at Lau’agae. Ultimately, it was determined that multiple skilled producers created various types of basalt adzes at Lau’agae with the intent to export and exchange their products. ii To my mom and dad who encouraged me to dream and made me follow through. For my dearest Nicole and darling Alexander, without whom I could never have found the inspiration to complete this work. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to say fa’afetai tele lava to the people of Tutuila and Amerika Samoa whose assistance and encouragement helped with this research all along the way. I would like to thank my committee, especially Dr. Suzanne Eckert and Dr. Dennis James, for their unyielding support and advice throughout what has proven to be a harrowing few years. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the American Samoa Historic Preservation Office, specifically to Territorial Historic Preservation Officer Mr. David Herdrich. I also thank Dr. Fred Pearl for giving me my first opportunity to work in Samoa. I would like to thank Tim Currey, Danny Welch, and Dr. Quent Winterhoff for their friendship and assistance in the field. Thanks very much to Dr. Peter Mills, Dr. Steve Lunblad, and Dr. Steve Shackley for their guidance and encouragement with EDXRF analysis. Finally, I owe never ending gratitude to my partner, Dr. Nicole Breazeale, for the endless hours of pestering, fretting, and advising she endured during the writing of this document. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................................. ii DEDICATIONS..................................................................................................................... ..iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................................. ...iv TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................................................…v LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ vii LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................................. ..ix 1. INTRODUCTION... ..............................................................................................................1 1.1 Research Area ...............................................................................................1 1.2 Cultural Chronology and Theoretical Framework ........................................3 1.3 Materials and Methods..................................................................................8 1.4 Section Introductions ..................................................................................12 2. ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS OF TUTUILAN BASALT QUARRIES................................14 2.1 Introduction.................................................................................................14 2.2 Geography and Geology .............................................................................17 2.3 Tutuilan Geochemical Characterization Studies.........................................18 2.4 Sample Selection.........................................................................................20 2.5 Chemical Characterization..........................................................................23 2.6 Why INAA? ................................................................................................23 2.7 Statistical Methodology ..............................................................................24 2.8 Results.........................................................................................................24 2.9 Canonical Discriminant Analysis................................................................25 2.10 Principal Components Analysis ................................................................26 2.11 Summary ...................................................................................................28 2.12 Conclusion ................................................................................................30 2.13 Discussion .................................................................................................32 v Page 3. COMPARISON OF INAA AND EDXRF ON TUTUILAN BASALT QUARRIES.........34 3.1 Introduction.................................................................................................34 3.2 Geography and Geology of the Research Area...........................................36 3.3 Archaeological Context...............................................................................38 3.4 Regional Chemical Characterization Studies..............................................40 3.5 EDXRF Materials and Methods..................................................................41 3.6 Results.........................................................................................................43 3.7 Conclusions and Final Discussion ..............................................................50 4. SPECIALIZATION AT THE LAU’AGAE BASALT ADZE QUARRY..........................53 4.1 Economic Specialization and Polynesia .....................................................54 4.2 Research Area, Site Descriptions, and Field Collections............................57 4.3 Materials and Methods................................................................................61 4.4 Results.........................................................................................................66 4.5 Intensity of Production................................................................................72 4.6 Standardization............................................................................................74 4.7 Distribution .................................................................................................80 4.8 Discussion and Conclusion .........................................................................82 5. CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................88 5.1 Methodological Contributions ....................................................................89 5.2 Theoretical Contributions ...........................................................................93 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................96 APPENDIX A........................................................................................................................107 APPENDIX B ........................................................................................................................162 APPENDIX C ........................................................................................................................163 APPENDIX D........................................................................................................................165 vi LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE Page 1.1 The Samoan Archipelago and Tutuila Island.......................................................................1 1.2 The Volcanic Provinces of Tutuila (from Stearns 1944 and MacDougall 1985) ................2 2.1 The Samoan Archipelago...................................................................................................14 2.2 Samoan Island of Tutuila, adapted from Stearns (1944) and Clark et al. (1997) ..............18 2.3 Biplot of CDA Functions 1-2.............................................................................................26 2.4 Biplot of PCA Scores 1-2 ..................................................................................................27 2.5 Biplot of Quarry Samples for Vanadium-Hafnium ..........................................................30