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STUDIES IN GLOBAL ARCHAEOLOGY 20 Studies in Global Archaeology no. 20 Studies in Global Archaeology no. 20 MONUMENTS AND PEOPLE IN THE PACIFIC HELENE MARTINSSON-WALLIN & TIMOTHY THOMAS Department of Archaeology and Ancient History Uppsala University 2014 Studies in Global Archaeology no. 20 ABSTRACT The Pacific region consists of a multitude of island communities in a vast Ocean. The people and material culture on the various islands and island groups are not homogenous despite the close relationships demonstrated by archaeological, linguistic and ethno-historical research. Monuments have generally been interpreted to be tied to ideology and power and often have an extended biography with use and re-use phases. They could be considered both as part of, and active in, shaping and re-shaping the natural and ideological landscape of groups of people. Monuments, especially the ones that have been interpreted as ceremonial sites, have often been used in the discussion of prehistoric migration and interaction of people in the Pacific region but they also play an important role in current Cultural Heritage Management (CHM) and issues related to World Heritage nominations and community involvements. This volume presents case studies from across the Pacific focusing on the relationship of monuments and people to chronology, ideology, re-use, biography and CHM in a local, regional and global perspective. Keywords: Archaeology, Monuments, Monumentalism, Chiefdom, Social structure, World Heritage, Pacific, Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Samoa, Pulemelei mound, Tonga, langi, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), ahu, moai statues, marae, shrine, Palau earthworks, Solomon island, Kuk site, Roi mata site, Nan Madol, Kosrae, Lolong sites, New Zealand pa Helene Martinsson-Wallin, Department of Archaeology and Anent History, Uppsala University, Campus Gotland 62167, Visby, Sweden. Timothy Thomas, Department of Anthropology & Archaeology, University of Otago, New Zealand. PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand. © Helene Martinsson-Wallin and Timothy Thomas 2014 Studies in Global Archaeology 20 ISSN 1651-1255 ISBN 978-91-506-2410-6 Cover illustration: layout Göran Wallby. Ceremonial site Ahu Nau Nau in Anakena with restored statues in 1987. Photo: Helene Martinsson-Wallin © Published and distributed by: Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Studies in Global Archaeology no. 20 “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards” Sören Kirkegaard Studies in Global Archaeology no. 20 Studies in Global Archaeology no. 20 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Helene Martinsson-Wallin………………………………………………………………….9-44 MELANESIA.........................................................................................45-46 SHRINES IN THE LANDSCAPE OF NEW GEORGIA Timothy Thomas……………………………………………………………………………....47-76 PACIFIC MONUMENTALISM Chris Ballard and Meredith Wilson………………………………………………..77-98 MICRONESIA…………………………………………………………………………..99-100 RITUAL USE OF PALAU’S MONUMENTAL EARTHWORKS AND LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES Jolie Liston……………………………………………………………………………………….101-128 BURIAL PRACTISES IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD ON POHNPEI, EASTERN MICRONESIA William Ayres and Katherine Seikel………………………………………………….129-166 ORIENTATIONS AND ASTRONOMY IN PREHISTORIC MONUMENTAL TOMBS OF NAN MADOL (POHNPEI, MICRONESIA) César Esteban………………………………………………………………………………….167-190 TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE IN THE SACRED SITE OF MENKA, KOSRAE, FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA Felicia Beardsley……………………………………………………………………………..191-218 POLYNESIEN…………………………………………………………………………………219-220 SOCIAL MEMORY AND THE LANGI (ROYAL TOMBS) OF LAPAHA, TONGA Geoffrey Clark…………………………………………………………………………221-244 Studies in Global Archaeology no. 20 ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN INDEPENDENT SAMOA – “TALA ELI” OF LAUPULE MOUND AND BEYOND Helene Martinsson-Wallin……………………………………………………………….245-272 MONUMENTALITY AND RITUAL BEHAVIOUR IN SOUTH POLYNESIA Atholl Anderson………………………………………………………………………………273-296 CHIEFS, FASHION AND ZEITGEIST: EXCLUSION AS AN EXPENSION STRATEGY IN KINSHIP BASED GROUPS IN THE SOCIETY ISLANDS Paul Wallin………………………………………………………………………………………297-316 SPATIAL PERSPECTIVES ON CEREMONIAL COMPLEXES: TESTING TRADITIONAL LAND DIVISIONS ON RAPA NUI Helene Martinsson-Wallin and Paul Wallin…………………………………….317-342 THE STONE STATUES AT URAURANGA TE MAHINA, RAPA NUI William Ayres, Joan Wozniak, and José Miguel Ramírez ……………….342-372 Martinsson-Wallin: Studies in Global Archaeology no. 20 MONUMENTS AND PEOPLE – AN INTRODUCTION Helene Martinsson-Wallin Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Campus Gotland, Sweden [email protected] Abstract: The Pacific region consists of a multitude of island communities in a vast Ocean. The people and material culture on the various islands and island groups are not homogenous despite the close relationships demonstrated by archaeological, linguistic and ethno-historical research. Monuments have generally been interpreted to be tied to ideology and power and often have an extended biography with use and re-use phases. They could be considered both as part of, and active in, shaping and re-shaping the natural and ideological landscape of groups of people. Monuments, especially the ones that have been interpreted as ceremonial sites, have often been used in the discussion of prehistoric migration and interaction of people in the Pacific region but they also play an important role in current Cultural Heritage Management (CHM) and issues related to World Heritage nominations and community involvements. This volume presents case studies from across the Pacific focussing on the relationship of monuments and people to chronology, ideology, re-use, biography and CHM in a local, regional and global perspective. PRELUDE - A MONUMENT IS A MONUMENT IS A MONUMENT - IN ARCHAEOLOGY FOR EXAMPLE Out of monuments, names, words, proverbs, traditions, private record and evidences, fragments of stories, passages of books, and the like, we do save and recover somewhat from the deluge of time. Sir Francis Bacon Monuments In this volume we explore the concept of “monuments” and how the things referred to by that concept are active in human social relationships and the practices which create place. Our idea is to examine standard themes regarding why monuments have been erected and how they have been used or changed over time, but we also discuss the conceptual foundations of the study of monumentalism and 9 Martinsson-Wallin: Studies in Global Archaeology no. 20 monumental landscapes in this context. We use an array of examples across the Pacific which focuses on practices in the built landscape, especially pertaining to durable sites with special meaning, such as mortuary structures and temples, and we will provide interpretations of how these relate to the natural environment and human cognitive landscape. Some of the papers in this volume were presented at a session I chaired on “Monuments and People in the Pacific” during the 8th Easter Island and Pacific conference in Santa Rosa during 2012. The book includes eleven papers by archaeologists who have researched monuments in the Pacific in various ways. Since there are obvious differences in research tradition in various parts of the Pacific the papers are grouped under the areas that are labelled Melanesia, Micronesia or Polynesia. Monuments with special meaning such as mortuary structures and temples have been integral to archaeological research, especially in relation to interpretation of the organisation of prehistoric societies. Many prehistoric monuments are known to have been built to mediate between gods and people but also constructed as a medium for human discourse in time and space (Martinsson-Wallin 1994:134). According to the Oxford paperback dictionary a monument is: anything (especially a structure) designed or serving to celebrate or commemorate a person or event... or a structure that is preserved because of its historical importance. Something monumental is, according to the same dictionary, of “massive or permanent importance”. From an anthropological perspective we might add that monuments exist in social space, and create places that focus social activity. Again, according to Oxford, ‘social space’ can be explained as an area/arena where mutual relationships of people who live in an organised community are negotiated, and ‘place’ is explained as a “particular part of space”. Following these definitions of the concepts, the essence of this volume is that we are exploring physical structures constructed by humans, sometimes of massive, permanent and historical importance, and their association to the arena where communities negotiate their relationships. The authors of the papers, who come from Europe, 10 Martinsson-Wallin: Studies in Global Archaeology no. 20 Australia, New Zealand and the USA, explore the interplay between material culture, human relations and the environment in various theoretical and methodological ways which relate to their respective research traditions and experiences. As well as the fact that the monuments explored have a relationship to past and present Pacific Islanders they also have an intimate relationship to the researchers who have explored them. Thus, the monuments and people in the Pacific attach to multiple layers of actions, meanings and perspectives. Traditionally prehistoric monuments have attracted a great deal of attention from archaeologists. Classic accounts such as Monuments, mobilisation and social organisation in Neolithic Wessex (Renfrew