SITES AND SETTLEMENT IN HANE VALLEY, MARQUESAS A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN PACIFIC ISLAND STUDIES June 1968 By Marimari Kellum Otfino Thesis Committee: Richard Pearson, Chairman Peter Pirie Yosihiko Sinoto We certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is satisfactory in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in Pacific Islands Studies. THESIS COMMIT'^EE-s Chairman' a . L j o t < A * k t Ac 4s * PREFACE I am indebted to the Bishop Museum and to the Librarian, Miss Margaret Titcomb and to Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Larsen of the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society who made available unedited manuscripts and letters written in the Marquesas in the late 1700's and early 1800's. ii TABLE OP CONTENTS Page PREFACE ................................................... ü LIST OF T A B L E S ........................................... V LIST OF FIGURES........................................... vi PART I. INTRODUCTION AND SETTING CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ...................................... 1 Presentation of thesis and aims Source material and previous field work Plan of Thesis II. PHYSICAL SETTING OF THE MARQUESAS................... 11 Physical environment ............................ 11 Environment and culture .......................... 15 III. CULTURAL SETTING OF THE MARQUESAS Historical description of settlements ............. 16 Population...................................... 19 Marquesas social organization . ................. 2k Subsistence...................................... 30 Famine........................................... 36 Culture history of Uahuka......................... 1*0 PART II. THE HANE SETTLEMENT: TYPOLOGY AND DESCRIPTION IV. ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY.............................. 52 Classification and description of inland Hane structures ......................... 55 Special site features............................ 9U Petroglyphs and Tikis ............................ 97 Classification and description ................... 106 V. ETHNOLOGICAL SURVEY Present Hane v i l l a g e ............................ lUl Families......................................... lUU iii Page Residential groupings ............................ 151 Adoption......................................... 152 Absentees....................................... 151» Economics........................................ 156 Subsistence...................................... 157 PART III. CONCLUSIONS VI. PREHISTORIC HANE SETTLEMENT.......................... 159 Hypothesis Movement of settlement areas VII. ASSESSMENT OF THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PREHISTORIC AND CONTEMPORARY SETTLEMENTS . 176 Validity of a comparison Emergence of nuclear families Impact of westernization: disappearance of tribal wars and a new economic equilibrium BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................... 190 APPENDICES....................................................195 APPENDIX A. HANE SURVEY M A P S ............................... 196 APPENDIX B. A HUNDRED YEAR CHRONOLOGY OF UAHUKA.............. 202 APPENDIX C. HANE VILLAGE HOUSE CENSUS, 1 9 6 5 ..................210 iv LIST OF TABLES TABLE Page I. Uahuka tribes..........................................25 II. Hane valley sites...................................... 5*» III. Raised paepae in Hane v a l l e y ........... 67 IV. Paepae vith circular pits in Hane v a l l e y ............... 69 V. Raised paepae vith square pit in Hane v a l l e y ........... 73 VI. Raised paepae vith circular and square pits in Hane valley.......................................... 78 VII. Me'ae in Hane v a l l e y .................................. 79 VIII. Tohua in Hane valley . .............................. 83 IX. Agricultural terraces in Hane v a l l e y ................... 88 X. Unclassified sites in Heine Valley........... 91 XI. Uediuka surface eurtifacts............................. 105 XII. Uahuka adzes, general collection .................... 107 XIII. Complete adzes, H a n e ................................. 109 XIV. Pounders, inland H a n e ................................. 113 XV. Miscellaneous artifacts, inland H a n e .................. 120 XVI. Artifacts from inland sites, H a n e ......................123 XVII. Distribution according to site t y p e s .................. 121» XVIII. Four localized collections, Marquesas ................. 137 XIX. Heuie absentees, 1965 ................................. 151» v LIST OP FIGURES FIGURE Page 1. Hane, Uahuka (photo) ................................. 9 2. Marquesas Islands (nap)............................... 10 3. Uahuka, Marquesas (map)............................... 51 k. Floor plans of Hane house s i t e s ......... 56 5. Cross-section of Hane house sites ................... 58 6 . Sketch of Marquesas house ........................... 62 7* Frequency-area graph of Hane house sites.............. 62 8 . Hatueki 23, Paepae with circular pits (p h o t o ) ......... 72 9. Paupiu 1, Paepae with square and circular pits (front wall) . 7 2 10. Paupiu 1, pavement and square pi t .................... 72 11. Keetupu 1 Me1 ae. Front walland sacrifice slab......... 8k 12. Tohua 1. Front w a l l ................................. 8k 13. Paupiu 3, Unclassified s i t e ......................... 93 lk. Cupstone, Hatueki 1................................... 93 15. Petroglyph, Vaiapa 1 A ............................... 99 16. Petroglyph, Keetupu 1 m e ' a e ......................... 99 17. Tiki, Ta'aoa 5 me’a e ................................. 99 18. Tiki A, Meaiaute..................................... 103 19. Tiki B, Meaiaute.................................... 103 20. Tiki C, Meaiaute.................................... 103 21. Diagram of Hane v i l l a g e ............................. Ik2 22. Kinship and household diagram, Kaue'e family .......... lk7 23. Kinship and household diagram, Va'atete family ........ lk7 2k. Kinship and household diagram, Fournier family ........ lk9 25. Transmission of n a m e s ............................... 150 26. Movement of settlement in Hane v a l l e y ................ 167 27. Location map of Hane v a l l e y ......................... 196 28. Poiotona............................................ 197 29. Vai'aoihi, Tanahia, Vaiapa, Havaiki ................. 198 30. Paupiu, Teviokai, Havaiki, Hatueki ................... 199 31. Hatueki, Puikau, Keetupu, K o h a u ................... 200 32. Keetupu, Ta'aoa, Kohau........... 201 vi INTRODUCTION The Marquesas, characterized by a prevalence of steep slopes, separated valleys, and a lack of coastal plain and fringing reef, are different from most of the other high islands of Polynesia. Remnants of the oldest culture in Eastern Polynesia are to be found there since they were the first islands to be settled east of Samoa and Tonga. Later migrations established the first settlements on Tahiti, Easter Island, Mangareva, Hawaii and New Zealand. The material for this study is limited to the one valley of Hane on the island of Uahuka. It was chosen not because it was thought to represent a typical Marquesan settlement, but to complement the excavations of well-stratified coastal sand dune site at the head of Hane bay. The island of Uahuka probably never achieved the importance of Hivaoa and Nukuhiva in terms of population size and historical developments; therefore, the Hane settlement can not be considered typical. When the surface structures are compared to other ones in the Marquesas reported in the literature (Linton 1925 and Suggs 196l)— especially to those on Hivaoa and Nukuhiva— the Hane structures appear to be much simpler and less varied. Previous visits to all the remaining islands and field work on Hivaoa and Nukuhiva confirm this impression. The original plan was to do a comparative study between the Hane Settlement and the settlements of Opunohu on Moorea (Society 2 Islands) and of Vitaria on Rurutu (Austral Islands). The material gathered in Hane and in Vitaria is somewhat comparable, but that from Opunohu, gathered and presented differently, is much less, so the project was rejected for two reasons. On the one hand, the three areas of study represented an arbitrary choice since the selection was based on the opportunity of doing field work rather than by a pre- established research plan or hypothesis. On the other hand, such a comparison would have been premature when it is taken into considera­ tion that the results for the numerous other settlement pattern studies in Polynesia, some still in process, are not yet available (Roger Green for Mangareva 1959 and for Moorea in I960 and 1962, Jose Garanger for Tautira valley on Tahiti, 1963, Peter Groube for New Zealand, I96U, Janet Davidson and R. Green for Samoa, 196U-68, and Peter Chapman for Maui, 1967-68). This study is the first attempt in the Marquesas to survey all the 8ites within a localized area, to form a typology of these sites, and to reconstruct the settlement pattern; the immediate goals beyond these are in this instance very limited. One aim was to try to connect the inland settlement with the very early occupa­ tion of the coast. This has been only partially successful be­ cause no vertical time depth scale has yet been established for the inland structures. Another aim, was to trace a continuity between the past settlement and present settlement. This was found to be difficult because of a radical breakdown in Marquesan culture fol­ lowing European contact.