Archaeologists Rediscover an Ancient Polynesian Chiefdom

When we think of early civilizations, we think of organized agriculture, monumental structures, kings, ritual human sacrifice, organized warfare and a pantheon of gods. These were often hallmarks of ancient societies like Sumer, Egypt and the Maya and Aztec of Mesoamerica. But what comparatively few of us know is that the ancient Polynesians of the far-flung islands of the Pacific also built civilizations not dissimilar to these better-known civilizations of the Old World.

Among the last places on earth to be discovered and settled by humans, the Polynesian islands, archipelagoes like those of Hawai’i and the Marquesas, were inhabited by groups of people whos ancestors had gradually voyaged eastward and northward, likely stemming from even earlier ancestral groups that, according to archaeologists, began their trek long before the beginning of the Common Era along the shores of Fujian and Guangdon on the South China coast and the shores of Taiwan. Cultures changed or evolved once they became established on the islands after initial colonization, developing into chiefdoms and eventually, as in the case of Hawai’i, into societies dominated by god-kings with all the trappings characteristic of archaic civilizations.

Now, archaeologists under the direction of Dr. Barry Rolett, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Hawai’i and President of the Andover Foundation of Archaeological Research, are investigating and excavating sites on the Marquesas Islands that show a history of settlement going back over 1,000 years. In 1774, Captain James Cook recorded contact with a well-developed chiefdom on the island of Tahuata, one of the islands of the Marquesas. The current focus of excaations, a site called the Hanamiai dune, lies on the coast of one of Tahuata’s ports. This site is yielding remains that add to the evidence uncovered thus far in other parts of the island, evidence of monumental architecture, elaborate art, and a religious system in which ceremonies included human sacrifices. The Tahuata island investigations have uncovered intact remains of residential and ceremonial centers and a range of artifacts from fishhooks made of pearl shell to European contact era trade goods like glass beads, bronze nails, clay pipes, gun flints, and musket balls. 

Although the Marquesas have a long history of European contact and influence, the first recorded settlers of the Marquesas were Polynesians, who, based on the archæological evidence, are suggested to have arrived before 100 AD. Ethnological and linguistic evidence points to their arrival from Tonga and Samoa. But, like the cultures on other Polynesian islands of the Pacific, the culture and society on the Marquesas underwent change through time, and the chiefdom or chiefdoms that ruled there developed along paths that differed from their ancestral roots in Tonga and Samoa.

Researchers hope that the project will add significant additional light on the nature and trade relationships of this chiefdom and what it says about the development of Polynesian society in the Pacific. 

More information about the Marquesas Islands Archaeology Project and how individuals may participate can be obtained at their website.

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Cover Photo, Top Left: A view toward the Pacific from a high point on Tahuata. Teahiki, Wikimedia Commons

*republished with permission from Popular Archeology