Archaeological research on Uvea Island, Western Polynesia

Transcription

NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
This document is made available by The New Zealand Archaeological Association under the Creative Commons Attribution‐NonCommercial‐ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by‐nc‐sa/3.0/. Archaeological Research on Uvea Island,
Western Polynesia
Christophe Sand1
ABSTRACT
Archaeological data recovered from the island of Uvea (Western Polynesia) during
the 1980s are presented. The scope of the research is outlined and the natural
environment is briefly described . Archaeological sites surveyed included ceramic sites,
house mounds, burials, fortifications and roads. Results of several major excavations
are summarised, focusing on the Lapita ceramic site of Utuleve and three burial sites.
Material recovered included ceramics, ornaments, adzes and fauna! remains.
These archaeological data from Uvea are placed in a wider chronological and
regional perspective, with an emphasis on the ceramic period and the invasion of
Uvea by Tongan warriors during the second millennium AD. It can be shown that
Uvea participated in the adaptations, evolutions and transformations that took place
in Western Polynesia during nearly 3000 years of prehistory.
Keywords: WESTERN POLYNESIA, UVEA, AUSTRONESIAN COLONISATION,
EASTERN LAPITA CULTURAL COMPLEX, CERAMIC CHRONOLOGY,
CULTURAL EVOLUTION, TONGAN MARITIME CHIEFDOM, SETTLEMENT
PATTERNS, FORTIFICATIONS, BURIAL MOUNDS.
INTRODUCTION
Research carried out in the south-western Pacific over the past 40 years bas aimed to
characterise and understand the various phases in the peopling of Oceania. Although the first
programmes, conducted during the late 1940s and early 1950s (Gifford 1951 ; Gifford and
Shutler 1956), sought to establish chronological sequences for large areas of Melanesia, it
soon became apparent that in order to compare the data from each geographical region, it
was essential to know the prehistoric chronology of each island or archipelago. Research
progranunes were therefore developed to study local cultural evolution at the level of small
islands and groups. Such programmes have been particularly numerous in Western
Polynesia, identified as the source area of many Polynesian cultural characteristics (Burrows
1939). After the first observations by Golson in the 1950s, intensive research was carried
out in the 1960s on the large islands of Savai' i and Upolu in Western Samoa (Green and
Davidson 1969a, 1974), under the sponsorship of the Bishop Museum in Hawai'i. A similar
progranune was conducted by Poulsen in Tongatapu (1964, 1968, 1987), the largest island
of Tonga. The 1970s saw the development of research programmes on more peripheral
islands such as Futuna (Kirch 1975, 1976, 198 1, 1994), Niuatoputapu (Kirch 1978, 1988),
east Fiji and the Lau islands (Frost 1974; Best 1984).
The results of this work, along with data from other parts of the Pacific (Bellwood 1979),
showed that the major islands of Western Polynesia were peopled at the end of the second
1
D~partement ArcMologie, Service des Mus~s et du Patrimoine, BP2393, 98846 Noum~,
New Caledonia
New 7.ealand Journal of Archaeology, 1998, Vol. 18 ( 1996), pp. 91-123.
92
millennium BC by seafaring people who produced Lapita pottery (Green 1979). From this
common cultural ancestry, the inhabitants of each island group developed their own cultural
characteristics, in a regional context (Davidson 1979, 1989; Kirch 1984). During the last
millennium, the appearance and spread of the Tongan Maritime Chiefdom of Tongatapu's
Tui Tonga dynasty (Guiart 1963; Bou 1982; Kirch 1984; Herda 1988) led to the federation
of a number of islands in the region under Tongan military control; this situation stimulated
new cultural borrowings.
By 1980, many Western Polynesia islands had still not been studied from an
archaeological perspective. This was particularly true of Uvea (Wallis), an island in the
north of Western Polynesia (Fig. 1). Except for a brief survey by Kirch in 1974 (Kirch
1975, 1976) and observations by amateurs (Villaret 1963; Dubois 1974), no archaeological
research had taken place. Oral traditions (Henquel n.d.; Burrows 1937) stated that Uvea had
been peopled in the fifteenth century AD by Tongan navigators, who were the ancestors of
the present-day population. But no scientific study of the prehistory of this island in its
regional context existed, to assist in understanding the present characteristics of Uvean
society. It was to fill this gap that an archaeological and ethnohistorical research programme
was started in 1982. Although some preliminary syntheses have been published over the
years (Frimigacci and Vienne 1987; Frimigacci et al. 1995; Frimigacci and Hardy 1997;
Sand 1991a, 1993a, 1997), the basic archaeological data are still not available except in
preliminary reports (Frimigacci et al. 1982, 1984; Frimigacci and Siorat 1987; Frimigacci
et al. 1990). The present paper reviews the data collected on Uvea between 1982 and 19892
in the context of the recent expansion of archaeological research in Western Polynesia (e.g.,
Spennemann 1989; Kirch and Hunt 1993; Burley 1994; Dickinson et al. 1994; Shutler et al.
1994).
PHYSICAL CHARACTE RISTICS OF UVEA ISLAND
Wallis Island (176° 12' E and 13° 17' S) is located mid-way between Fiji to the south-west
and Samoa to the east. Its closest neighbour is Futuna, about 180 km distant. Uvea (Fig. 2),
the major island (95 km2 ), is completely surrounded by a coral barrier reef with five passes.
In the lagoon and on the barrier reef are scattered about 20 islets. Uvea is a relatively low
island (maximum altitude 148 m) of volcanic origin, pierced by various craters. It measures
14 km long from north to south and 7.5 km wide; its coastline is irregular. The shore is
completely surrounded by a fringing reef which connects with the barrier reef in the western
part of the lagoon.
No permanent stream exists on the island and springs near the shore are the main source
of fresh water. Barrau (1963: 157-60) divides the flora of Uvea into four vegetation zones.
(1) Along tbe coast, littoral vegetation of classic oceanic type witb, among tbe tree
species, Barringtonia, Calophyllum, Cordia, Tem1inalia, Thespesia and beautiful
2
A final publication on the archaeology and prehistory of Uvea is in preparation and should
be published under the direction of D. Frimigacci. The present paper, first written in 1991,
includes some data published since 1989. TI1e conclusions presented here are my own and
may be markedly different from those proposed by other members of tlle archaeological
team tllat worked in Uvea.
Sand: Archaeological Research on Uvea
•uvea
93
. . Uoolu
Savai'i .._..
Futuna
.....
S~Ati
,
Marua
Tu tuila
o~
Niuatoputapu
...,.
.Lakeba
.
·~Vava'u
.... ...J~
•
,:
Niue
20°5
t .... I
'
175°W
4Y·Tongatapu
~
0
170°
Figure I : The position of Uvea in the central Pacific.
specimens of gardenias (siale in Uvean); the Rhizophora mangrove is also present
in places; (2) Between the shore, the bills and the central plateau, to the east,
south and west, a zone where domestic plants are dominant, notably coconut
(Cocos nucifera L.), breadfruit (A rtocarpus altilis [Parkinson] Fosberg) and
cultivated varieties of pandanus (Pant/anus # Keura ). Most of the gardens are
located in this zone. (3) In the centre and southern half of the island as well as the
west coast as far as the bills, diverse secondary types of tropical forest more or
less damaged by man and bis cultivation activities, but still fairly beautiful and
dense around some lakes in the south-west quarter of the island. It is probable that
this forest formerly occupied the cultivated zone described above. (4) In the centre
of the northern half of the island, Pandanus and Scaevola scrub with, in places,
expanses of fern (mostly Gleichenia) and some islands of straggly Bourao (Uvean
/au or Hibiscus tiliaceus): this is what the Wallisians call the desert, toafa,
frequent victim of bush fires and land impossible to cultivate (Barrau 1963: 158,
translated from the original French text).
Wallis, like Futuna, became a French Overseas Territory in 1961. The archipelago is a
'Kingdom', with the Lavelua at its head. Uvea is divided into three districts. In the north,
94
0
2
N
---._, __ __
,.,.
*
Figure 2: Map of Uvea with the location of the sites discussed in Ille text.
95
the district of Hihifo is composed of three villages. The district of Hahake comprises the
centre of the island, with six villages, among which Mata Utu is the administrative cen1re.
Finally, the south of the island, Mua, comprises ten villages. The total population of the
island is approximately 10,000. Customary power rests in a system of chiefly titles (Burrows
1937).
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES
The recording strategy sought to combine the data of archaeology with those of
ethnohistory. Thus surveys3 were conducted with the help of informants from the villages,
in order to collect oral traditions about the structures recorded. The poor visibility of
structures in the areas with heavy forest cover and recent destruction of sites due to
economic development (roads, airport, habitations, etc.) mean that the inventory is
necessarily incomplete. The major categories of sites are described below.
CERAMIC SITES
During the survey, pottery sherds were collected on most of the sites discovered as well as
in gardens where no other archaeological evidence was recognised. Most of the time, these
sherds were in an advanced state of erosion. The presence of this ceramic material did not
necessarily indicate the existence of a site with stratigraphy in place. The concentration of
ceramic sites varies according to the type of vegetation present. No sherds were found in
the toafa or desert region except at places identified in oral traditions as small refuge zones.
These are located in sheltered areas where vegetation growth is better than elsewhere in the
toafa . Small amounts of sherds were found in the vaotapu, or forest area around the edges
of settlements. The vast majority of the pottery came from the area traditionally used for
gardens and daily occupation. This differential distribution, reflecting the traditional historic
settlement pattern, is similar to the situation identified in some islands of Ha 'apai (Burley
1994) and seems to show long continuity in Uvea island's occupation strategy.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL S1RUCTURES
The archaeological survey of Uvea and the islets demonstrated the presence of various types
of built structures and traditional or prehistoric sites. The richness of the archipelago in
structures, sometimes of monumental proportions and well preserved, enabled precise maps
to be made of fortifications, habitation platforms, burial mounds, roads and wells.
3
The numbering of archaeological sites follows a four part system: WF for Wallis and
Futuna, U for Uvea, the district code (HI for Hibifo, HA for Hahake, MA for Mua) and the
site number, from one to infinity. The survey list has been published in reports by
Frimigacci et al. (1982, 1984).
96
Figure 3: View of the platform Malamatagata of Utuleve (Photo C. Sand)
Habitation and ceremonial structures
Old habitation mounds have been recorded all over the island. Most of the time, they are
raised mounds bounded by an irregular stone wall and filled with earth. The most common
type is oval or rectangular. This type of structure is often associated with walls marking
plots of land, as in the abandoned village of Lauliki. This type of spatial organisation is very
similar to that known archaeologically in parts of Samoa (Davidson 1974: 234; Jennings et
al. 1982: 97).
The second type of habitation structure recorded consists of large platforms entirely
constructed with basalt stones. Oral traditions say these sites were residential areas of
aristocratic lineages (e.g., Utuleve) (Fig. 3) or centres for customary council meetings (e.g.,
Talietumu). The size of some of these sites clearly reflects large amounts of communal
labour, which could only be mobilised by powerful lineages (Sand 1993a: 49). Some of
these mounds bad access ramps. No preferred form of construction is identifiable. Amongst
these structures, one must single out the monument known as Talietumu (Frimigacci and
Hardy 1997); this enormous platform is located within the boundaries of the fort of Kolonui.
It is up to 5 m high on its southern side, 80 m long and 45 m wide, and bas been
constructed entirely of basalt blocks; the total volume is about 7000 m3 • This monument
occupies a central place in the oral narratives about Tongan settlement of Uvea in the
middle of the second millennium AD.
97
Figure 4: Example of a burial mound surrounded by upright stones at site MU 20 of
Atuvalu.
Burial mounds
The Tongans are believed to have introduced to Uvea the tradition of building raised
mounds (faitoka) for the burial of people of high lineage. More that 70 burial sites were
recorded during the survey (Frimigacci et al. 1984: 154--63; Sand 1986). The form of these
burial sites varies: some are no more than 2 m in diameter while others are more than 20
m long and 3 m high. Some have no surrounding wall while others are bounded by an
alignment of upright stones (Fig. 4). According to oral traditions and descriptions by
missionaries, most of the large burial mounds of Uvea bad burial chambers, constructed with
slabs of basalt, coral or beacbrock. Study of their morphology permits a division of the
burial mounds into a low category seldom exceeding l m, and a higher category, often
reaching 3 m. This typology (Frimigacci et al. 1984: 155-58) is quite similar to those
known in other islands of Western Polynesia (e.g., Kirch 1988, fig. 23).
Fortifications and roads
The largest monuments on Uvea are the fortifications. Some of these were already known
from descriptions in oral traditions (Burrows 1937: 44). Some have encircling walls that are
several metres high and thick; these are testimony to a former large communal labour force.
These defensive structures can be divided into three categories: (1) at least 15 forts with
98
('
~
Figure 5: Tentalive reconstruction of a forl defended by diLcb and palisade.
diLches bul no sLone walls, assumed to have bad wooden palisades (Fig. 5); (2) four
stone-walled forts without ditches; and (3) three stone-walled forts with ditches.
Examples of the firsLcategory are the fort of Tekolo near Niuvalu (Frimigacci and Siorat
1987: fig . 3) and two forts on the plateau above Ha'afuasia. These structures have a
rectangular or rounded central plalform, completely surrounded by a ditch which is bisected
by access roads. In the second category is the fort of Makabu in Mua district (Fig. 6). This
fort is surrounded by walls more than 2 m high and is the starting point of two roads. One
of the entrances is still well preserved, and has a monolithic lintel 1.8 m long (Fig. 7) and
a chicane (a deceptive zigzag entrance). Examples of the third category include part of the
Kolonui fort, 700 m long, and the Lanutavake fort (Frimigacci et al. 1995: 51), constructed
around the lake of Lanutavake. This fortification, 700 m in diameter and with a wall
compleLely encircling the lake, has 18 gate ways and is completely surrounded by a ditch
which in some places is more than 4 m deep. The defensive devices recorded during the
mapping of the walls, such as chicanes and defensive ledges, reveal a particularly effective
adaptation to local war tactics.
All U1ese forts are points of departure of old construcled roads. The mapping of these
roads, mainly in the south of the island, facilitaled the identification of the major circulation
routes that existed during the period when the sites were in use (Fig. 8). The roads were
either bounded by low walls or banks of earth, or constructed in a hollowed out ditch.
Specialised activity areas
As a result of the survey, it was possible to identify three major types of specialised sites:
grinding and polishing sites, wells, and pigeon-bunting platforms. The polishing sites are
mostJ y located on tJ1e coast, near fresh water springs. They are characterised by numerous
Figure 6: Tentative reconstruction of tbe stone walled fort of Makabu.
Figure 7: View of tbe northern entrance of U1e fort of Makabu (Photo C. Sand).
99
100
MATA UTU
~Fortifications
[Q) Fortified mounds with ditches
~Dwelling platforms
BOid roads
El Possible links between old roads
D Horticultural gardens surrounded
by low walls
~Craters and lakes
Figure 8: The various fortifications and prehistoric roads mapped in the south of Uvea.
long grinding incisions on large basalt boulders.
Old wells can be found all over Uvea island and on some islets. In most cases, these wells
are simply formed by piling up stones or coral blocks to prevent the filling of the pit. In
some instances, they are much better constructed, with the creation of a pavement around
the well. Some wells seem to have been reserved for members of high lineages.
Pigeon-hunting platforms, called sia heu lupe in Uvean, are referred to in oral traditions
but are difficult to distinguish from other mounds in the field. One in Fugauvea is a mound
approximately 25 m in diameter, bounded by a retaining wall up to 2.5 m high. A pit about
40 cm deep is visible in the centre of the platform. Another structure of this type seems to
be associated witl1 the ceremonial site of Talietumu (Frirnigacci et al. 1995: 58; Frimigacci
and Hardy 1997: 93).
101
Ethnohistorical sites, sacred sites and sites of legends
Some traditional sites cannot be classified according to the preceding categories. Old
meeting places (malae) are a case in point. An example is the abandoned village of Lauliki
North, where an alignment of stone backrests and a large basalt boulder covered with cupshaped polishing marks are visible; according to oral tradition, the boulder was used as a
large plate (tanoa) for the preparation of kava. Other sites are described as old places of
temples or habitations of sorcerers. Finally, numerous sites are linked to myths and legends.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS
CERAMIC SITES
Before 1983, no archaeological excavations had been conducted in Uvea. One of the
objectives of the programme, therefore, was to carry out stratigraphic excavations on various
sites, in the hope of finding archaeological layers in situ. Since the production of pottery
seems to have been abandoned in Western Polynesia during the first millennium AD
(Groube 1971 ; Green 1974b; Sand 1992), the presence of numerous sherds on Uvea
indicated the probable occupation of the island before the Tongan arrival around the
fifteenth century. Some archaeologists, however, argue for a much later survival of pottery
in Western Polynesia (Frimigacci 1994; Clark 1996).
The first phase of archaeological excavations therefore took place on sites with large
concentrations of sherds in surface collections and where local morphological conditions
offered hope of undisturbed layers. Unfortunately, in most of the sites, the stratigraphy was
mixed and the sherds found during the excavations were worn by repeated horticultural
activities. Most of the remains were concentrated in the top 20 cm of the stratigraphy, which
was interrupted between 30 and 60 cm at the contact with the basaltic substratum.
Nevertheless, some sites showed evidence of horizons in situ: on site HA 30A at Liku,
which has not been dated; on the site of Utupua, dated 3100 ± 170 BP (ANU8442)
(Frimigacci et al. 1995: 17); and especially in the coastal area of Utuleve.
The Utuleve region is located on the west coast of Uvea, facing a pass in the reef called
Avatolu and the most important coral reef platform of the lagoon. Morphologically, the
present-day site is composed of a beach formed by a quaternary dune about 100 m wide.
At the back of this dune is a swamp (To'ogatoto) used until recently for irrigated taro
cultivation. The most recent excavations conducted on this site suggest that at first human
colonisation of the island, the swamp was an open bay (Hardy 1996: 380). The Utuleve area
occupies a central position in the oral traditions of Uvea and several major sites, such as the
platforms MU 45, the dwelling of Kalafilia and MU 46, Malamatagata, are visible on the
surface.
The environmental conditions of Utuleve, favourable to the survival of stratigraphic layers,
prompted the excavation in 1983 of two neighbouring sites, MU 21, at the top of the dune,
and MU 46, in front of Malamatagata platform (Frimigacci et al. 1984). A 2 m 2 test pit, MU
21A. revealed eight different stratigraphic layers with pottery, to a depth of nearly 2 m (Fig.
9). Under the topsoil of level 1, levels 2 to 4 formed the remains of a living floor, probably
a cooking area, as numerous shell remains, crushed pottery fragments in situ and a post-hole
were excavated. The exact formation process of level 5, with a thinner type of pottery not
tempered with coral sand, was not identified. Finally, in the sandy layers 6 to 8, the
102
Figure 9: Stratigraphy of site MU 21A of Utuleve.
excavation exposed a succession of pits of different sizes with, among other things, sherds
with dentate-sLamped decorations characteristic of the Eastern Lapita series.
After the 1983 field season, a series of samples was sent for radiocarbon dating but
unfortunately, problems in the laboratory resul ted in the incorrect dating of the entire series
of samples. This misfortune prompted a new excavation in the same site (MU 21B) in 1989
(Sand 1990c). Nine dates, from two different laboratories, provide an initial chronology for
this part of the site (Table 1). There are three dates for the early level 7; the two shell dates
were made on fragments found in stratigraphic association with Lapita sherds. The only date
from level 5 was made on a sample of Lambis /ambis. The calibration of shell dates in the
Pacific seems to present problems and these results are probably too young. Unfortunately,
of the two re ults on charcoal from level 4, one (modem) is clearly too young and the other
too old. The dated charcoal from level 2 was collected near a set of sherds broken in situ;
this was interpreted as an indication that the level was largely undisturbed. By contrast. all
the sherds from level I are very small and rolled, an indication of disturbance. The first
result (ANU7397) had an unacceptably large range and did not correspond to what is known
of the end of the ceramic chronology in Western Polynesia. Two further samples were
therefore sent to another laboratory and the results, chronologically indistinguishable, seem
to indicate that the first date is incorrect.
103
TABLE 1
Radiocarbon dates from site MU21, Utuleve
Lab no.
Layer
B81447
7
CAMS20057
ANU7393
7
ANU7398
7
ANU7395
5
ANU7396
4
ANU7411
4
2
ANU7397
B81446
2
CAMS 19885
B81445
2
•
•
Material
Charcoal
013C %0
14
-27.l
C age BP
2640 ± 60
Calibrated age
835 (795) 755 BC
Shell(giant clam)
Shell(Trochus)
Shell (Lambis)
Charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal
-28.7
3010 ± 70
2890 ± 70
2590 ± 80
Modern
3010±110
1430 ± 190
2340 ± 60
850 (760) 500 BC
770 (540) 370 BC
380 (175) BC AD 30
Charcoal
2320 ± 90
560 (390) 175 BC
-27.6
1425 (1140) 905 BC
AD 315 (655) 1020
415 (380) 195 BC
ANU ages are conventional radiocarbon ages. Beta Analytical ages are Cl3 adjusted.
0 13C values for ANU samples were estimated as 0.0 ± 2.0 (shell) and 24.0 ± 2.0
(charcoal)
Dates were calibrated using the CALIB 3 program (Stuiver and Becker 1993) with a
deviation of 2 sigma. For shell dates the liR value is 100 ± 24 (Kirch and Hunt 1993).
Several testpits have been dug in the last few years in the neighbouring site, MU 46.
These excavations have brought to light the same chronological succession of ceramics, with
dentate-stamped Lapita sherds at the base of the anthropogenic stratigraphy. The stratigraphy
is complex in this part of the dune, with a thick layer of marine sand covering the first level
of human occupation. This sand layer is probably the remains of a natural event of great
magnitude (cyclone or tidal wave) that bit this part of the site. A pile of basalt boulders,
which may have belonged to a constructed platform, was discovered at the base of the site
in association with hearths and Lapita sherds. The boulders lay on a marshy soil, which
probably represents an old mangrove area, at~ depth of 2 m.
BURJALS
In order to better understand the evolution of burial practices on Uvea, especially in relation
to the Tongan settlement, several excavations were conducted in burial sites. The results of
three of these excavations are presented here.
Site MU 20A of Atuvalu
This site is located on the west coast of Uvea, at the top of a cliff overlooking the sea. All
this area, called Lausikula, is surrounded by a defensive ditch (Frimigacci et al. 1995: 53).
Eight platfonns are aligned on the ridge; at least three of them are burial places (Fig. 10)
(Sand 1990a: 14-35). The excavation, conducted in 1983, was in the burial located on the
largest mound, 37 m long, 20 m wide and up to 5 m high on the eastern side. The tomb
chosen is bounded by upright basalt slabs forming a rectangle 8 m long and 6 m wide. The
104
c
'w' F-U-MU 20
0
0
,
.••_
__.
.--1
~
10
~~\~
20m
~
'( . . .
ii~filf ·Wfi~,~~\\\))}
J
I!! bu,;al
:~==~ds)
H
Figure JO: Map of the residential and burial areas at Atuvalu.
inside of this rectangle is covered by small beach pebbles (kilikili), traditionally associated
with burial grounds.
The excavation brought to light the remains of two people (Fig. 11), buried under about
25 cm of pebbles (Frimagacci et al. 1984: 113-121). The man, 195 cm tall, bad been laid
on bis back on a bed of small pebbles. His arms and legs were spread out and flexed with
the bands on the pelvis. Around the neck, he had an ornament made from a pearl shell with
two boles, and a coral bead. On his chest was a stone adze (type Ill in the typology of
Green and Davidson 1969b). A young woman bad been buried near this man. She bad been
placed on her back in a half-foetal position (bound, with her legs tucked up) on a bed of
white marine sand, then covered with pebbles. At her feet was a pile of seven Arca shells,
traditionally considered to symbolise the female sex. The fill was not conducive to the
survival of evidence of tapa wrapping. However, the position of the two skeletons was not
consistent with the traditional way of wrapping dead bodies in tapa.
The burial position of the man can be compared to that of other high status people
excavated in the south-west Pacific, like Roy Mata in Vanuatu (Garanger 1972) and
Houmafakalele III in Niuatoputapu (Kirch 1988: 133-38). There are two dates for this burial
on samples from the lower mandible of the tall skeleton. The first date was 670 ± 200 BP
(ANU7394 A), calibrated to AD 990 (1355) 1675. The second was more precise: 560 ± 100
BP (ANU7394 B), calibrated to AD 1290 (1420) 1635. When these two dates are pooled
they give a calibrated age of AD 1410.
105
Site HI 24A of Pela Pela
This mound is located in the Hihifo district. on the Alele plateau. It is oval in shape and
about 25 m long, 20 m wide and 80 cm high. Oral traditions state that this is the burial
place of the warriors who died during the Molihina war, which is supposed to have seen a
battle between the north and the south of Uvea (Burrows 1937: 31-34; Frimigacci et al.
1995: 70-73; Sand 1993a: 47, 1998). This story, which must be based on real events, seems
nevertheless to have been transformed to the point where it has become a metaphor to
justify the unification of the north and south of Uvea following the imposition of Tongan
rule.
According to the villagers of Alele, who use this place for gardens, many traces of burial
areas, characterised by the presence of white sand, have been noticed over the years. The
small excavation on the mound brought to light only one area of burials, on two levels. The
first group, composed of two individuals, lay about 30 cm under the surface. The first
skeleton, very damaged, was the remains of a small person buried in the garden soil. Nearby
was the skeleton of a man, buried in sand at the top of a pit. Disturbances caused by
gardening, particularly the digging of yam boles, bad led to the disappearance of the leg
bones and the destruction of the skull. The excavation of the oval pit visible under this
skeleton led to the discovery, at a depth of about 60 cm, of a third skeleton, well preserved
Figure 11: View of tJ1e burial MU 20A of Atuvalu at tJ1e end of the 1983 excavation (Photo
C. Sand).
106
in white sand. He had been put on his back in an extended position on the flat bottom of
the pit., his arms folded on his chest and his hands joined. Around his neck was a pendant
of pearl-shell, polished and with two perforations. In view of the extended position of the
skeleton, it is probable that the body was buried wrapped in a mortuary tapa cloth made
from the bark of the paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera). Stains of black and brown
pigments in the sandy fill of the pit are interpreted as originating from tapa. This burial has
not been dated.
Mound HI 005A of Petania
The third burial was excavated in 1989. The site is a mound with a burial chamber <faitoka),
18.5 m long, 16 m wide and about 105 cm bigb, located in Vailala village in the north of
Uvea. The intention of the excavation was to concentrate on the burial chamber. In order
to locate its position in the mound, a resistivity survey of the central platform was
undertaken before excavation (Sand 1990a: 9-13). The first part of the excavation, in the
centre of the mound, revealed a small rectangular chamber about 2.2 m long, covered by
a beachrock slab weighing more than two tons. Unfortunately, the interior of the structure
bad been completely destroyed during previous openings made to collect slabs for church
buildings.
Figure I 2: The basal layers of skeletons of burial mound HI OSA and the burial chamber
(Photo C. Sand).
107
The excavation was then extended around the chamber, leading to the discovery of two
different periods of burial (Sand 1990b, 1995, 1998; Sand and Valentin 199la. 199lb;
Valentin 1990). The upper horizon comprised more than 50 individual burials, often
superimposed and without any preferred orientation. Burials continued at the top of the
mound up tiJI the first contacts with European ships, whose presence is demonstrated by the
discovery of 72 blue glass beads. The lower horizon, divided into six superimposed levels,
was composed of circles of skeletons surrounding the central chamber. In the lowest levels,
the dead had been placed in oval pits (Fig. 12) (Sand and Valentin 1991b: fig . 3). In the
upper levels, most of the skeletons were partly overlapping, with the head of one person
resting on tlle legs of the person placed just behind. Other people had been buried side by
side. Pigment stains were identified in the sand around these bodies also, and their extended
positions point to the wrapping of the dead in tapa cloth. The only material remains found
were perforated and polished ornaments of bone or whale ivory (lel), two pearl shell discs
and a long bone needle, probably used as a headdress. It appeared, at the end of the
excavation, that over 150 people in all had been buried at the same time in the lower
horizon of the Petania mound, probably during the eighteenth century, before the burial of
individuals in the upper horizon.
The physical anthropological study of 118 skeletons (Valentin 1990), which indicated an
unbalanced sex ratio and a demographically unrepresentative population (26 adult males, 16
adult females, 30 children and adolescents, others not identified) seems to confirm the data
of oral traditions. These say that the burial mound was built after a war between a group
of warriors from the south of Uvea and the people from Vailala village, to bury those who
bad died in battle (Sand and Valentin 199 la).
ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIAL
CERAMICS
Pottery is present in abundance in the vast majority of settlement areas and gardens but
absent from the toafa except for the small refuge zones mentioned above. The typological
and chronological study of evolution of the pottery bas been based on the material from the
site of Utuleve. TI1is typology has been divided by Frimigacci into tluee periods, called
Utuleve I, Utuleve II and Utuleve III (Frimigacci et al. 1984: 136-42; Frirnigacci and
Vienne 1987; Frimigacci 1994; Sand 1987: 8 1-85, 1992).
The Utuleve I period is characterised by pottery with coral sand temper, mainly red or
brown-red in colour, rarely with a slip. About 3 percent of the sherds are decorated with
denlate-starnped motifs of the Lapila tradition. This period marks the first arrival of people
in Uvea, probably at the very beginning of the first millennium BC. The decorated pots and
bowls of this period were sometimes of complex forms, with carinations and/or flat bottoms.
The two other main forms of this period are undecorated ovoid pots, sometimes with one
or maybe two handles, and various types of undecorated bowls. Some of the sherds
discovered have carbonised remains in their bottom, suggesting cooking activity. The forms
of rims are diversified, with a significant number of outcurved rims, but also some decorated
incurved rims. Four types of decoration have been identified (Fig. 13): ( I) simple
dentate-stamped decorations, characteristic of the Early Eastern Lapila of Western Polynesia
(Green 1974b); (2) incised and stamped decorations, mainly present on the rim; (3) applied
decorations, placed in bands around the pol or in nubbins regularly spaced; (4)
108
0
2cm
Figure 13: Lapila decorations present in Uvea.
paddle-impressions, sometimes forming very fine striations. The number of sites of this
period is at present limited to two, located on the west coast, which probably indicates that
the production of denlate-stamped Lapila potlery was limited to a few generations.
The Utuleve II period is still of the Lapitoid tradition but is distinguished by the loss of
some attributes. The major abandonment is that of the denlate-stamped decorations. Only
some rims still have incisions on the lip. The clay is tempered not with coral sand but with
a basaltic sand, which strengthens the pots and helps to make them thinner. No clear
typological evolution can be detected, apart from a reduction of outcurved rims and an
increase in straight rims. Some pots have a red slip. This period can be compared to the
Late Eastern Lapila of Western Polynesia (Green 1974b: 251). It corresponds to the first
phase of settlement of populations in different parts of the coast of Uvea.
109
The Utuleve III period marks the end of the use of pottery in Uvea and can be related to
the Polynesia Plain Ware series (Green 1974b: 253). Sherds of this period have been found
all around the habitable parts of the main island and on the islets. The pots are very hard,
with the use of an "undifferentiated volcanic cement" as temper (Galipaud 1984: Table 7,
translation mine). Utuleve lI1 pottery can be divided into two groups. The first group is
characterised by thin pots with straight rims whose lips are sometimes decorated with
incisions or impressions. The major vessel form seems lo be the ovoid pot with a rounded
bottom and a more or less restricted neck, sometimes with one, or maybe two, handles.
There are also bowls. Some pots were carinated. Carbonised remains have been found on
some base sherds, suggesting the use of pots for cooking. The second group is characterised
by thick pottery. The rims are straight or thickened on the outer part, with sometimes an
incised or impressed decoration on the lip. Study of the large rims indicates that most of
them come from vessels more than 40 cm in diameter. The thickened rims are probably
from large basins, constructed by the slab building technique and sometimes carinated. On
the rim of one of these large bowls is a bole, perhaps for the attachment of a suspension
rope. The straight rims seem to belong to large pots comparable to those described from
certain late ceramic sites of Tongatapu (Groube 1971 : 299; Spenneman 1989: 151 ). No
diminution in the quality of the ceramic paste has been identified in the most recent in situ
layers, in contrast to what has been found in Samoa, for example (Green 1974a: 153).
The date of abandonment of pottery production in Uvea is imprecise, as elsewhere in
Western Polynesia (Le Moine 1987; Sand 1992; Clark 1996). On the basis of dates from the
site of Utupua, Frimigacci has proposed that the Utuleve III period ended in the sixteenth
century (Frimigacci 1994; Frimigacci et al. 1995: 20). Without publication of the
archaeological data on which this hypothesis is based, it is difficult to evaluate the dale. Il
nevertheless seems astonishing that a ceramic tradition lasted without any change for nearly
two thousand years. Excavations in Western Polynesian during the last 40 years have shown
the importance of stratigraphic disturbance of sites and the difficulty of correctly dating
upper stratigraphic layers in situ (e.g., Poulsen 1968, 1987). In view of the two dates from
layer 2 in site MU 21B, interpreted as the most recent in situ layer, it seems prudent to
suggest that the use of pottery in Uvea did not continue beyond the first half of the first
millennium AD al the latest, and probably ceased closer lo the beginning of the millennium.
This would place the end of pottery use in Uvea in the same period as has been generally
accepted for the other islands of Western Polynesia (Sand 1992), although arguments have
recently been raised about the continuation of pottery production into the second millennium
AD in some places in the region (e.g., Clark 1996).
ADZES
All the adzes in surface collections or found during excavations are of basalt. The collection
studied consists of 25 adzes found in archaeological surveys (Burrows 1937; Frimigacci et
al . 1984; Di Piazza 1992) and from private collections. Using the typology proposed by
Green and Davidson for Samoa (1969b: 21-32), it is possible to divide the collection into
five lypes4 : type I: 1; type III: 13; type IV: 3 (+1 ); type VIII: 2; type X: 3 (+l). Some
comments can be made about this collection. One of the adzes of type IV comes from the
Utuleve III level of site MU 21A and the other two are surface finds from the ceramic site
4
Forms difficult to classify have been placed in parentheses.
110
of Malaetoli. Tlms type IV seems related to old sites, as in Samoa. Type X also seems to
be associated with the last ceramic period. Finally, the over-representation of adzes of type
III in this collection may be a characteristic of Uvea. Although Hunt and Kirch (1988: 172)
claim that this type is typical of the recent period in American Samoa, it appears earlier in
Western Samoa (Green 1974b: 258; Hewitt 1980: 136--37) and is never predominant there.
The only type III adze dated comes from the burial site, MU 20A of Atuvalu. As this site
probably represents a first phase of Tongan settlement in Uvea during the first half of the
second millennium AD (Sand l993a: 44-45), it is also possible that a change in adze form
may be related to an external influence, in this case the spread of the Tongan Maritime
Chiefdom. The presence in Uvea of two tanged adzes like those of the Cook Islands bas
already been noted by Burrows (1937: 47) and used in regional studies. One example of this
type is part of a private collection included in this study but its local or foreign origin bas
not been determined.
OTHER TOOLS
Some siJicious flakes were found in the Utuleve excavations. Their trapezoidal form can be
compared to that of flakes found in other ceramic sites in Western Polynesia (Kirch 1981:
139, 1988: 216; Sand 1993b: 136--37). In the Utuleve I levels of the excavations at Utuleve
several grooved polishing stones of basalt and coral were found. They are mostly large
flakes without a particular form, marked by long grooves. The grooves are semi-circular in
section and about 1 cm wide. This type of tool may have served for the resharpening of
adzes or the making of ornaments; it bas already been found in several Lapita sites in the
region (Best 1984: 442; Poulsen 1987: plate 78; Sand 1993b: 137-38). Some pieces of
'
0
3cm
Figure 14: Examples of ornaments produced during the ceramic period in Uvea.
111
branch coral used as files were also found in the Utuleve I level. Finally, apart from one
fish-book made from shell (perhaps Turbo), no fishing gear was discovered in the Utuleve
excavations during the 1980s.
ORNAMENTS
Several ornament units were identified in the ceramic sites (Fig. 14). They are mostly small
elongated elements of clam shell (Tridacna) with a suspension bole al eacb end. These
elements, which belong to the Utuleve I period, were probably joined lo form pendants.
They are typologically similar to those found in Tonga (Poulsen 1987: plate 70; Dye 1987:
fig . 29) and Fiji (Best 1984: 477). Other ornaments are Conus shell rings and fragments of
polished pearl shells. Among these ornaments from the ceramic period should also be noted
several rounded and polished sherds, which may have been used as gaming discs. These
occur up to the Utuleve III period.
Finally, pearl shell necklaces were present on skeletons excavated in the burial sites MU
20A and HI 24A, and bone pendants and small pearl shell discs were found in site HI 05A
(Sand 1990b; Sand and Valentin 199Ib).
FAUNA AND FLORA
The stratigraphic excavations at Utuleve brought to light a large quantity of shells. The
major families present are, in the bivalves, Periglypta pectinatum, Fragumfragum, Asaphis
violascens, Spondylus sp. and Tridacna maxima, and in the gastropods, Trochus niloticus,
Turbo sp., Strombus mutabilis, Cerithium sp., Nerita sp. and Fasciloaria filamentosa. All
these species have a lagoonal habitat and could be collected in front of the site. It is
probable that the natural shellfish resources were over-exploited during the ceramic period
at the Utuleve site; they may also have been affected by the infilling of the small bay. As
in other ceramic sites of Western Polynesia (Poulsen 1987: 230-31), the oldest layers are
characterised by an abundance of very large bivalves. In the Utuleve III level, the shells are
smaller. This change may also have been related to changes in sea-levels during the first
millennium BC (Nunn 1990; Kircb 1993; Dickinson et al. 1994), as bas been observed in
various arcbipelagoes of the region (Spenneman 1989).
Among introduced animal species5, the most important discovery is the presence of the
pig (Sus scrofa) in Ute Utuleve I levels. This animal is often considered as an indirect sign
of horticultural practices in Ute colonising societies of Remote Oceania (Kirch 1984: 56).
Other bones of vertebrates found in Ute ceramic sites are those of chicken (Gallus gallus)
and turtle. The study of the bird bones led to the discovery, in addition Lo the presence of
the pigeon Ducula pacijica, of Ute remains of a new extinct species of giant pigeon
described as Ducula davidi by Balouet and Olson ( 1987). The disappearance of Ducula
davidi from the island of Uvea was probably due to overhunting of Ute species in the first
phase of peopling and to the impact of humans on the fragile ecosystem, mainly through
deforestation by fire, as the remains of Utis pigeon have only been found in the Utuleve I
levels.
5The osteological remains other than fish were identified by J.C. Balouet in 1984. The
results on the fishbones are not yet known.
112
No edible plant remains have been found in excavations, apart from three seeds of
Eleocarpus augustifolius Blome found between the basalt boulders under the Utuleve I level
of site MU 46A. An indication of the consumption of arboricultural products comes from
two basalt rocks located on the shore of Atalika hill, in association with polishing stones,
a fresh water spring and large amounts of potsherds. These two rocks are covered with
rounded pecked cup marks, surrounded by crush marks. This type of cup mark probably
served to crush edible nuts of certain trees (Spenneman 1989: 146-48).
DISCUSSION
The archaeological survey and excavations carried out on Uvea during the 1980s have made
it possible to reposition this small archipelago in the general prehistoric chronology of
Western Polynesia. The discovery of denlate-stamped sherds from Lapila pots at the site of
Utuleve has provided confirmation that the island was settled at the very beginning of the
first millennium BC. Uvea can therefore be associated with the first peopling of Remote
Oceania by Austro nesian groups (Davidson 1989). From the variety of denlate-stamped
decorative patterns discovered at Utuleve, it is probable that the first settlement of the island
took place around 900 BC. The radiocarbon date of 3100 ± 170 BP (ANU8442) from
Utupua (Frimigacci et al. 1995: 17), calibrated to 1770 (1315) 830 BC. encompasses this
proposed settlement date within its wide range at two standard deviations.
As shown by results obtained from surrounding archipelagoes (Nunn 1990; Kirch 1993;
Dickinson et al. 1994), it is probable that at first colonisation the mean level of the sea was
approximately l m higher than today. There is a clear wave-cut notch at this level on some
large fossilised coral blocks in various places on the Uvea reef. It is thus likely that the
present-day swampy area·of To'ogatoto at the back of the Utuleve dune was an open bay,
which was progressively filled in after the fall in sea level during the first millennium BC.
The ceramic chronology of Uvea has been divided into three major periods. Its typological
characteristics (Fig. 15) correspond in broad outline to the tripartite division proposed for
Eastern Lapila (Green 1974b). In particular, the Lapila motifs, present on a small number
of pots, probably disappeared rapidly from the decorative inventory, as in most of the other
archipelagoes of Western Polynesia. This small number of denlate-stamped pots, restricted
to a few vessels for each generation, poses anew the question of their function in the
colonising Austronesian societies that left the Bismarck archipelago at the end of the second
millennium BC (Kirch 1997). I have shown elsewhere (Sand 1992) that there was continuity
in undecorated ceramic forms during the Eastern Lapila period, indicating that the utilitarian
vessels-which represent more than 95% of the ceramic collections-lasted for centuries
without major changes. Apart from the disappearance of dentate-stamped motifs made on
complex ceramic forms and some change in tl1e choice of temper, few typological changes
are identifiable in the first half millennium of the settlement of this region. Clearly in
Western Polynesia, dentate-stamped Lapila-on which most of the studies have been made
up to now-appears today as a marginal and short-lived phenomenon (Burley et al. 1995).
The presence of unbaked clay balls in the Utuleve I and Utuleve II levels of site MU 218
is probably an indication that most of the pots were made at the site and that, as in otl1er
parts of Western Polynesia (see Dye 1987; Dickinson et al. 1996), they were not obtained
tluough exchange cycles between the archipelagoes of the region.
Some points of divergence from the wider regional typology can nevertheless be identified
in Uvea. In the first instance, the ceramic forms of the three periods have approximately the
<:
0
5
10
15
20cm
'
113
I
s>
-1
7
Figure 15: Some reconstructions of vessel forms produced in Uvea during the first
millennium BC.
same percentage of carinated vessels: this is an indication that complex forms lasted up to
the end of the sequence, after the abandonment of dentate-stamped designs. The Utuleve III
period is mainly characterised by ovoid pots with sometimes one or maybe two handles, not
simply by bowls as in Samoa. Finally, there is no evidence as yet of a phase of deterioration
in the quality of the ceramics at the end of this period, in contrast to Samoa (Green 1974b:
249-53; Le Moine 1987; Sand 1987: 124-26).
The date of abandonment of pottery production in Wes tern Polynesia has been the subject
of considerable debate since the first studies on the subject in the 1960s (Poulsen 1968) and
114
recently a long period of pottery production has been proposed for Tutuila, American Samoa
(Clark 1996: 451).
Although some colleagues propose a similarly long chronology of over 2500 years for
Uvea (Frimigacci et al. 1995: 17), the end of the use of pottery, difficult to identify
precisely from stratigraphic evidence, probably happened in Uvea at the beginning of the
first millennium AD. During this period of approximately 1000 years, the limited population
of the settlement phase had grown to the point of occupying the entire island and the islets.
This period may have been marked by regular communication between the archipelagoes
of the region (Davidson 1977).
It is probable that the first groups to arrive relied heavily on fish and shellftsh for food.
But the establishment of a Lapita site at Utuleve near a swampy area and the presence of
IJ1e pig in IJ1e oldest layers are indications that horticulture was probably practised from the
beginning. If one accepts the view taken here that pottery was probably abandoned on Uvea
early in the first millennium AD, the presence of Utuleve III pottery in all the settlement
areas can be taken as an indirect indication that in less than one millennium and mainly in
response to population growth most of the fertile areas bad been brought into cultivation.
The presence of sherds in small hideouts in the toafa, identified as refuge zones in the oral
traditions, suggests conflict between different groups in Uvea even before the end of the
ceramic period (Sand 199la: 90). This colonisation and occupation of all parts of the
archipelago seem to have led to the destruction of most of the primary forest through fire
(Di Piazza 1992: 18), and resulted in the disappearance of at least one endemic pigeon
species . Although excavations in horticultural sites have so far yielded only recent dates (Di
Piazza 1992), the presence of sherds suggests that the first large irrigated taro fields (raised
beds surrounded by water channels) were probably constructed behind the beaches before
the end of the ceramic period, once the sea level had stabilised at its present level. Some
of these sites were formed by the conversion of swampy areas near the shore, using sand
and earth dams to trap water corning from the base of the basaltic plateau.
Between the end of the ceramic period and the appearance of a whole series of monuments
relating Lo the Tongan settlement of the island during the second millennium AD,
archaeological data are scarce. Some sites, like the old village of Lauliki North, with its
stone backrests relating to abandoned chiefly titles, may be testimony to political division
during the first millennium and early second millennium AD, whose traditions have mostly
been lost. Since the dates from Talietumu (Frimigacci and Hardy 1997) are difficult to use,
the only archaeologically well dated site of this period is the burial site at Atuvalu, dated
to the beginning of the fifteenth century. The excavation revealed a burial practice close to
what is known in central Vanuatu at the same period and the position of the two bodies
suggests the absence of a tapa wrapping. On the basis of a song colJected by Burrows
(1937: 42), this grave could be that of a pre-dynastic king named Puhi. The typological
difference between lllis burial and the later mounds with chambers is evident. It shows that
part of this site was constructed and used before the period related to the Tongan invasion
described in Ule oral traditions.
In another publication (Sand 1993a: 44-45), I hypothesised that Tongans had first settled
in the south of Uvea from the beginning of the second millennium AD, well before the
massive invasion of IJ1e fifteenth-sixteenth centuries. Samoan influences may also have been
important during Ulose centuries. As is already apparent for Atuvalu, future studies may
demonstrate tllat some of the monumental structures of Uvea which are attributed to Ille
Tongan period were in fact constructed during the preceding centuries (Davidson 1979). The
presence of a pearl-shell ornament in the burial excavated at Atuvalu suggests that already
115
at this period Uvea was specialising in the production of pearl shells which were exchanged,
along with ray spines, throughout Western Polynesia (M.C. Bataille, pers. comm. 1988).
Some more recent burials also have this type of ornament.
The last chronological period, rich in surface monuments, is better known through oral
traditions (Henquel n.d.; Burrows 1937). Some preliminary syntheses of this major period
of Tongan settlement have appeared in recent years (Sand 1993a; Frimigacci et al. 1995;
Frimigacci and Hardy 1997; Pollock 1996), although historical reconstruction based on oral
stories and genealogies is always uncertain. Nevertheless, it is clear that the foundations of
present-day customary organisation and the modem Wallisian language, which contains a
large number of Tongan borrowings (Biggs 1980), are related to this period.
On typological grounds, a large number of monuments appear to have a Tongan origin.
An example is the appearance of large raised burial mounds with chambers, and the
probable use of tapa (siapo) to wrap dead bodies. Clearly, fortifications are among the most
impressive structures of this period. The mapping bas shown that the builders had a highly
developed knowledge of defensive techniques. According to the traditions, the forts with
stone walls were constructed under Tongan rule between the fifteenth and seventeenth
centuries. This suggests that the construction of fortifications was already known to the
inhabitants of Tonga as shown by studies in Ha'apai (Marais 1995) or Lakeba (Best 1984 :
658). It should not be forgotten, however, that some constructions of this period, such as
the large platforms, for example, have clear affinities to Samoan monumental structures.
This may indicate more complex cultural relationships that still have to be clarified.
The data of oral traditions and the sizes of structures indicate a fairly large concentration
of population in the south of Uvea during this period, controlled by a strong centralised
political organisation (Sand 199lb). This probably led to an intensification of horticultural
practices, in order to produce a sufficient surplus for customary exchanges (Kirch 1984:
160-67). This intensification is clearly identifiable in the south-western part of the island,
where land is divided into multiple fields marked by low horticultural walls (Sand l 993a:
fig. 5.4) comparable to those known in other Polynesian islands (e.g., Yen 1973 : 144-46).
Di Piazza has partly mapped fortified horticultural villages in the Lauliki and Sinai areas
and identified the transformation of the To'ogatoto swamp (at the back of Utuleve) into a
taro pondfield during the last few centuries (1992: 127-47). The horticultural structures are
associated with roads and forts, indicating a partial redefinition of landscape organisation
during the Tongan period.
Despite the loosening of political links with Tongatapu during the last two centuries before
the arrival of the missionaries (Sand 199 la, 1993a), some large structures continued to be
built, especially burial mounds with chambers (Sand and Valentin 199lb), and large
habitation platforms for the aliki.
It is evident that Uvea had quite a large population during the Tongan period. Although
it is difficult to estimate the population size at the end of the prehistoric period, it
nevertheless seems that the figure of 2400 inhabitants given by the missionaries at the
beginning of the 1840s (Angleviel 1989), which would amount to about 60 inhabitants per
km 2 of cultivable land, is too low. It is probable that the first contacts with European ships
in the second half of the eighteenth century introduced a number of diseases that led to the
appearance of epidemics and a drop in the population curve. The presence of illnesses like
tuberculosis from the beginning of the nineteenth century is indicated by the writings of the
missionaries. It is tlrns possible that the formation of the upper horizon of the HI 05A
Petania burial mound, which contains more that 50 people, may be partly related to t11e
development of cycles of epidemics. Valentin (1990: 82) found signs of pathology on one
116
skeleton that could be attributable to tuberculosis. Thus the view often stated by historians
that there was only a small population decline in Uvea after European contact (Angleviel
1995: 31) does not seem to be supported by archaeology, as in Futuna (Kirch 1994: 39-41).
CONCLUSION
The archaeological research carried out on Uvea during the 1980s bas enabled a number of
points in the prehistoric chronology of this northern archipelago of Western Polynesia to be
defined. The discovery of a Lapita site demonstrates the rapidity of Austronesian seLtlement
in all the arcbipelagoes of the region during the human colonisation of Remote Oceania.
From this common basis in the Lapita CulLural Complex, the groups who settled on the
island developed their own social characteristics. while adapting to the local environment
and modifying it to meet their needs. During the last millennium, Uvea was heavily
influenced by the expansion of the Tongan Maritime Chiefdom, leading to marked changes
in language and political organisation and to the building of numerous monumental
structures. Consideration of these old regional relationships, drawing on oral traditions,
appears essential in attempting an accurate reconstruction of the prehistoric chronology.
After this first general archaeological study of Uvea, several major points still have to be
more clearly defined. The first is the imprecise interval between the end of the ceramic
period at the beginning of the first millennium AD, and the beginning of Tongan settlement
during the first half of the second millennium AD. More precise analytical studies are
needed on potsherds, lithic material such as adzes, and economic data. Finally, human
impact on the ecosystem must be studied in more depth from an archaeological perspective
in conjunction with more complete mapping of some major archaeological sites and
comparative analysis of the data of oral traditions. It is only after the completion of these
studies that the data collected on Uvea will be able to be fully used in a regional context
to contribute to the analysis of relations between the archipelagoes of Western Polynesia
during prehistory. Preliminary comparisons with Tonga, Samoa and the east of Fiji already
show anew the fascinating cultural homogeneity of this central area of the Pacific and the
need for a better sharing of archaeological results already obtained, in order to build up a
comprehensive pre-European history of this region.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This project was conducted by ORSTOM (Noumta, New Caledonia) and CNRS (URA 275,
Paris). Part of the funding came from the DOM-TOM Ministry (CORDET) and the Culture
Ministry (AFAN). The project was directed by D. Frimigacci (CNRS) and B. Vienne
(ORSTOM), with the help of J.P. Siorat. The author was responsible for the archaeological
excavations, the study of the material and the field data.
The project would not have been possible without the agreement and help of the Lavelua
and the customary authorities of Uvea. In the field, the Association pour le Developement
de I' Art Wallisien et Futunien was our major guide and organised the customary permissions
for the surveys and excavations. Sioli Pilioko, the Secretary of the Association, was most
helpful. A last ma lo lo Sakopo Tialetagi, who conducted most of the excavations with me,
and to all the other fieldworkers.
117
My thanks to two anonymous referees for their accurate comments and to Janet Davidson
for her bard work in improving the English of this text.
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Received 15 July 1997
Accepted 9 December 1997

Archaeological research on Uvea Island, Western Polynesia

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