"the origins of the polynesians" chapter 1 of when the universe was an island

7/25/2019 "The Origins of the Polynesians" Chapter 1 of When the Universe Was an Island

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Chapter 1/ The Origin of the Polynesians

Lithograph of a Rapanui canoe (vaka) from the visit of Jean-Franois de La Prouse in April, 1786.

(Drawing by Franois Blondela, engraved by Gaspard Duche de Vancy, published in La Prouse 1797,

courtesy of Archivo Fotogrfico y Digital, Biblioteca Nacional de Chile)

CHAPTER 1The Origin of the Polynesians


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A Very Brief Introduction to a Very Long Voyage . . .

The Polynesians were perhaps the greatest navigators in the world, but

they are not the best the world has ever known, for their most impressive feats

are significantly absent in the collective consciousness outside the cultural area.

The isolation imposed by the great bodies of water that separate the Polynesian

islands and the various countries that have annexed them have kept these island

communities from developing a unified politico-cultural identity even if they

have shared the same roots for the past 3,500 years and the languages they speak

belong to the same family, the second largest in the world in terms of number of

languages. Maybe these same conditions are why Polynesians are so culturally

rich, making their under-representation in textbooks all the more serious. Most

people outside of Polynesia do not know anything about the Lapita, the ancestors

of the Polynesians. Schools do not teach that at the time of their great expansion,

starting some 3,500 years ago and in a span of about 500 years, the long-distance

voyaging canoes of the Lapita carried entire families settling an area 4,300 km

wide from one end to the other. That was one of the speediest human expansionsin the pre-historic world. Most people are unaware of the navigational feats of

the Polynesians, who eventually inhabited hundreds of islands encompassing

millions of square kilometres of water without navigational instruments, but

guided by a complex understanding of natural signs. New evidence indicates

these same navigational techniques allowed them to cross at least 3,700 km

of open ocean arriving to the Americas by at least 1300-1400 AD, and most

likely earlier, introducing the pre-Columbian chickens encountered by Spanish

conquistador Francisco Pizarro in Inca territory in 1532. The fact is, the greatest

accomplishments of the Lapita and the Polynesians have been systematically

underestimated for years. Perhaps their most famous achievement, the tip of the

iceberg, per se, lies on Rapa Nui (a.k.a Easter Island), the easternmost Polynesian

island, where hundreds of monolithic statues are considered by many to be an icon

of human ingenuity, one of the great wonders of the world. Yet even there, the first

European explorers strongly questioned the capacity of the primitive inhabitants

of Rapa Nui to design and construct the magnificent platforms and statues. Their


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technical prowess continues to intrigue us today, as we still do not know how the

statues were transported. What is most tragic is that the reason why so many

questions remain unanswered is because the first outsiders to land on Rapa Nui

were so busy doubting the Rapanuis technical abilities that they never thought

to investigate how these achievements may have been carried out. By the time

someone asked, the few remaining survivors of the epidemics and slave raids that

had devastated the local population were unable to fully explain how this had been

done and the mystery of Rapa Nui was born. It is sad that one of the greatest

human accomplishments is covered in a veil of obscurity because of arrogance

and ignorance. It is time we learned more about this culture, which is far from

extinct and alien to us. There are so many more matters to inquire. However, this

voyage of (re)discovery must start from the very beginning, 5,000 years ago in

what is now the Philippines and Taiwan.

Made in Taiwan: The Lapita

Recent studies in the field of Genetics, Linguist ics, and Archaeology,

indicate that Polynesians descend from Neolithic Austronesians originating from

what is now China, inhabiting the island of Taiwan in the early 3 rdmillennium

BC. Several agro-pastoral societies flourished on Taiwan at the time. They

manufactured clay utensils, polished stone adzes, fishhooks, and ornaments such

as bracelets and pendants made of seashells. They already had catamaran type

vessels, with one or two outriggers, that allowed them to navigate and explore

the open ocean in search of new lands. One or more groups of skilled sailors

set south, populating the Philippines, all of Malaysia, and the vast archipelago of

thousands of islands that is Indonesia.

One of these groups travelled east from the northern Philippines, reaching

the Bismarck Archipelago off the northern coast of Papua New Guinea, circa

1500 BC. In time, the new settlements became disconnected to the motherland

and the locals developed their own set of beliefs, customs, and social behaviours,

becoming the Lapita, the direct ancestors of the Polynesians. The culture and its

characteristic pottery were named after the archaeological site on New Caledonia

where the cultural remains of the Lapita were officially first found.i The origins

of the Lapita have not been clearly identified, and it is unknown whether they

started out in the Bismarck Archipelago or on a neighbouring island. All those

whose roots could be traced to Taiwan, spoke Austronesian, a language that bore no

relation to Papuan, which was spoken by the original inhabitants of Melanesia and

the Bismarck Archipelago who had colonized the area some 30,000 years earlier.

The Lapita introduced many technological advances including pottery,

outrigger canoes, and new fishing and navigation methods that probably presented

major innovations in the local cultural landscape. They traded obsidian, adzes, and

shells between faraway islands, indicating they had reliable long-distance voyaging

vessels. The Lapita apparently lived side by side with the Melanesians on many of

the islands they settled however, genetic studies of skeletons found in Lapita sites in

Fiji and Vanuatu, concluded that those who were not absorbed by the Melanesians

and continued migrating into Polynesia mixed very little with Melanesians.1

Although the Lapita made several tools and ornaments (ground-stone

adzes, polished stone and shell fishhooks, bracelets and pendants made of sea

mammal bones and shells, and f laked-stone tools of obsidian and other available

iBetween 1908 and 1909, during the German occupation of the Bismarck Archipelago, Catholic

missionary Otto Meyer, who was stationed in Watom Island, discovered in some eroded

agricultural fields ceramic fragments with geometrical designs. Surprised by this find, he

searched for more specimens and discovered several other fragments, which he sent to the Muse

de lHomme in Paris. Meyer published his findings in a German scientific journal, however his

piece received little attention amidst the great upheavals Europe was going through at the time.

Later, in 1917, geologist Maurice Piroutet found a similar ceramic fragment at a beach in the Foue

province of New Caledonia. This discovery, published in a monograph about the stratigraphy

of the island, also went unnoticed. Three years later archaeologist F. C. McKern, on a Bishop

Museum expedition to the Tonga Archipelago collected over 1,500 ceramic fragments from Uea,

Tongatapu, and Motutapu. A link between all these discoveries was not established until almost

30 years later when finally, in 1952, archaeologists E. W. Gifford and D. Shutler excavated in

Lapita, New Caledonia. Only then did it become apparent that the ceramic must have belonged

to a group of people that occupied an extensive part of Oceania.


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rock), they are best known for their distinct tooth-edged, decorated, low-fire

earthenware. It is likely that the Lapita decorated themselves with designs similar

to those used to adorn their pottery either by painting their bodies with turmeric or

tattooing. We do not know if they wore rings or ear ornaments, but they probably

used feather headdresses and headbands and dressed in clothes made of bark cloth

and braided plant fibres.

Austronesian: The Mother of Many Languages

Although Austronesian is now extinct, it is the second largest language

family created by mankind, only slightly smaller than the Niger-Congo group.2

Roughly one fifth of the languages spoken in the world today descend from

Austronesian, a family of 1,257 related languages, extending all the way from

Rapa Nui to Madagascar.3 The Lapita spoke a language called Proto-Polynesian

that descended from Austronesian. Since all Polynesian languages stem from

a common tongue, it is possible for linguists and anthropologists to make acomparative study of Polynesian words and reconstruct the Proto-Polynesian

language through all the terms that share a common root. In essence, expressions

shared by all Polynesians must reflect concepts that revert back to their Lapita

ancestors. For example, if in all Polynesian languages the word arikiand its close

cognates mean chief, head of a lineage, descendent of the gods, etc., it must have

been a term originally used by the Lapita.

Anthropologists Patrick Kirch and Roger Green made significant linguistic

reconstructions of the language of the Lapita. Based on their findings it has been

possible to establish that when the Lapita expanded into Western Polynesia in the

1stmillennium AD, they were composed of groups believing in unilineal descent(*kainanga), whose members could trace their origin to a common ancestor

(*tupuna), led by a chief (*qariki) who was the firstborn son of the head of the highest

ranking lineage. Kirch and Green were also able to identify the word for master

craftsman (*tufunga), warriors (*toa), and navigators (*tau-tahi), this last one being

a key figure in this oceangoing culture.4 Since it was not possible to reconstruct

the word for religious leader or priest, Kirch and Green have suggested that the

chiefs fulfilled that role. In addition to the linguistic evidence, archaeological and

ethnographic data also helped determine that the Lapita were what anthropologists

term a House Society, referring to a social unit occupying an estate that comprises

both material and immaterial properties, including all the ceremonies and rituals

performed there as well as the names and social titles of its dwellers who are

connected to each other by a continuous line of kinship and/or affinity throughbirth, marriage, or adoption.5 House Societies are characteristically stratified and

ancestor worship is an integral par t of their religious practices.

Lapita settlements abound in the places they populated, but because

many of these are inaccessible, few sites have been studied archaeologically. The

settlements were composed of a few hundred clan members to a group consisting

of a single extended family. Their houses were rectangular, or sometimes built on

stilts, and they were often located on the islets of the lagoon surrounding an island,

or somewhere further in land not far from a beach or beside a stream.

Ceramic Patterns and Migration Patterns

Lapita ceramic first appeared along with a few obsidian and shell ornaments

about 3,500 to 3,200 years ago in the Bismarck Archipelago. Lapita pottery has

also been found on Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga however,

it is not found elsewhere in Oceania, probably because many of the islands do

not have the appropriate clay. The importance of this ceramic is that, like the

Austronesian language, its design elements evolved from one island to the next

while maintaining a common root, reflecting the migration pattern and ancient

trade networks of the Lapita and early Polynesians.

The Lapita are most famous for their beautiful non-utilitarian pottery

with distinctive artist ic designs (see Figure 1, next page). Lapitaware was often

tempered with shell or sand and it was decorated with anthropomorphic figures

and geometric patterns that were either imprinted or sketched on ceramic. Even


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though the patterns evolved as the Lapita advanced across the Pacific, their

designs were so standardized that samples of them can be clearly identified in Fiji,

Samoa, and Tonga. In addition, Lapitaware had many shapes and was sometimes

burnished with an orange or red slip to produce a glossy finish.

Not all Lapitaware was decorated. In fact, most excavated fragments indicate

that this pottery consisted of plain spherical cooking pots with a smooth, short, and

narrow vertical neck. The decorated pieces, which may or may not have been used for

cooking, were open containers with a flat or rounded base. The embellishments usually

covered the upper part of the pots including the rim. Some decorated Lapitaware found

on Vanuatu was used to save family relics and to store human skulls. Therefore, it is

possible to infer that some of the pottery with anthropomorphic designs was used in

rituals and offeringsmaybe to invoke the aid and protection of an ancestor, as was

the case with so many other Austronesian peoples. These Lapita burial practices may

have closely resembled rites and customs that were still practiced by many Oceanic

cultures well into the first half of the twentieth century. In these societies, the skulls of

ancestors were believed to possess supernatural powers and surviving relatives stored

them in the family home hoping to win the favour, protection, and assistance of the

deceased.6

Fearless Navigators with Catamarans Kirch and Green reconstructed many nautical terms, indicating that the Lapita

had advanced navigational techniques and various types of canoes with one or two

outriggers, fitted with a mast, and sails made out of pandanus fibre. Single-hull outriggers

were probably used for offshore and deep-sea fishing, while double-hull canoes would

have been used for long-distance trading. Most importantly, the Lapita developed

sophisticated voyaging canoes that were made of twin hulls joined together by a platform

with two small masts and sailsthe pre-curser of our modern day catamarans. Lapita

voyaging canoes were large enough to transport several families and their belongings

over more than 1,000 km of open ocean.

Based on comparative studies of Polynesian cultures, its possible to infer that

Lapita settlements had an enclosed area that served as a shipyard next to house that

stored boats and fishing gear. That was also where navigators and their assistants

taught apprentices how to build canoes and, most significantly, how to navigate. Lapita

Figure 1.Detente -stamped Lapita pattern samples reconstructed from potsherds

found in the eponymous site of Lapita in New Caledonia (locality WKO013A).

(Courtesy of Christophe Sand, Dpartement dArchologie, Direction des

Affaires Culturelles et Coutumires de la Nouvelle-Ca ldonie)


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navigators, or wayfinders as they are now termed, used the different rising and setting

points of constellations and stars for reckoning as well as natural indicators such as cloud

formations and seabird flight patterns. They were also trained to learn about ocean and

wind currents. The success or failure of their travels and explorations depended on the

wayfinders mastery of a ll these techniques.

Guided by nothing more than their eyes and a complex interpretation of naturalsigns the Lapita explored great expanses of the Pacific and were able to transport cargo

and people between distant settlements. This knowledge was probably kept secret from

non-apprentices and wayfinders were probably members of some sort of guild. They

must have been highly ranked in Lapita society as they played a key role in the local

economy by discovering new lands brimming with untouched resources. Additionally,

when natural forces such as cyclones and tsunamis destroyed the settlements, people

depended on wayfinders for evacuation and food.

Fishermen, Farmers, Merchants, and Traders: The MixedEconomy of the Lapita

The Lapita settled on islands with unique ecosystems that supported an incredibly

rich and varied biomass, making them the marine equivalent of our tropical rainforests.

Although these fragile ecosystems depended greatly on climactic fluctuations, it was

usually possible to obtain large amounts of food with very little effort. The Lapita

practiced offshore and deep-sea fishing, but preferred exploiting the resources proffered

by the lagoons and nearby reefs while also engaging in farming the plants and animals

they carried with them. They had a mixed economy, but above all they were also great

merchants, trading goods with settlements both near and far.

The Lapita always travelled with the animals and plants they thought would be

useful to them in the new settlements. Animals included pigs, chickens, and dogs, all of

which they ate. They planted tubers of Indo-Pacific origin and other plant life originally

domesticated or genetically selected by Papuans. These consisted of several varieties of

yams, taro, bananas, and kava (from which they obtained a sedating drink). Taro and its

relative kape, require much water, so they were planted ain gardens ir rigated by rainwater

at the foot of a hill or mountain, or on the coastal plains of high islands, in swamps

that were drained and conditioned for these purposes. In some atolls, where freshwater

is scarce, the locals planted taro and kape in deep dug trenches filled with compost,

reflecting the ingenuity of the Lapita and their resilience in the face of adversity.

Later in their expansion, the Lapita encountered hundreds of uninhabited islands,

not all of which were suitable for habitation. However, many of the new islands consisted

of pristine environments where hunting involved minimal effort. These islands were

home to a variety of land birds that had lost their ability to fly, having atrophied limbs

from lack of predators; this made them very easy prey and they were soon exterminated.

Such was the case of many land birds across the Pacific, including a megapode that was

a bird as big as a turkey. Not even a large lizard endemic to Fiji and Tonga was spared.7

The Lapita also ate land crabs that were as large as the coconut crabs that still exist on

some islands today.

Fragments of pottery and obsidian originating from islands north of New

Guinea have been found in excavations of Lapita settlements, indicating that there was

an extensive trade network connecting the various Lapita outposts in Oceania. All of the

physical and cultural evidence left by the Lapita, indicates that they were a sophisticated

group of merchants and travellers who were looking for new islands to open new trade

routes, increase their resources, and spread their culture.

The Great Lapita Expansion, or How 20 Generations

Conquered New Worlds

Between the years 1500 BC to 1000 BC, the Lapita spread to most of the islands

from the Bismarck Archipelago to Western Polynesia. One of the most impressive feats

of the Lapita is that they settled an area that is 4,300 km wide, encompassing millions of


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square kilometres of ocean in a period of about 500 years or 20 generations (calculating

a span of 25 years for each generation). This constitutes the most rapid human expansion

of a pre-historic agricultural society. The causes behind this speedy migration are

unknown. It may have been overpopulation or an influx of rival groups that drew them

out of the area, or perhaps the simple promise of a better l ife on a new island with more

resources. It could have been a combination of these factors or another one altogether.

This has yet to be determined.

The Lapita first spread from the Bismarck Archipelago to the Solomon Islands,

and from there, to the Santa Cruz Islands, 500 km east of San Cristbal Island in the

Solomons. Beyond that point to the east, the lands were uninhabited, for there were

no more Papuan settlements to be encountered in those yet unexplored Pacific islands.

These new lands must have seemed like an inexhaustible source of wealth to the first

Lapita settlers however, the biodiversity of these islands dramatically decreased the

further removed they were from any continental mass, making them very vulnerable to

human impact.

As some Lapita groups moved east, others migrated south, populating New

Caledonia and Vanuatu. Around 1200 BC they had discovered and populated the

islands of Fiji, which is much further than they had previously travelled on their canoes,

indicating that by that time they had the skills and technology to undertake a round-

trip voyage across 1,440 km of open ocean. By about 950 BC they had discovered and

populated the islands of Tonga and Samoa.

What happened in the next 1,000 years or so is unclear, but it seems likely that

once the Lapita settled Tonga and Samoa, they continued populating nearby uninhabited

islands, such as the Kermadecs, located west of Tonga and now part of Fiji. Judging from

the density of early settlements on these islands it seems that this was the cradle of thePolynesians, where the Lapita developed a set of beliefs, customs, practices, and social

behaviours unique to the people who would go on to explore and settle an a rea that spans

about 6,500 km from Samoa to Rapa Nui, and 7,500 km from central New Zealand (a.k.a

Aotearoa) to Hawaii. A map of the proposed Lapita and Polynesian migration routes

appears in Figure 2. It is important to note that the settlement dates of the different

Polynesian islands have changed over the years as better C14dating techniques have led

to a re-calibration of dates all across the Pacific.

Figure 2. Map detailing the Lapita and Polynesian migrations.

(Map by Gonzalo Rojas)


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One Thing Leads to Another: The Rise of the Polynesians

It is hard to determine when and why the Lapita living in Samoa and Tonga

became Polynesians and what exactly set them apart. It may well be that the distances

between Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga put unnecessary strains on trade with other Lapita

settlements. It is also possible that, as the Lapita settlements in other parts of Oceania

disappeared, the ones in Western Polynesia became more self-sufficient. For unknown

reasons, contact between Fiji and Lapita settlements to the west ceased quickly. Even

though Fiji received a second wave of immigrants from Vanuatu and New Caledonia,

these new settlers had experienced a very different cultural evolution from the Pre-

Polynesian Lapita settled on Tonga and Fiji. In Melanesia, the surrounding populations

absorbed the Lapita, giving birth to new pottery-based cultures that flourished from 500

BC to 200 AD and who were undoubtedly a Lapita legacy. Natural disasters, such as the

eruption of Rabaul volcano in 540 A D (Volcanic Explosivity Index 6) may have forced the

Lapita to evacuate New Britain in the Bismarcks as well as other neighbouring islands.8

Some scientists have speculated that the Lapita were devastated by wars or diseases,

such as malaria, to which the Lapita probably had little resistance. Whatever the cause,Lapita pottery disappeared around 500 AD, and it seems reasonable to assume that over

the centuries the Lapita underwent deep cultural transformations as they adapted to all

the advantages and disadvantages of island life. The development of new technologies

and subsistence strategies of the descendants of the Lapita led them to replace their

earthenware with earth ovens; they changed the layout of their houses and settlements

and developed new fishing methods that changed the appearance of their fishing tools

and fishhooks. The consequence of the sum of the most dramatic of these changes was

what separated the Polynesians from their ancestors. That is when the Lapita became

the Polynesians. Although several archaeologists have worked in Tonga and Samoa,

very few have found sites that date from 1 to 500 AD, which is when the Lapita probably

became the early Polynesians.

Moving Away From Home: The Colonization of Eastern Polynesia

Like their ancestors, the Polynesians were skilled navigators and soon inhabited

an area composed of over 1,000 different islands in the largest ocean of the world.

Currently known as the Polynesian Triangle, it includes Hawaii, Rapa Nui, and New

Zealand (Aotearoa) as each of its vertices. Although the native inhabitants of these

islands are culturally Polynesian, there are enough differences in language, religion, and

social stratification to separate them into two distinctive groups, Western Polynesia and

Eastern Polynesia. Western Polynesia encompasses Samoa, Tonga, and 13 Polynesian

outlier islands in Micronesia and Melanesia.ii Eastern Polynesia consists of all the

islands east of Samoa and Tonga, specifically the Cook, Austral, Society, Marquesas,

Tuamotu, Gambier, and Pitcairn Islands as well as the outermost Polynesian islands of

New Zealand (Aotearoa), Hawaii, and Rapa Nui (see Figure 3).

iiIslands that were colonized by Polynesians, but are located in Melanesia and Micronesia are

called the Polynesian Outliers. In Melanesia they are: Anuta, Bellona, Mele, Nuguria, Nukumanu,

Ontong Java, Pileni, Rennell, Sikiana, Takuu, Tikopia. Polynesian outliers in Micronesia are

Kapingamarangi and Nukuoro.

Figure 3. Polynesia and other cultural divisions in Oceania.(Map by Carlos Rojas after Patrick Kirch, published in Kirch 2000)


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Eastern Polynesia represents one of the biggest enigmas in archaeology

today since tracing the exact origins of its first settlers and the chronological

sequence of their settlements has proved very difficult. The answers to both

are essential to explaining how they developed the differences in language,

religion, and socio-cultural practices that set them apart from the Lapita, Western

Polynesians, and each other. Indeed, the greater or lesser degree of affinity

between these cultures and that of their predecessors was generated during theexpansion process. The most common differences are idiomatic innovations, but

there are significant changes in cultural and religious beliefs as well.

One of the main differences between Eastern Polynesians and Western

Polynesians is that Eastern Polynesians built megalithic ceremonial structures

and worshipped ancestral deities represented in large objects, such as a sizeable

rock or a hunk of coral with a remarkable shape, carved wooden boards, and/or

statues made of stone or wood. Most Eastern Polynesian ceremonial platforms

were called marae (or some variation of this word). These consisted of an area

that was often enclosed by a wall and sometimes had an attached structure called

ahu, which was where Eastern Polynesians stored or displayed sacred objects that

represented their deified ancestors, together with all other religious articles. The

marae and ahu were places of worship, where followers made offerings to the

gods to request favours or thank them for their assistance.

So far no one has found archaeological remains in Eastern Polynesian

settlements that can be accurately dated as belonging to the previous era (BC). As

a result, it has been postulated that once the descendants of the Lapita occupied

Western Polynesia and started becoming Polynesians, they must have ceased their

exploration and settlement of other Polynesian islands for a thousand years or more.

This isolation would have accelerated their transformation into the Polynesiansthat are familiar to us today. The reasons why they stopped settling and exploring

other islands are unknown, but the wealth of resources in the newly discovered

islands, a discontinuity in migratory flows, etc., may have played a significant role.

Nevertheless, because they were obviously not obstructed by technology, some

scholars have suggested that this halt in expansion is nothing more than an illusion

resulting from insufficient data and archaeological research. It must be added that

one of the great difficulties for archaeologists working in Oceania lies in finding

early archaeological sites since the coastlines of so many of these islands have

been altered by cyclones and tsunamis in addition to a subsidence of one metre

per millennium.9 Therefore, any 2,000-year-old site on the coast would be about

2 m. below sea level, and inland sites of the same era would be covered by large

deposits of soilboth serious obstacles to archaeologists. Thus the main problemwith this hypothesis is that no one has found the sites needed to support a constant

expansion.

Archaeological evidence indicates that by 1300 AD Polynesians had

occupied a region in Oceania known as the Polynesian triangle because the

locations of its outermost islands form an area that is triangular in shape. It is

important to remember that there are a few culturally Polynesian islands outside

of the triangle, as is the case with some islands in Melanesia and Micronesia.

Archaeological records suggest that the Polynesian Triangle and its outlier islands

were settled in four great migrations leaving from the Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and the

Cook Islands.

Dating the settlement of the various Polynesian islands is still controversial

as there is no scientific consensus regarding the validity of early archaeological

findings however, most would agree that the process was complete by 1200

AD and began around 500 BC with the settlement of the islands northeast of

New Guinea, known as the Polynesian outliers.10 These include several islands

south of the Carolines in Micronesia, as well as a dozen Melanesian islands andatolls. The Lapita colonized Tonga and Samoa in 950 BC, which are where the

first Polynesian settlements appeared.11 Another migration group continued

east, populating the Society, Tuamotu and Marquesas Islands between 600-900

AD.12 Smaller groups may have parted from there to settle Hawaii around

800 AD and New Zealand (Aotearoa) by 1200 AD.13 A third great migration left

A Chip Off the Old Block:The Great Polynesian Expansion


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from the northern Cook Islands and gradually populated the Polynesian Equatorial

Islands (Line, Phoenix, Howland, and Baxter Islands) probably between 800-1000

AD.14 Mangareva in the south-eastern tip of the Tuamotu Islands had already been

colonized by 900 AD, apparently by two different migration groups, one starting from

the southern Cook Islands passing through the Austral Islands, the other descending

from the Marquesas to the Tuamotu Islands.15 These are thought to be the ancestors

of the first inhabitants of Pitcairn, Henderson, and Rapa Nui, all settled between 900-1000 AD.16 A map showing the Polynesian migration pattern appears in Figure 4.

The Ends of the Earth: Mangareva, Pitcairn, Henderson,

and Rapa Nui

Archaeological evidence indicates that the island of Mangareva in the

Gambier Islands, and neighbouring Pitcairn and Henderson, formed a cultural and

socio-economic unit in the past. According to many researchers, the homeland of

the Rapanui people must have been one of those islands.

Mangareva is the largest landmass in the Gambier and Pitcairn Islands

group, with an area of 14 km2. There are a total of seven islands in the Gambier

group totalling only 24.4 km2. They are: Taravai, Aukena, Akamaru, Agakauitai,

Kamaka, Makaroa, and Manui. They are all high islands with narrow coastal

strips that surround the valleys and lagoons encircled by a coral reef. The islands

are of volcanic origin and are located inside a great coral reef of nearly 100 km

in diameter. The reef is clearly visible from north to southeast, where there are

22 coral islets or motu, measuring an average 500 m2total. The reason why the

Gambier Islands are so small is that they are the visible mountain peaks of a sunkenisland formed 6.26 million years ago from a hot spot currently located south of

Pitcairn Island. Through the millennia, the ancient island drifted about 625 km

northwest from where it originated, suffering both erosion and subsidence.17

Over time, the different migration groups that arrived at Mangareva from

the Austral and Marquesas islands merged, giving birth to a new culture that

combined characteristics of its parent cultures. The mixture is evident in their

language, Mangarevan, which is a blend of Marquesan and Austral terms.

During the first millennium AD, Eastern Polynesian material culture

was very similar in places as far from each other as Huahine and the Marquesas

Islands 1,450 km away. The shape of their ornaments, tools, and artefacts, such

as fishhooks, adzes, mother of pearl shell scrapers, coral polishing files, etc., are

almost identical in all Eastern Polynesia up until around 1000 AD, indicating

that the islands were probably regularly connected until that time. EthnographicFigure 4. The settlement of Polynesia.

(Map by Gonzalo Rojas)


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data from Mangareva indicates that its early settlers stayed in contact and

traded with people from the Australs, Tuamotu, Society, and Marquesas Islands.

Considering the distances between Mangareva and the Society and Marquesas

Islands, Mangarevan navigators probably arrived there by way of the Tuamotu

Islands where they could stop for food, shelter, and repairs. At the same time,

Mangarevan oral traditions relate that chiefs continued exploring the surrounding

ocean in search of new lands.

The availability of natural resources is variable in the Gambiers, and

although there is plenty of water and food for the people that live there today,

considering the size of the islands, they could have easily become overpopulated

in the past, putting great strains on the livelihood of the original inhabitants. The

Gambiers do not have any rivers or streams, instead the locals rely on rainwater and

several creeks on the coastal plains to supply them with enough fresh water. The

reef that formed around the perimeter of the submerged ancient island encloses

a lagoon rich in marine life with a total of 246 species of fish recorded there so

far.18 There are shellfish, oysters, and both inshore and offshore fish species,

as oceanic fish enter the lagoon on the south side where the reef is not as high.

However, the fish are not always edible as the reef undergoes a periodical process

of decay as a result of sedimentation caused by cyclones and other meteorological

and/or anthropogenic events. Given the right conditions, dinoflagellates called

Gambierdiscus toxicusproliferate in the lagoon adhering to the algae and seaweed

contaminating them with toxins that bioaccumulate the further they move along

the food chain. Although fish are unharmed when they eat the algae, it causes a

gastrointestinal and neurological illness called ciguatera in people who eat the

contaminated fish.19 Ciguatera is not a disease to be taken lightly. Symptoms

can last anywhere from weeks to decades and it can lead to long-term disability

in severe cases. Even though most people gradually recover, relapses triggered bythe consumption of certain foods or activities are not uncommon.20 More recently,

researchers have suggested that some Polynesian migrations were triggered by

intense outbreaks of ciguatera poisoning produced by recurr ing Pacific climactic

variability.21

Scarcity of land and unreliable fishing because of ciguatera must have

driven navigators from the Gambiers to continue their explorations with great zeal.

Since they were well aware of the distribution pattern of the islands in that part

of the ocean, they must have continued looking for new lands to the east. The

closest land mass is Temoe Atoll, just 40 km east of the Gambiers, followed by

the Pitcairn Islands: Pitcairn (526 km east of Mangareva), Henderson (676 km

east of Mangareva), and Ducie (1,038 km east of Mangareva). According to oraltradition, Pitcairn was discovered by Rangahenua from Mangareva who arrived

there following a vision and called it He Rangi or possibly Kai Rangi.22 This may

relate to a similar Rapanui oral tradition where Rapa Nui, also known as Mata

ki te Rangi in ancient times, was settled as a result of the vision of a man called

Haumaka.23

Pitcairn and Henderson were already settled by 900 AD and for 400-500

years they were part of a cultural and socio-economic unit with Mangareva.24

Archaeological excavations show that the economies of Henderson and Pitcairn

depended greatly on trade with Mangareva, their main commercial partner at the

time. Pitcairn traded fine grain basalt that was used to make high quality axes,

adzes, and other important stone tools.25 They also may have exported prepared

foods such as fermented breadfruit paste and sweet ti root extract. Henderson

had many turtles whose meat and shells were very valuable to Polynesians. In

addition, Henderson had a rich population of land birds with feathers that would

have been valuable for trade; however, these birds may have been exterminated

rather quickly since they were collected for food as well. Pitcairn and Henderson

did not have mother of pearl shell, which was used to make quality fishhooks and

ornaments, but Mangareva had plenty. Apart from trading manufactured goods,

raw materials, and food, given the small size of the settlements on Pitcairn and

Hendersonthe population of Henderson probably did not exceed a hundredits very likely that they also travelled to find women among allies on the other

islands. A diagram of this contact network appears in Figure 5.


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26 27

Figure 5. Contact network between the Pitcairn and Gambier Islands.

(Map by Alexandra Edwards after Green and Weisler, published in Green and Weisler 2002)

Several early European visitors to Pitcairn described a stone platform with

large monolithic statues that had been built by the original Polynesian inhabitants

of the island. The platform, which was built on a high peak overlooking Bounty

Bay no longer exists, but according to the accounts of European visitors it

resembled Rapanui ceremonial structures and it had an elevated ramp about 4 m

high on the far end with an almost vertical back that overlooked the cliffs and the

ocean. The ramp, which faced inland, was between 12-15 m wide and was paved

with roundish water-worn stones. On top of the ramp there was a long narrow area

over which stood three or four stone statues that looked inland.26 Furthermore

these early visitors also likened the structure and statues to the ones on Tubuai,

Raivavae and the Marquesas Islands:

Most unfortunately, the platform described above was eventually

destroyed and the statues were thrown over the cliff. The remains of a headless

anthropomorphic statue were rescued and taken to the Otago Museum, in New

Zealand (Aotearoa). It is interesting to note that the Pitcairn Island statue is very

similar to archaic Rapanui statues, and other statues in Tubuai, Raivavae, and Hiva

Oa (Figures 6A and 6B).

[In] all those places, the statues resemble those of Easter Island but they are

smaller. They have enormous ears and their uniform lower bodies are mounted

over platforms. In Pitcairn there was a large ancient marae,which at each

corner was decorated with a st atue of about 3 m high mounted over a platform

of joined rock. In Puamau, around the eastern point of Hiva Oa island in the

Marquesas group, you can still see tall statues [...] raised about 4 m from the

ground. Like in Easter Island, the artists also carve similar wooden sculptures

[...yet] stone statues and sculptures are of a specific type having large round

eyes, great pursed lips, and a very flat heads.27

Figures 6A and 6B. Torso of an archaic statue of Rapa Nui, as compared

to one from Pitcairn Island.

(Figure 6A: Photograph by Edmundo Edwards; Figure 6B: Photograph

by Anonymous, Otago Museum Collection, published in Heyerdahl and

Ferdon 1961)


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28 29

Recent advances in Archaeology and Palaeontology indicate that Rapa

Nui was also discovered and settled about 900-1000 AD.28 According to oral

tradition, a small group of navigators/explorers arrived first, followed by a chief

called Hotu Matua with a group of settlers carrying essential plants and other

valuables. Polished basalt fishhooks, which are extremely rare elsewhere in

Polynesia, have been found in both Rapa Nui and Pitcairn suggesting a strong link

between the two islands. Ethnographic data and archaeological findings attest tothe strong cultural ties between Rapa Nui and the Gambier and Pitcairn Islands

during the settlement phase of Rapa Nui. This is corroborated by their languages,

shared oral traditions, and similar ceremonial architecture styles.iii 29 All of this

strongly suggests that the homeland of the Rapanui lay in the Gambier or Pitcairn

Islands.

Rapanui wayfinders stayed in contact with their closest neighbours and

other trade partners after in itial settlement. This is mentioned in several Rapanui

oral traditions, including one that relates how the eldest son of Hotu Matua returned

to the homeland of his father.30 It is not surprising that Rapanui ceremonial

platforms are similar to others found on Pitcairn, Mangareva, and Temoe since their

ancient inhabitants shared a common origin however, the fact that all other major

Eastern Polynesian ceremonial complexes were built after the seventeenth century,

while archaeological evidence indicates that the Rapanui started building large

ceremonial platforms by 1100-1200 AD, elicits some remarkable implications.31

One wonders what role, if any, Rapanui stonework played in the development of

religious structures on other Polynesian islands, particularly if inter-island contact

was greater in the past. Although it may be a case of cultural parallelismwhere

different cultures develop similar techniques independentlyit is also possible to

theorize that such an influence existed. Regardless of their building materials,the large structures of the northern group of the Society Islands, especially the

largest ones such as Marae Tainuu and Marae Taputapuatea of Raiatea, show great

similarity to Rapanui ceremonial constructions. iv Furthermore, stone statues

were apparently a late development in Eastern Polynesian statuary, most of them

being attributed to eighteenth century sculptors and, except for a few rarities, they

only exist in the Marquesas and Society Islands, Mangareva, Pitcairn, Raivavae,

and Rapa Nui. 32

What is more remarkable is that in 2007 evidence emerged indicating that

Polynesians arrived to the Arauco Peninsula in southern Chile. Tests conducted

iiiFishhooks shaped like those found on Rapa Nui exist in Tonga, New Zealand (Aotearoa), the

Society, and the Marquesas and Solomon Islands, however most of these were made of bone,

shell, and/or wood. Although basalt is found on many Pacific islands, polished stone fishhooks

have only been found in New Zealand and the Chatham Islands, and on Pitcairn and Rapa Nui.

This type of fishhook is probably rare because it was very time-consuming and difficult to make.

Some stone fishhooks were used in rituals or for decoration, as is the case with most of the

samples found in New Zealand and the Chatham Islands, but functional stone fishhooks were

used to catch fish in depths up to 300 m. The hook was initially weighed down with a stonetied with a special knot that became unfastened by jerking the line when the hook reached the

bottom. The small aperture of the hooks was designed to keep the fish from escaping when

being pulled out of the water. According to Ethnographer H. G. Beasley, Rapanui stone hooks

are extraordinary in terms of both form and patina representing the pinnacle of achievement with

respect to fishhooks from all over the world. (Skinner 1942: 260-261; Chauvet 2005: Web, June

20th

2010)

ivMost monumental stone structures are found in Eastern Polynesia. The only ones in Western

Polynesia consist of large mounds built between 1100-1700 AD over which "God Houses" were

erected. The most notable one is called Pulemelei on Samoa and its early foundations were

dated to 1100-1200 AD, however the upper structure was completed several centuries later.

(Martinsson-Wallin 2007: 41-3)vSweet potato, the pre-historic main staple of faraway sub-tropical islands such as Rapa Nui and

New Zealand (Aotearoa), originates from the Americas and its natural characteristics demand a

human introduction. Palaeoclimatic data suggests that the El Nio Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

reversed wind currents around 1000 AD, allowing Polynesians to voyage more easily to South

America. Nevertheless, an earlier contact is necessary since charred sweet potato remains in early

Polynesian sites date to about 1000 AD. ENSO events may have facilitated trade, but an earlier

round trip voyage is not impossible considering the navigational prowess of the Polynesians.

Many controversial questions arise, is there a link between Inca and Rapanui masonry? Is therea connection between the totora reed watercraft of northern Peru and Rapa Nui? As the theory

of a Polynesian-American contact gains momentum researchers find themselves scrambling for

clues. Biological Anthropologist Elizabeth Matisoo-Smith is now testing DNA of human crania

with Polynesian traits found in Mocha Island, once a popular sperm whale ground. The island

lies about 100 km from where bones belonging to the pre-Columbian Polynesian chickens were

found. (Lawler 2010: 1344-46)


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30 31

on DNA extracted from a chicken bone excavated by Jos Miguel Ramrez and

Elizabeth Matisoo-Smith in the El Arenal-1 archaeological site in Chile revealed

that the animal had been introduced from Polynesia around 1300-1400 AD.v 33

The bone belonged to domestic fowl bred by the Mapuche people of Southern

Chile and had the same DNA (including a mutation) as chicken bones excavated in

early sites on Tonga, American Samoa, Niue, Hawaii, and Rapa Nui. 34 Chicken

remains first appeared in Pre-Lapita sites in 3000-2800 BC in Vanuatu and Tonga,and scientists think chickens spread from there to greater Polynesia.35 This early

contact is further supported by the fact that, of all continental Chile, only the

people of Arauco marked fowl ownership by cutting the phalanxes of the chickens

into different patterns, the same as the Rapanui did for hundreds of years.vi Early

contact with the Americas is not only controversial regarding milestones in

mainstream history, but the subject raises serious debate on whether there is a link

between monumental stone structures in Eastern Polynesia and the Americas.

Contact between Rapa Nui and other islands ceased sometime before 1600

AD, when it seems both Pitcairn and Henderson were abandoned. Although we

do not know for certain when and why this occurred, it is probably connected to an

increase in the population of Mangareva and the bloody tribal wars that developed

there as a result of competition for diminishing food resources and arable land.

Either returning groups from the Pitcairn Islands originated the conflict by fuelling

the population surge of the Gambier Islands, or they returned because they felt

compelled to support their relatives and allies at war in their motherland. Whatever

the case, Pitcairn was abandoned and Rapa Nui lost contact with the other islands.

The absence of wood large enough to construct long-distance voyaging canoes

drew Rapa Nui into total isolation prior to the first ar rival of Europeans on Easter

Sunday 1722.

viSome people on Rapa Nui and in the Arauco region today still cut the phalanxes of chickens to

mark ownership.

Detail of one of the earliest maps of the Pacific Ocean, 1622.

(Cartographer Hessel Gerritsz, Bibliothque Nationale de France, Cartes et Plans, SH Arch. N 30,

Wikimedia Commons).


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32 33

Endnotes

1Spriggs 1995: 131-32

2Lewis 2009: Table 43Ibid.4Kirch and Green 2001: 193, 207, 222

5Levi-Strauss 1982: 174; Hage P. 1999: 203, 2056Garae 2008: Web, June 21st20107Steadman et al. 2002: 36738Rabaul Volcano in New Britain in Global Volcanism Program, n.d.: Web, June

20th20109Taylor and Bloom 1977; Dickinson et al. 1994: 8710Kirch n.d: Web, June 22nd2010; Kirch 2008: 72211Burley et al. 2012: e48769. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.004876912Lepofsky et al. 1996: 270; Kirch 2008: 72213Kirch 2008: 72214Green and Weisler 2002: 231; Anderson 1991: 767; Wilmshurst et al. 2008: 767615Ibid.; Kirch 2008: 72216Green and Weisler 2002: 231; Kirch 2008: 72217Guillou et al. 1994: 635-64018Cook 1970: 15419Pearn 2001: 420Pearn 2001: 721Rongo, et al, 2009: 142322Mtraux 1971: 34, 95-9623Ibid.; Barthel 197824Green and Weisler 2002: 23125

Weisler 2002: 258-6426Routledge 1919: 31327Translated from the French in Mager 1902: 87; Beechey 1825: 113-1428Kirch 2008: 72229Green 1998: 87; Conte 2000: 257-69.

30Englert 1948:73; Vargas et al. 2006: 39731Vargas et al. 2006: 40132Edwards 2003: 198, Table 5.1.133Storey et al. 2007: 1033534Ibid.35Storey et al. 2007: 10336

"the origins of the polynesians" chapter 1 of when the universe was an island

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