Rapa Nui Journal Volume 25 Issue 2
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10524/64093
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item type: Item , Easter Island Foundation News(2011-10-01)Item type: Item , What's New Elsewhere(2011-10-01)Item type: Item , What's New in Oceania(2011-10-01)Item type: Item , What's New at the MAPSE(2011-10-01)Item type: Item , What's New in Rapa Nui(2011-10-01)Item type: Item , Moai Sightings(2011-10-01)Item type: Item , Getting to Know You: Mara Mulrooney(2011-10-01)Item type: Item , Item type: Item , Item type: Item , Mana Expedition plaque unveiling, Darlington, England(2011-10-01) Stephen, SusieItem type: Item , Reports and Commentaries Terevaka.net Archaeological Outreach 2011 field report: Less is more(2011-10-01) Shepardson, Britton; Barrera, Nicolás; Gulbraa, Rachel; Henríquez, Dani; Hernández, Marlene; Hey, Tahira; Hucke, Toki; López, Lilian; Rapu, Arone; Salinas, Soledad; Simpson, Dale Jr.; Tereongo, Macarena; Torres, Francisco; Tuki,Hamene; Valdivia, Elizabeth; Wilkins, ValentinaItem type: Item , A little deity from Mangareva in the collections of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, Rome(2011-10-01) Orliac, CatherineWooden carvings from Mangareva, in the Gambier Islands, are rare. This article describes a unique wooden deity that is housed in the collections of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Rome. The origin as well as the probable wood from which this deity is carved is identified and a radiocarbon date for the carving is presented. This is followed by a brief discussion regarding the role of such figures in Mangarevan society, along with a discussion about the collection of ethnographic objects by European visitors during the early post-contact period.Item type: Item , Geochemical characterization of volcanic glass from Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a, Hawai‘i Island(2011-10-01) McCoy, Mark D.New fieldwork and laboratory research are reported here to help better define a major source of volcanic glass in the Hawaiian Islands: Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a volcanic cone. This research centers on two questions: (1) What is the size of raw material available at the source and how does this parent material compare with debitage in archaeological collections? And, (2) Can chemical variably in Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a volcanic glass allow us to sub-classify artifacts? As one would expect, average size and weights are predictably smaller when comparing raw material to primary reduction, and smaller again when comparing primary reduction to core reduction. XRF chemical characterisation shows that while all volcanic glass derived from Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a is chemically similar, it is possible to sub-classify artifacts by copper (Cu) content. The vast majority of artifacts made from Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a volcanic glass are from Cu-poor eruptions. There are, however, rare examples of Cu-rich artifacts. The frequency of Cu-rich artifacts increases with distance from source. One explanation for this enigmatic pattern is that it is the by-product of a process similar to serial founder effect. Cu-rich flaking cores could have increased in relative proportion as the total amount of Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a glass in assemblages became smaller at sites further distant from the source. Alternatively, this pattern may simply reflect the general pattern of increased fragmentation of Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a cores as they are passed further down the line. Interestingly, in the South Point region we do not find any examples of Cu-rich material, again suggesting a pattern of access and exchange similar to the closest sites to the source.Item type: Item , The double-body glyphs and palaeographic chronology in the rongorongo script(2011-10-01) Wieczorek, Rafal M.In the rongorongo script we encounter many anthropomorphic glyphs with an enlarged body and a hole in the belly. Based primarily on structural evidence present in parallel passages, it is argued that hollow-belly glyphs are in fact a compact form of two normal-belly single anthropomorphic glyphs. The scriptural evolution from two single-body glyphs into one double-body glyph was gradual and its various stages can be seen in different rongorongo inscriptions. The presence of these double-body (hollow-belly) glyphs may well be an indicator of the late chronological association of a text. Bearing this in mind, different rongorongo inscriptions can be classified into older and younger forms. Other palaeographic differences can also be employed for similar classifications. The forms of glyphs 099 and 522 also bear evidence for gradual change from more pictorial forms into other, more simplified forms. A reading of the related literature shows more scribal differences in other rongorongo glyphs as well. By combining various scribal differences together with the analysis of hollow-belly and 099/522 glyphs, most of the existing rongorongo inscriptions can be classified into a chronological list of texts based on their apparent palaeographic chronology. Comparing this list to the artifacts of known manufacture date reveals that palaeographic differences were probably developing quite quickly in rongorongo script evolution and that at least half of all known rongorongo artifacts were probably manufactured in the first half of the nineteenth century.Item type: Item , The tempo of change in the leeward Kohala field system, Hawai‘i Island(2011-10-01) Dye, Thomas S.Reanalysis of radiocarbon dates that pre-date features of the leeward Kohala field system on Hawai‘i Island was carried out within a Bayesian statistical framework. Results of the analysis indicate that features of the field system were developed late in traditional Hawaiian times. Many of the features appear to have been constructed subsequent to Cook’s visit in AD 1779. These results do not support the hypothesis that agricultural intensification began in the early seventeenth century, linked to a rise in the authority of chiefs.Item type: Item , Pre-Columbian chickens of the Americas: a critical review of the hypotheses and evidence for their origins(2011-10-01) Storey, Alice A.; Quiroz, Daniel; Beavan, Nancy; Matisoo-Smith, Elizabeth A.The publications by Storey et al. (2007, 2008a, 2008b) describing the discovery and radiocarbon dating of pre-Columbian chicken remains from the archaeological site of El Arenal-1 in south central Chile reinvigorated longstanding debates about the presence of prehistoric domestic chickens in the Americas. Some have questioned the validity of the link between prehistoric Polynesian voyagers and the pre-Columbian chickens of El Arenal-1, requesting more details to verify the dates and the likely origin of the introduction. In this paper we provide an expanded account regarding the dating of the chicken remains from the site of El Arenal-1 in order to reaffirm their authenticity. Their prehistoric age established, we focus attention on a critical reanalysis of arguments surrounding the source of the first introductions of chickens to the Americas. These include historic accounts and hypotheses developed as a result of comparative morphology. Particular attention is focused on assessing the utility of evidence from the study of physical characteristics of both black-boned, black-meat chickens and the phenotypic traits of the Araucana (Gallus inauris) breed to support pre-Columbian introductions. As a result, we reinforce the previous hypothesis that a pre-Columbian introduction of chickens from Polynesia is the most parsimonious explanation for the available evidence.Item type: Item , Conference Annoucement(2011-10-01)