An Excavated Tiki Pendant from Rurutu, Austral Islands

In the summer of 2003, the author excavated a marae site on the island of Rurutu in the Austral archipelago, French Polynesia. Among the find from the Classic period deposit (ca. late 18th- early 19th centuries AD) was a tiki pendant of a hitherto-unknown iconography. This find is unique because it is the only carved Austral ornament from the Classic period that has ever been excavated from an archaeological site.