Article2008

Evidence for a Shorter Chronology on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

34 citations0/0 files storedThe Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology

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Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies Archaeology and ancient environmental studies Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory

Abstract

Archaeologists have long accepted a colonization date of between AD 400 and 800 for Rapa Nui based on few radiocarbon dates, lake-core results, and assumptions from historical linguistics. A new suite of radiocarbon dates from stratigraphic excavations at Anakena and “chronometric hygiene” analysis of earlier radiocarbon determinations reveals little reliable evidence for a longer chronology. In this paper we present additional lines of evidence in support of a shorter chronology: lake-core evidence for vegetation change and fire history, stratigraphic studies of deforestation and soil erosion, the results of obsidian hydration dating, and considerations of East Polynesian chronologies. The current evidence is best explained by a colonization date for Rapa Nui of about AD 1200. We briefly outline implications of the shorter chronology.

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2005Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed 2006Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed 1947Journal of the Polynesian Society 1974Journal of Archaeological Science 1991The chronology of colonization in New Zealand 1993Late colonization of East Polynesia 2006Late Colonization of Easter Island 1940Ethnology of Easter Island

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2012Ecological Catastrophe and Collapse: The Myth of 'Ecocide' on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)2009Colonisation and culture change in the early prehistory of Fiji 2013Prehistoric Obsidian Exchange on Rapa Nui 2021Triumph of the Commons: Sustainable Community Practices on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)2017The last great migration: Human colonization of the Remote Pacific Islands 2009A.D. 1680 and Rapa Nui Prehistory 2008Isolation, Interaction, and Island Archaeology

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