Interpolity exchange of basalt tools facilitated via elite control in Hawaiian archaic states

Patrick Vinton Kirch · Peter R. Mills · Steven P. Lundblad · John M. Sinton · Jennifer G. Kahn

39 citations0/0 files storedProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies Archaeological and Geological Studies Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis

Abstract

Ethnohistoric accounts of late precontact Hawaiian archaic states emphasize the independence of chiefly controlled territories (ahupua'a) based on an agricultural, staple economy. However, elite control of unevenly distributed resources, such as high-quality volcanic rock for adze production, may have provided an alternative source of economic power. To test this hypothesis we used nondestructive energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) analysis of 328 lithic artifacts from 36 archaeological features in the Kahikinui district, Maui Island, to geochemically characterize the source groups. This process was followed by a limited sampling using destructive wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WD-XRF) analysis to more precisely characterize certain nonlocal source groups. Seventeen geochemical groups were defined, eight of which represent extra-Maui Island sources. Although the majority of stone tools were derived from Maui Island sources (71%), a significant quantity (27%) of tools derived from extraisland sources, including the large Mauna Kea quarry on Hawai'i Island as well as quarries on O'ahu, Moloka'i, and Lāna'i islands. Importantly, tools quarried from extralocal sources are found in the highest frequency in elite residential features and in ritual contexts. These results suggest a significant role for a wealth economy based on the control and distribution of nonagricultural goods and resources during the rise of the Hawaiian archaic states.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 39 citations exist upstream.

References

1997How Chiefs Come to Power 1999How Chiefs Come to Power: The Political Economy in Prehistory 1961Social Stratification in Polynesia 1959Social Stratification in Polynesia 1986Feathered Gods and Fishhooks. An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory 1977A REAPPRAISAL OF REDISTRIBUTION: COMPLEX HAWAIIAN CHIEFDOMS 2010How Chiefs Became Kings 1989The Polynesian Family System in Ka`U, Hawai'I

Cited by

2016The evolution of inequality 2012X-ray fluorescence analysis and intra-island exchange in the Society Island archipelago (Central Eastern Polynesia)2013The identification of a Marquesan adze in the Cook Islands 2017Basalt geochemistry reveals high frequency of prehistoric tool exchange in low hierarchy Marquesas Islands (Polynesia)2019Realising the potential of portable XRF for the geochemical classification of volcanic rock types 2017Combined geochemical and geochronological analyses of stone artefacts provide unambiguous evidence of intra- and inter-island interactions in Polynesia

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.