Burial Structures and Societal Ranking in Vava'u, Tonga

Abstract

Among the *'law-like propositions advanced by proponents of the New Archaeology is the hypothesis that attributes of size, complexity, or formality of a burial structure reflect the societal rank or status of the interred person (see Binford 1971; Saxe 1970; Brown 1971). Of critical importance to archaeologists wishing to reconstruct hierarchical systems of social ranking, this proposition has been validated on the basis of cross-cultural correlations from the ethnographic literature (e.g., Gold stein 1976). The present paper is a further test of this proposition based on an in-depth analysis of several protohistoric funerary monuments in Vava'u, Tonga (Western Polynesia), for which there exist abundant and unique ethnohistorical and ethnographic data concerning the societal rank1 of the interred chiefs. Traditional Tongan society (Gifford 1929) was among the three most highly stratified chiefdoms of Polynesia and as such is admirably suited to a study of the proposed linkage between societal rank and burial structure. In Polynesia, and especially in the larger chiefdoms of the Society, Hawaiian, and Tongan archipelagoes, social stratification and structural complexity were reflected in specialised architecture. Such constructions as the Tahitian marae and the Hawaiian heiau (temples), or the Tongan langi (burial mounds) were closely associated with high-ranking social strata, and are well documented in the ethnohistoric and archaeological records for these societies. Furthermore, despite a recently expressed opinion to the contrary (Tainter and Cordy 1977), Pacific Basin archae ologists have not neglected the implications of these field monuments for the reconstruction of prehistoric social and political organisation (see, for example, Bellwood 1972; Davidson 1969; Gerard 1974; Green 1970; Green et al. 1967; Kellum-Ottino 1971; McCoy 1976). With regard to Polynesian burial facilities, Tainter (1973; 1976; Tainter and Cordy 1977) has suggested that the societal rank of a person should be reflected in either the size, or complexity, or both, of his burial structure. Tainter thus proposes a causal chain: higher social rank -* larger array of status

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