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Article Excerpt
Abstract
This paper describes the history of archaeology carried out in the Samoan islands. Two archaeological programs under the leadership of Roger Green in the 1960s and Jesse Jennings in the 1970s have laid a firm foundation for the understanding of Samoan prehistory from an archaeological point of view. Subsequent research in American Samoa has also added to this knowledge. This review describes some of the major findings of settlements, mounds and artefacts and discusses the contributions of archaeological research in Samoa and points towards important theoretical and methodical issues for future research.
The setting of sights in Samoan archaeology
The Samoan Islands occupy an especially revealing place in Pacific history. They lie at the very edge of Lapita expansion as it is currently known, yet they have often been considered, on both traditional and archaeological grounds, as the locality of origin for subsequent Polynesian expansion. Archaeological research to date in Samoa has been rather limited. The research has focused mainly on establishing a general framework of prehistory with efforts directed at locating different sites and field monuments and investigating their temporal status. During the initial research, discussion on cultural chronology was focused on the shift from Lapita to plainware pottery and the abandonment of pottery altogether. The development of monumental architecture has been discussed only briefly (Davidson 1974a:228-30) Renewed archaeological investigations and a further discussion of such issues from a theoretical and comparative standpoint are seen as important.
No robust cultural chronology was worked out for Samoa during initial research but changes seen in the material culture and settlement pattern were discussed in a narrative way (Green and Davidson 1969a; 1974a). Subsequently, Roger Green (2002) suggested a cultural chronology for Samoa much in line with the one worked out by Burley et al. (1995) for West Polynesia as a whole (Table 1).
A search for origins, especially of the Polynesian 'homeland', has been a dominant paradigm for archaeology in the central Pacific region. The discussion has centred largely on the early Lapita settlement and its dispersal and the subsequent development of Ancestral Polynesian Society in West Polynesia (Kirch and Hunt 1993). The distribution, after initial settlement, of Samoan adzes from Fiji to central Polynesia suggests extensive interactions, which by late prehistory seems to have involved marriage alliances and the exchange of sandalwood and red feathers amongst other communities (Clark 2002, 2004:35-6).
Previous archaeological research and the natural setting
The Samoan chain of islands is today divided into the independent state of Samoa (formerly known as Western Samoa) and American Samoa (a United States territory) (Figure 1). The former consists of the large volcanic islands 'Upolu and Savai'i, the two smaller islands Manono and Apolima between them and a few offshore islets beyond the Southeastern point of 'Upolu. The latter includes the larger island of Tutuila with its offshore islet Anunu'u and a group of smaller islands under the name of Manu'a, (Ofu, Olosega and Ta'u Islands). The Samoan islands are of volcanic origin and essentially are mountains and ridges sitting on the Pacific plate just north of the Tonga-Kermadec trench. The larger islands in the west are older than those to the east. Volcanism is most recent in the east where Ta'u (American Samoa) dates 100,000 BP. The oldest flows on 'Upolo and Savai'i are the Fagaloa and Salani respectively. Fagaloa volcanics may be of Pliocene origin (5.3-1.8 million years ago) and Salani are probably late Pleistocene (1.8 million-10,000 years ago). The Mulifanua flow is presumed to be between 10,000-40,000 years old, the Lefaga flow is post-Pleistocene, the Puapua flow is mid-Holocene (c. 5000 years old), and the Apo flows are from the historic period with its last eruption in the beginning of last century (Kear and Wood 1959). Volcanic activity covered part of the north coast of Savai'i during extensive eruptions in 1905-1911. These were devastating to the contemporary society but the lava flow also probably destroyed or covered many archaeological sites.
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Most Samoan soils are derived from in situ decomposed parent rock and places with alluvial soil are few. They can be found on 'Upolu near Apia and in the Falefa district. Two sand types are found, the Tafaamanu at 1.52 m elevation and Nu'utele at 4.57 m elevation. These are probably dated to the late Holocene and have previously been interpreted as remnants of higher sea levels than at present (Jennings 1976:5). According to calculations presented by Dickinson and Green (1998) the Samoan islands are subsiding at the rate of 1.4 mm/year. This suggests that the oldest sites (which are considered to have been located close to the sea shore) in Samoa might well be located up to several meters below their original position relative to sea level. This agrees with the underwater find of the earliest site so far, Mulifanua on the West side of 'Upolu, the only Lapita site known in Samoa (Jennings 1974; Green 1974b, 2002; Leach and Green 1989). However, the tectonic conditions and complex geology of the Samoan islands seem to vary and are not yet fully understood (Clark 1996:446). There have also been indications of early sites being found buried under colluvial/alluvial deposits some distance inland (Clark 1996:449).
One of the first accounts concerning historical material culture in Samoa was published in an article on 'Earthmounds in Samoa' (Thomson 1927). It mentioned that earth mounds were probably the remains of past residences of important chiefs and recorded two big mounds close to the village of Vailele and two smaller ones close to Mulifanua and Leulumoega (Thompson 1927). In 1944 Freeman featured plan drawings of the Vailele earthmounds in the same journal (Figure 2) (Freeman 1944b). These first accounts of monumental architecture in Samoa described the sites in general terms and no scientific excavations were carried out. Freeman also described other types of cultural remains and refers for example to a site called O lefale o le fe'e (the house of the octopus) situated close to the Soaga stream in the inland area above Apia on 'Upolu (Figure 3). This site was mentioned and visited by the missionary Stair in 1845 and Brown (1907) described it as an ellipse of giant stone columns (Freeman 1944a:121). The site was subsequently visited by Buck in 1928 and by Freeman in 1940-43, and the latter carried out a minor excavation at the main stones (Freeman 1944a: 129). The interpretation of the ring of stone pillars is that it could have been a place of worship of the war god Fe'e, who has been associated with both a powerful god from Fiji and the Tagaloa myth from Manu'a (Freeman 1944a: 129, 133, 136). Freeman also explored caves at Falemaunga and Seuao and these were revisited and investigated by Golson and Ambrose in 1957 (Freeman 1943, 1944c, Golson 1969a:19).
Buck mentions (1930: 321-2) that cairns of un-worked stones were graves and that one other type of mound was designated to snare pigeon (tia seu lupe), which was mentioned as a chiefly activity. Similar types of pigeon snaring mounds were also reported from American Samoa but under the name of tia 'ave. Abandoned villages with house platforms, walkways and raised rim ovens as well as strongholds and fortifications in the inland areas were also reported (Wright 1963:91-4; Golson 1969a:15-18).
Besides the minor excavations by Freeman in the 1940s the first serious attempts to carry out archaeological excavations was made by Golson and Ambrose in 1957 (Golson 1969a, 1969b). They surveyed and excavated sites on 'Upolu. One of their excavations was made in a sea bank at Ti'avea village, which exposed a number of layers of human occupation. These were not dated. As mentioned above, two cave sites (Falemaunga and Seuao) were also visited and investigated. An occupation in the latter was dated by a charcoal sample to 240 [+ or -] 50 BP (Golson 1969a:19), but traditional history dates this occupation about 19 generations ago, approximately in the 15th century. A stone heap situated on a prehistoric settlement in the inland area of Aleisa was also excavated, but no finds were made and it was considered to be an agricultural clearance heap. The most extensive excavations were carried out in a large, partly bulldozed mound on the coast at Vailele (SUVa-1). Here several occupation layers were uncovered, the earliest of which featured plainware pottery (Golson 1969b:108-13).
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Subsequent to Golson's research, an archaeological program was initiated by Roger Green and Janet Davidson from the University of...
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