Dissertation Research: The Role of the Southern Cooks in East Polynesian Colonization and Differentiation

作为博士论文研究的一部分，梅林达艾伦女士 将对西部进行考古和地质调查 南库克群岛的艾图塔基岛海岸。 她将 从海岸到内陆布置样带， 挖掘以及螺旋钻测量。 额外开挖 将在考古学上发现的 潜力 收集的数据将允许重建 Aitutake的地质历史，并提供有关 岛上最早的居民。 波利尼西亚群岛，许多岛屿彼此分离， 从西到东， 航海的人 虽然殖民化的大致轮廓 虽然很清楚，但许多具体问题仍未解决。 特别是 目前尚不清楚东西之间的海洋 波利尼西亚提供了一个主要障碍，如果是这样，需要多长时间才能 十字架 南库克位于西端， 东波利尼西亚。 虽然他们还没有屈服 相关网站艾伦女士认为， 地貌过程会导致 在最有可能的早期居住区沉积物， 遗址被掩埋。 在这项研究中，她将确定 Aitutaki的沉积历史，并试图找到早期遗骸。 这项研究很重要，因为它将增加我们的 了解流动和移徙在人类发展中的作用 适应 如果成功，它还将为考古学家提供 与线索，在哪里和如何寻找这样的网站上， 太平洋岛屿。

As part of her doctoral dissertation research, Ms. Melinda Allen will conduct an archaeological and geological survey of the West coast of Aitutaki Island in the Southern Cooks Islands. She will lay out transects running from the coast inland, and conduct test excavations as well as an auger survey. Additional excavation will take place in areas discovered to have high archaeological potential. The data collected will permit a reconstruction of the geological history of Aitutake and provide information on the island's earliest inhabitants. The Polynesian islands, many separated from each other by long stretches of water, were rapidly colonized from West to East by a seafaring people. While the general outline of the colonization is clear, many of the specifics remain unresolved. In particular it is not known whether the ocean between Western and Eastern Polynesia provided a major barrier and if so, how long it took to cross. The Southern Cooks lie at the Western extremity of Eastern Polynesia. Although they have not as yet yielded relevant sites Ms. Allen believes that a variety of geomorphological processes would have led to deposition of sediment in the most likely areas of early habitation and thus sites are buried. In this research she will determine depositional history of Aitutaki and try to locate early remains. This research is important because it will increase our understanding of the role mobility and migration play in human adaptation. If successful it will also provide archaeologists with clues of where and how to look for such sites on other Pacific islands.