Dissertation Research: Archaeological Study of the Development of Fijian Sociopolitical Complexity

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Under the guidance of Dr. Timothy Earle, Mr. Robert Rechtman will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will radiocarbon date samples of bone and charcoal collected during archaeological fieldwork in the Fiji Islands. In all, 35 samples will be dated. During fieldwork on Wakaya Island in central Fiji, Mr. Rechtman conducted a complete survey and located ten substantial fortified sites. Two of these, Korolevu with a ring'ditch wall and Delaini with a different stone wall system of defence were excavated. In the process, Mr. Rechtman collected extensive ceramic, floral and faunal remains as well as human burial material. His most immediate goal is to reconstruct the cultural sequence for this area which is poorly archaeologically known. In conjunction with ceramic seriation, the radiocarbon dates should provide the necessary ordering. The Fiji Islands, together with the rest of Polynesia, are of great interest to anthropologists because of the complex highly organized chiefly societies which arose there. Because the Polynesian islands were originally populated by a single group of people and because different islands exhibit distinctive kinds of social organization, anthropologists look for cross-island similarities and differences in environment and history in an attempt to explain social variation. Fiji is known for the development of two fort types and several scenarios have been proposed for how they emerged. Some anthropologists posit that sequential waves of migrants are responsible for differences - and for the development of warfare - while others believe that strictly internal forces played a dominant role. The problem is that few sites have been excavated and those which have received archaeological attention have not been securely placed in time. Mr. Rechtman's research is important for several reasons. It will produce a cultural sequence of interest to many archaeologists. It will shed light on the emergence of warfare and its role in the development of social complexity. It will also further the training of a promising young scientist.