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

在Timothy Earle博士的指导下，Robert Rechtman先生将 为他的博士论文收集资料。 他会用放射性碳 在考古过程中收集的骨头和木炭样本的日期 在斐济群岛进行实地考察。 总共将对35份样本进行日期标注。 在斐济中部瓦卡亚岛的实地考察期间， 进行了全面的调查，并找到了10个坚固的 网站. 其中两个，Korolevu与环沟墙和Delaini 一个不同的石墙防御系统被挖掘出来。 在 在这个过程中，Rechtman先生收集了大量的陶瓷，花卉和 动物遗骸和人类埋葬材料。 他最 当前的目标是重建文化序列， 这是一个考古学上知之甚少的地方。 结合 陶瓷系列，放射性碳年代测定应提供 必要的命令。 斐济群岛与波利尼西亚其他地区一起， 人类学家的巨大兴趣，因为复杂的高度 主要是在那里产生的社会组织。 因为 波利尼西亚群岛最初居住着一群 因为不同的岛屿展现出不同的 社会组织，人类学家寻找跨岛 环境和历史的异同， 试图解释社会差异。 斐济因其 两个堡垒类型和几个场景的发展， 提出了它们是如何出现的。 一些人类学家认为， 一波又一波的移民是造成差异的原因 和战争的发展，而另一些人认为， 严格的内力起主导作用。 问题是 很少有遗址被挖掘出来， 考古学的注意力没有及时得到可靠的重视。 Rechtman先生的研究之所以重要有几个原因。 它 将产生一个许多人感兴趣的文化序列 考古学家 它将揭示战争的出现 以及它在社会复杂性发展中的作用。 它将 还进一步培养了一名有前途的年轻科学家。

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.