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数据。他将对在斐济群岛考古现场工作中收集的骨头和木炭样本进行放射性碳测年。总共有35个样品将被标注日期。在斐济中部Wakaya岛的实地工作期间，Rechtman先生进行了一次全面调查，确定了十个坚固的防御工事。其中的两个，科罗廖夫和德莱尼有一个环形的壕沟墙和一个不同的石墙防御系统。在这个过程中，雷特曼收集了大量的陶瓷、花卉和动物遗骸，以及人类的陪葬品。他最直接的目标是重建这一地区的文化序列，这一地区在考古学上知之甚少。与陶瓷系列相结合，放射性碳年代应该提供必要的排序。斐济群岛和波利尼西亚的其他地方都引起了人类学家的极大兴趣，因为那里出现了复杂的高度组织的主要社会。由于波利尼西亚群岛最初是由单一人群居住的，而且不同的岛屿表现出不同的社会组织类型，人类学家寻找岛屿间环境和历史的异同，试图解释社会差异。斐济以发展两种类型的堡垒而闻名，并提出了几种关于它们如何出现的设想。一些人类学家认为，连续不断的移民潮造成了差异——以及战争的发展——而另一些人则认为，严格来说，内部力量起了主导作用。问题是挖掘出来的遗址很少，而那些受到考古关注的遗址也没有及时安全地安置。雷特曼的研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将产生许多考古学家感兴趣的文化序列。它将揭示战争的出现及其在社会复杂性发展中的作用。它还将进一步培养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.