A Precise Chronology for Polynesian Monumental Architecture via Th-230 Coral Dating

在新旧世界中，纪念性建筑的发展，如宗教寺庙和神殿，提供了一个最清晰的考古学信号，表明复杂的、分层的社会从主要围绕亲属关系组织的简单社会中出现。特别是，复杂的酋长制和由此产生的早期古代国家通常通过与宗教仪式和寺庙相关的控制等级来行使权力。因此，对这些仪式建筑进行精确和准确的年代测定，可以为缺乏日历和文字记录的古代社会的经济，社会和政治发展提供前所未有的洞察力。传统的方法来确定波利尼西亚在欧洲人接触之前建造的这些纪念性建筑的年代，主要依赖于使用口头传统和放射性碳年代测定，并辅之以建筑风格和建造方法的考虑。然而，未经证实的口头传统的准确性是不确定的，在关键间隔内的放射性碳年代测定的精度可能会严重降低，因为在将放射性碳年代转换为日历年时遇到了固有的困难，并且对建筑风格和技术的考虑并没有揭示相关社会变化的克里思。然而，在东波利尼西亚，珊瑚与仪式场所和建筑物之间广泛而古老的联系使人们有可能利用适用于珊瑚祭品的上级放射性同位素测年技术，精确和准确地确定各种仪式建筑物的年代。帕特里克·基尔希教授和沃伦·夏普博士是这个项目的主要研究者，最近的研究表明，古代夏威夷人将一种分支珊瑚作为供奉物放置在沿海渔业圣地和内陆农业寺庙，其年代可以精确到大约+或-10年来，通过使用一种基于在珊瑚骨骼生长过程中掺入微量铀元素的放射性衰变的技术。保存在被选作年代测定的考古珊瑚上的微妙表面结构证实了古代夏威夷人收集活珊瑚。因此，记录珊瑚骨骼生长的珊瑚年代，与祭坛或寺庙墙壁上珊瑚的摆放位置密切相关。因此，Kirch和Sharp提出了一个全面的珊瑚定年计划，应用于两个东波利尼西亚社会的纪念性仪式结构，夏威夷和社会群岛，那里的仪式建筑与社会政治复杂性的出现密切相关。Kirch在这两个领域都有丰富的经验，我们提出的测年研究将建立在完善的考古背景上，基于广泛的绘图，现场研究和放射性碳测年，这些测年是在他自己以前和正在进行的研究中开发的，其他合作者T。拉德福格德（美国）of奥克兰）、L.霍尔姆和J.卡恩（博士候选人，加州大学，拟议研究的更广泛影响将包括开发强大的铀衰变珊瑚定年技术在考古学中的应用，该技术可能广泛应用于波利尼西亚和其他古代人类使用活珊瑚的地方的考古学研究。拟议的研究还将加强两个U.C.的培训。伯克利考古学博士候选人，并提供“动手”的实验室研究经验，为加州大学。伯克利的本科生。该项目的社会岛屿部分将与法国波利尼西亚大学协调，并将加强该机构与美国之间最近的学术合作。S.考古学家

Throughout both the Old and New Worlds, the development of monumental architecture, such as religious temples and shrines, provides one of the clearest archaeological signals of the emergence of complex, stratified societies from simpler societies organized primarily around kinship. In particular, complex chiefdoms and the early archaic states that emerged from them typically exercised power through a control hierarchy linked to religious ritual and temples. Precise and accurate dating of such ceremonial architecture can therefore provide unprecedented insight into the pace of economic, social, and political developments in ancient societies that lacked calendars and written records. Conventional approaches to dating such monumental architecture constructed in Polynesia prior to European contact have relied principally on the use of oral traditions and radiocarbon dating, supplemented by considerations of architectural style and construction methods. However, the accuracy of uncorroborated oral traditions is uncertain, the precision of radiocarbon dates within key intervals can be severely degraded by the inherent difficulty encountered in converting radiocarbon dates to calendar years, and considerations of construction style and technique do not reveal the tempo of related social changes. In Eastern Polynesia, however, a widespread and ancient association between coral and ritual sites and structures makes it possible to precisely and accurately date a variety of ceremonial architecture using superior radio-isotopic dating techniques applicable to coral offerings. Prof. Patrick Kirch and Dr. Warren Sharp, the principal investigators on this project, have recently shown that a species of branch coral placed by ancient Hawaiians as dedicatory offerings on coastal fishing shrines and inland agricultural temples may be dated with precisions of circa + or - 10 years by using a technique based on the radioactive decay of minute amounts of the element uranium incorporated into coral skeletons during their growth. Preservation of delicate surface structures on archaeological corals selected for dating confirms that ancient Hawaiians collected living corals. Thus the coral dates, which record growth of the coral skeleton, closely correspond to placement of corals on altars or in temple walls. Accordingly, Kirch and Sharp propose a comprehensive program of coral dating applied to monumental ritual structures in two Eastern Polynesian societies, Hawai'i and the Society Islands, where ritual architecture was closely associated with the emergence of sociopolitical complexity. Kirch has extensive experience in both areas and our proposed dating study will build on well-established archaeological contexts based on extensive mapping, site studies and radiocarbon dating developed during previous and ongoing studies by himself, additional collaborators T. Ladefoged (U. of Auckland), L. Holm and J. Kahn (doctoral candidates, U.C. Berkeley), and others.Broader impacts of the proposed research will include developing the application to archaeology of the powerful uranium-decay coral dating technique, with its potentially widespread application to archaeological studies in Polynesia and elsewhere that ancient humans used live corals. The proposed research will also enhance the training of two U.C. Berkeley doctoral candidates in archaeology, and provide "hands-on" laboratory research experience for a U.C. Berkeley undergraduate student. The Society Islands component of the project will be coordinated with l'Universite de Polynesie Francaise, and will enhance recent academic collaborations between that institution and U. S. archaeologist