Dissertation Improvement Grant: Defensive Strategies and Resources in the Prehistory of the Society Islands: A Case Study from Moorea

在Michael Graves博士的指导下，Hinanui Cauchois女士将为她的博士论文进行研究。她的项目借鉴了考古学，民族史和口头传统的信息，描述了法属波利尼西亚社会群岛的传统战争和政治竞争。虽然这些岛屿位于东波利尼西亚的中心，但考古学家并没有很好地研究这些岛屿。例如，关于人类定居的时间跨度和岛屿上的农业做法的资料有限。关于战争和防御，以及村庄位置的变化与当地生态的关系，以及该地区其他政治的影响，研究相对较少。Cauchois女士将研究资源的使用和防御设施的建设如何影响莫雷阿岛上村庄的位置。她假设，在欧洲人接触之前，村庄被迁移到内陆的几个山谷中，以保护个人免受他人的侵犯。这种模式一直延续到与欧洲接触之后，战争变得更加明显。Cauchois将把她在Papeotai山谷的发现与Mo'orea和整个社会的其他山谷进行比较。这项工作结合了对遗址的调查和绘图、有限的挖掘、档案研究、采访当地居民和建立地理信息系统数据库。这后一块将允许Cauchois分析的位置和时间的不同活动和事件与他人类发展的山谷。通过挖掘，Cauchois将获得绝对测年和重建山谷不同部分环境的样本。来自这些来源的信息将与历史来源相结合。这项研究提供了证据，记录了热带地区人类与环境相互作用的一个方面。它将有助于回答一个普遍的问题：传统的波利尼西亚社会是否通过同样的文化进程发展到一个类似的终点，即在第一批欧洲人到来之前社会更加复杂？该项目将产生两个主要产品：1。 建立一个地理信息系统数据库，为该地区的文化资源管理人员提供遗址位置和分布的预测模型; 2.在法文和英文期刊上发表研究成果。 结果也将面向公众。这项研究与“Te 'ihipapa no ta' ato 'a？（考古学为每个人），一个组织Cauchois创建于2007年，使考古学的成果向公众开放。这项研究是一个面向社区的项目的一部分，包括培训塔希提青年进行调查和挖掘，学习如何为未来保护遗址。将在不同的背景下进行介绍：全岛的地方学校和高中、社区公开会议以及出版非技术性小册子。目前，很少有当地人参与管理文化遗产或解释社会群岛的历史。该项目有望分享群岛考古遗产的重要性，并增强社区的权能，因为社区往往贬低其对历史的贡献。

Under the direction of Dr. Michael Graves, Ms Hinanui Cauchois will conduct research for her doctoral dissertation. Her project draws upon information in archaeology, ethnohistory and oral traditions that describe traditional warfare and political competition in the Society Islands of French Polynesia. Though located centrally within East Polynesia, these islands are not well studied by archaeologists. For instance, there is only limited information on the time span of human settlement and agricultural practices in the islands. Relatively little work has been done on warfare and defense, or changes in the location of villages in relation local ecology or the impact of other polities in the area.Ms. Cauchois will study how the use of resources and the construction of defenses have affected the locations of villages on the Island of Mo'orea. She has hypothesized that villages were relocated inland in several valleys before European contact in order to protect individuals from aggression by others. This pattern extended into the period following European contact when warfare became even more pronounced. Cauchois will compare her findings in the valley of Papeotai with other valleys on Mo'orea and throughout the Societies. This work combines survey and mapping of sites, with limited excavations, archival research, interviewing local inhabitants, and the creation of a Geographic Information Systems database. This latter piece will allow Cauchois to analyze the location and timing of different activities and events associated him human development of the valley. Through excavation Cauchois will acquire of samples for absolute dating and for reconstructing the environment in different sections of the valley. Information from these sources will be synthesized with historical sources. This research provides evidence documenting one aspect of interaction between humans and their environment in the tropics. It will contribute to answering the general question: Did traditional Polynesian societies develop through the same pathway of cultural processes toward a similar endpoint, that of greater social complexity prior to the arrival of the first Europeans? There will be two main products resulting from this project: 1. creation of a GIS database that will provide a predictive model of site locations and distributions for use by cultural resource managers in the region; and 2. publication of the research results in French and English language journals. Outcomes will also be directed toward the public. This research is associated with 'Te 'ihipapa no ta'ato'a? (Archaeology for Everyone), an organization Cauchois created in 2007 to make the results of archaeology accessible to the public. This research is part of a community-oriented project, including the training of young Tahitians to conduct survey and excavation, as learning how to preserve sites for the future. There will be presentations in different contexts: local schools and high schools around the island, public meetings for the community, as well as publication of non-technical booklets. Currently, there are few local people involved in managing cultural heritage or the interpretation of Society Islands' history. This project promises to share the significance of the Islands' archaeological heritage and to empower communities, which tend to devalue their contributions to history.