This is an archaeological perspective on the elaborate system of chiefdoms found in the islands of Polynesia. While the growth and development of complex social and political systems in this region have long interested anthropologists and ethnographers, the islands' rich sources of archaeological data have since been exploited. The author combines this fresh archaeological data with comparative ethnographic and linguistic materials to present an innovative and perceptive account of the processes of culture change in the islands over three millennia. Using comparative ethnography, lexical reconstruction and direct archaeological evidence, the author reconstructs the broad outlines of Ancestral Polynesian Society, from which the diverse societies of the Polynesian region descended. Major processes of cultural change are analysed in detail, including colonization, adaptation to changing environments, development of intensive production and social conflict and competition.
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"The Evolution of the Polynesian Chiefdoms is a fascinating, authoritative account of the development of pre-European political systems in the central and eastern Pacific...This is a book that all of us who love the Pacific may look upon with pride...this book is a major achievement and a magnificent accomplishment." John Terrell, Reviews in Anthropology
Book Description
A first study from an archaeological perspective of the elaborate systems of Polynesian chiefdoms presents an original account of the processes of cultural change and evolution over three millennia.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Descendants of a common ancestor, all Polynesian societies share certain basic features-for example-in subsistence and technology, social organization, land tenure, and religion. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
windward valleys, lexical reconstruction, conical clan, dune site, central polity, residential features, marine exploitation, ancestral society, ceramic change, colonization phase, prehistoric change, direct archaeological evidence, chiefly class, initial colonization, island ecosystems, fishing strategies, high islands, residential sites, flake tools Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New Zealand, Tu'i Tonga, West Hawaii, East Polynesian, Eastern Lapita, Ancestral Polynesian Society, Society Islands, West Polynesia, Polynesian Plain Ware, New Hebrides, Nga Ariki, Halawa Valley, Nuclear Polynesian, New Caledonia, Reef Islands, Santa Cruz, Bishop Museum, Cook Islands, Makaha Valley, Pu'u Ali'i, Lapita Cultural Complex, Ancestral Polvnesian Society, Kaio Phase, Mana Phase, Nga Ravenga New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Descendants of a common ancestor, all Polynesian societies share certain basic features-for example-in subsistence and technology, social organization, land tenure, and religion. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
windward valleys, lexical reconstruction, conical clan, dune site, central polity, residential features, marine exploitation, ancestral society, ceramic change, colonization phase, prehistoric change, direct archaeological evidence, chiefly class, initial colonization, island ecosystems, fishing strategies, high islands, residential sites, flake tools Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New Zealand, Tu'i Tonga, West Hawaii, East Polynesian, Eastern Lapita, Ancestral Polynesian Society, Society Islands, West Polynesia, Polynesian Plain Ware, New Hebrides, Nga Ariki, Halawa Valley, Nuclear Polynesian, New Caledonia, Reef Islands, Santa Cruz, Bishop Museum, Cook Islands, Makaha Valley, Pu'u Ali'i, Lapita Cultural Complex, Ancestral Polvnesian Society, Kaio Phase, Mana Phase, Nga Ravenga New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 15
books:
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48
books
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- Mathematical Ecology by E. C. Pielou in Back Matter
- Pacific Islands (Portrait of America) by Kathleen Thompson in Back Matter
- The Eighth Land: The Polynesian Discovery and Settlement of Easter Island by Thomas S. Barthel in Back Matter
- Demographic Archaeology (Studies in Archaeology) by Fekri A. Hassan in Back Matter
- RL E: Anthropology and Ethnography: Social Change in Tikopia: Re-study of a Polynesian community after a generation (Routledge Library Editions: ... Ethnography: Raymond Firth: Collected Works) by Raymond Firth in Back Matter
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- Island at the End of the World: The Turbulent History of Easter Island by Steven Roger Fischer on 4 pages
- The Enigma of the Gift by Maurice Godelier in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Foundations of Social Inequality (Fundamental Issues in Archaeology) by T. Douglas Price on page 82, and Back Matter
- The Archaeology of Micronesia (Cambridge World Archaeology) by Paul Rainbird on page 64, and Back Matter
- A History of Warfare by John Keegan in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
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