| Abstract: |
The Peva dune site on Rurutu, Austral Islands, which the author excavated in the summer of 2003, has yielded a rich archaeological assemblage containing artifacts and both vertebrate and invertebrate fauna from two distinct stratigraphic layers. The first, and earliest layer dates from the East Polynesian Archaic period (ca. A.D. 1000–1450), and the second, and later layer from the Classic period (ca. 18<super>th</super>–19<super> th</super> centuries A.D.), during which time the site was a ceremonial <italic> marae</italic>. The two layers are entirely distinct from one another, separated by a thick deposit of sterile beach sand. This thesis outlines the results of the excavation, as well as how they fit into current hypotheses concerning East Polynesian prehistory. One of the main issues raised deals with the “regional homeland” hypothesis, which posits an intensive period of interaction and long-distance voyaging during the Archaic period. Evidence for this comes from a general homogeneity in the Archaic material culture, and empirically from the geochemical sourcing of basalt used in tool-making. Another important concept that this study addresses involves the process of colonization, in terms of ecological adaptation and resource exploitation. The process of human interaction with the environment is also explored, as are the consequences for the long-term sociopolitical development of the chiefdom. This investigation analyzes the major temporal trends in Rurutu's artifact and faunal assemblages, and discusses them in terms of both the general efflorescence of East Polynesian culture, and the more specific emergence of a uniquely Austral culture, which impressed early European visitors as being quite distinct.
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