Samoan Prehistory
Excerpts from “The Political Economy of Ancient Samoa: Basalt Adze Production and Linkages to Social Status” (Winterhoff 2007)
The Samoan archipelago is located in the South Pacific Ocean 14 degrees south of the equator roughly halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. Situated in West Polynesia, Samoa lies in the warm waters of the South Equatorial currents, powered by the strong Southeast Trade Winds that run counter-clockwise from the coast of South America to Australia. As a result, Samoa has a tropical marine climate. The islands’ annual average temperature is 27º Celsius with a relative humidity averaging 80 percent. Samoa’s seasons are mild shifts between the rainy season lasting from November to April, and the dry season persisting from May to October. Little temperature variation occurs between the two seasons, because of the moderating effects of the surrounding ocean. While seasonal variation in rainfall occurs across the archipelago, ranging from 100 to 500 mm per month, Samoa averages 2400 mm per year.
Although unified prior to the nineteenth century A.D., the archipelago now consists of two contemporary political units -- the independent nation of Samoa and the unincorporated and unorganized United States territory of American Samoa. Independent Samoa encompasses the two large volcanic high islands of Upolu and Savai’i as well as several smaller islands – Apolima, Manono, Nu’utele and Nu’ulua. This collection of islands has a total land area of 2934 km2. American Samoa has a smaller total land area of 199 km2, and is composed of the volcanic high islands of Tutuila, Aunu’u and the Manu’a Group – Ofu, Olosega and Ta’u. In addition, the territory incorporates two small coral atolls, Swains and Rose Islands.
Over the last fifty years, many archaeologists have conducted research in the Samoan islands (Green and Davidson 1969; Frost 1978; Ayres and Eisler 1987; Clark and Herdrich 1993; Kirch and Hunt 1993; Pearl 2004). Based on this research, Samoan culture history has been divided into four general periods (Table 1). First, the Lapita period encompasses the initial successful human settlement of the archipelago. Second, the Ancestral Polynesian period represents the cultural transformation from an external colonizing population into a new regional-based society. Third, the Traditional Samoan period describes the development of a single cultural entity, Samoa, separate from neighboring island groups. Finally, the Contemporary Samoan period depicts the last three hundred years as Samoans navigated the influence of earlier Western colonialism and the later global economy. The following section reviews each of these four periods, while calling attention to major changes occurring over time in Samoan stone tool technologies.
Table 1. Chronology of Past Samoan Periods
| Period | Timeline | Major Processes | Archaeological Sites |
| Eastern Lapita | 3000-2500 BP | Colonization | Mulifanua Ferry Berth site (Leach and Green 1989) |
| Ancestral Polynesia | 2500-1700 BP | Transformation |
Sasoa’a (Green and |
| Traditional Samoa | 1700-300 BP | Diversification |
Alega Valley (Clark 1993), |
| Contemporary Samoa | 300-0 BP | Western Contact | (Krämer 1902; Buck 1930) |
The Lapita Period
The Lapita period, dating from 3,000 to 2,500 BP, signals human colonization and settlement of the Samoan Archipelago (Leach and Green 1989). The Lapita people were important to Pacific Island prehistory, because they were the founding population for Remote Oceania (Green 1997), and the highly stylized dentate-stamped motifs on their pots created an identifiable cultural horizon (Kirch 2000; Figure 3). In this period, subsistence practices included taro-yam horticulture supplemented by pigs and chickens (Davidson and Leach 2001). The material inventory included ceramics, stone and shell adzes, shell fishhooks and shell valuables (Kirch 2000).
Figure 3. Lapita Pottery with dentate stamped motifs. (http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/subjects/anthro/course-pages/anthro104.htm 2006)
Early Lapita populations moved through Island Southeast Asia and expanded into the Bismarck Archipelago approximately 4000 years ago (Anderson 2001). In Island Melanesia, these early Lapita populations interacted with indigenous groups and the melding of this interaction produced the Classic Lapita material culture. After this integrative and innovative period in Island Melanesia at 3500 BP (Green 1991), the Classic Lapita people continued to colonize Remote Oceania reaching as far East as Samoa.
The Classic Lapita can be stylistically and geographically broken into four provinces (Summerhayes 2001); 1) the Far West, 2) West, 3) South, and 4) East (Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa). Relevant to this review, the East Lapita Province represents the latest and farthest expansion into Remote Oceania, and had a distinct simplification in pottery motifs and vessel shapes (Sand 2001). In addition, there is a documented reduction in inter-island interaction compared to other Lapita regions, and a settlement shift in habitation location from stilt houses on the lagoon to houses on the beach (Kirch 2000).
In 1973, Lapita dentate-stamped pottery was accidentally discovered near Mulifanua, Upolu (Green 1974). The Ferry Berth Site, located immediately off the northwest coast of Upolu under 2.6 m of lagoon and cemented coral, represents the only Lapita site documented in Samoa to date (Leach and Green 1989); as a consequence, current knowledge on adze production in this period is limited. However, the two stone adzes recovered from the site provide important information on early production in the archipelago. From later geological and stylistic examination, it was determined that one with a curvilinear cross-section had come from Tonga and another adze (plano-convex) was manufactured in Samoa (Leach and Green 1989). These results suggest that technical knowledge on adze manufacturing arrived with the initial human colonization, and the Tongan adze shows limited but early transportation of stone tools between island groups.
Ancestral Polynesian Period
The Ancestral Polynesian period in Samoa dates from 2500 to 1700 BP, and marks a major cultural change subsequently recorded in the region’s ceramic technology, subsistence practices, and settlement patterns. Tonga, ‘Uvea, Futuna and Samoa culturally separated from their western neighbor, Fiji, and became archaeologically distinct (Kirch and Hunt 1993). Populations on Fiji continued more of the traditions from the earlier period, because of continued interaction with settlements farther west (Best 1979). The period's significance to our understanding of Polynesia’s past is derived from the 'baseline' data it provides for the later socio-political and technological diversification documented throughout the greater region (Kirch and Hunt 1993:236).
The Ancestral Polynesian period is characterized by a decline in ceramic technology. Ancestral Polynesian ceramics, commonly referred to as Plainware, have been divided into two subcategories, thin- and thickware (Clark and Michlovic 1996). These subcategories were once thought to chart a temporal change within the broader Plainware category; thinware was earlier in the sequence, then supplanted by the later thickware until cessation of ceramic manufacture in Samoa at approximately 1600 years ago. But further research brings into question the validity of such a classification (Clark and Michlovic 1996), and further dating at ceramic sites continues to push the cessation date later (Kirch and Hunt 1993).
By 2000 years ago, innovations in food processing and storage, such as earth ovens and food pits, appear at Samoan sites (Davidson 1979:94). Subsistence practices increased in the utilization of domesticates, which was supplemented by fishing and limited foraging (Kirch and Hunt 1993). Consequentially, as utilization of domesticates increased, settlements began to appear inland as well as on the coast (Green and Davidson 1974), suggesting an increase in population numbers and stabilization in food production (Davidson 1979). Another importance occurrence during this period, groups departing from Samoa and Tonga colonized East Polynesian, which spread these cultural developments further into Remote Oceania (Bellwood 1987).
The period marks a vital developmental phase for Samoan adze production. First, the triangular adze form was invented (Bellwood 1987:54; Figure 4). The invention of this new adze form could be a result of better raw material availability or different expected outcomes required in woodworking. The plano-convex adze form was typical of this period, but the adze form decreased in frequency towards the end of this period (Green and Davidson 1969:32; Kirch 1993:158). In Upolu, an early occupation of mound Su-Va-1 in Vailele contained an adze assemblage with eight distinct adze types present (Green 1969:130-133); whereas, similarly dated deposits from the To’aga site in Ofu contained only plano-convex adzes (Kirch 1993). This evidence thus shows a wide and diverse adze utilization occurring in Samoa at this time.
Figure 4. Ancestral Polynesian Adzes
Evidence relating to adze production in this period, except for minute amounts recovered at To’aga and Su-Va-1, has been recovered primarily in the Maloata and ‘Aoa Valleys on Tutuila (Ayres and Eisler 1987; Clark and Michlovic 1996). The high amounts of debitage and preforms recovered at sites in these valleys document an intensive local production of adzes. However, this production scale was not mirrored elsewhere in the archipelago, and suggests early technical specialization occurring on Tutuila. More research is needed to explore if this preference towards manufacturing in Tutuila was a product of local specialists or simply better material quality.
Traditional Samoan Period
Dated from 1700 to 300 BP, the Traditional Samoan period indicates the cultural separation of the inhabitants of the Samoan archipelago from the rest of the region, and the marked increase of socio-political elaborations. Here, differences in status between people are witnessed archaeologically by the incorporation of large mounds, star mounds, inter-island trade and variation in house sizes. Also, the island’s population levels increased and began to be evenly distributed throughout the island (Davidson 1979).
Archaeologically, many significant material indicators occurred during this period. First, the cessation of ceramic manufacture in Samoa finally occurs (Clark and Michlovic 1996), and signifies either cutting of millennium old ties to a regional identity with Tonga and to a lesser extent with Fiji or a rejection of an out-dated cooking technology as earth-ovens gained in popularity. Second, settlements began to reflect a growing elaboration in the socio-political realm. Household structures begin to vary in size and function, ranging from small individual house foundations to large chief or guest houses (Davidson 1974). In addition, large mounds and star mounds began to be constructed, requiring large inputs of labor, which add to a picture of marked changes in status (Herdrich and Clark 1993; Figure 5). Another example, large earth-ovens recovered in Upolu have been assigned functional interpretations for communal feasting, and further collaborate chiefly powers noted in the contact period.
Figure 5. Planview of a star mound (adapted from Herdrich
and Clark 1993:57)
Next, stone walls and raised paths, difficult to date precisely, have been assigned to this period. Stone walls denote a sense of property or, similarly, provide territory markers between populations; whereas, the raised paths invoke the opposite of separation, because of the large amounts of labor that was required for the purpose to create connections between two populations. This formalization of contact between people reflects the growing power and control of chiefs in Samoan society as they further attempted to consolidate familial lands and supply of goods. Finally, another change in Samoan settlement practices is the introduction of fortifications -- or more aptly named, ridge top settlements. Recent archaeological research confirms that ridgetop locations are a late manifestation (Pearl 2004), and these ridgetop sites routinely have defensive trench cuts and extensive terracing (Davidson 1979; Leach and Witter 1990). As these sites are located in non-optimal locations, warfare has been assumed to play a part in their creation, but preservation issues associated with burials and wood weapons create problems in assigning a definitive site function.
During the last phase of this period, regional contact is well documented ethnohistorically in a system of exchange that connected Fiji, Tonga and Samoa (Kaeppler 1978; Weisler 1997). Kaeppler (1978) described the exchange as a social network of trade partnership for spouses and goods among these three cultural entities beginning in the mid 17th century and lasting into the historic period. Islanders distributed items such as bark cloth, chiefly attendants, fine mats, canoes, sandalwood, wooden bowls, red feathers, and adzes within the formalized kinship links formed through marriages (Kaeppler 1978; Weisler 1997).
From provenance research conducted over the last twenty years, stone adzes from Tutuilan quarries have been recovered on islands found in West and East Polynesia and Island Melanesia at sites dating between 900 to 300 BP (Best et al. 1992; Di Piazza and Pearthree 2001; Winterhoff 2003). To reflect the increase in distribution and growing populations, manufacturing of adzes increased to higher and higher scales of production (Clark 1993; Leach and Witter 1990). Samoan adze production reaches its pinnacle in this period with the number of basalt adze quarries also increasing (Clark et al. 1997).
Contemporary Samoan Period
The Contemporary Samoan period started 300 years ago when Samoa was visited by explorers from Western European societies. In the initial contact phase, Samoa was first sighted and documented by Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen in 1722 that spotted the archipelago (Davidson 1979). But land fall was not made until ill-fated French Explorer LaPerouse in 1787, which due to an unexplained altercation on Tutuila, a dozen of his crew members were killed (Pearl et al. 2003). After the incident, Samoa was not visited, expect for perhaps by whalers and traders for approximately 50 years.
Then in 1830, John Williams from the London Missionary Society visited the islands and started the religious conversion of the archipelago to Christianity (Williams 1984). The affects of this conversion on Samoan culture, although immediate and widespread across the religious realm, were lessened by strong Samoan practices in other societal realms, such as the matai and familial systems.
During an active colonial period, dating from A.D. 1900 to 1976, European and American governments vied for control over Samoa’s copra interests and harbors. After the Tripartite Convention in 1899, the United States took control of Tutuila and Manu’a Islands, and Germany took possession of Upolu and Savai’i. After Germany’s loss in World War I, New Zealand took possession of Western Samoa until 1976, when the island nation received it independence and became Samoa. This early 20th century political division between Samoa and American Samoa still exists; however, the archipelago is still firmly united culturally.
As for basalt adze production in the Contemporary Samoan period, the stone adze and the technical knowledge of adze manufacturing was quickly replaced by more efficient metal blades and contact with Western traders. This rapid replacement occurred during the period preceding the arrival of missionaries, so direct written accounts do not exist. Although Buck (1930) admirably describes components of the remembered adze technology; his review was based on indirect accounts told one hundred years later. The quick replacement of stone adzes with metal tools suggests adzes as subsistence tools were gauged by optimal performance, and as exchange items. In addition, political ties probably changed as Tutuila was replaced as a central locale of production, and materials were acquired from outside the archipelago.
In sum, this brief culture history discussion highlights pertinent and coeval economic and material changes that influenced the development of Samoan adze technologies. Adzes, similar to other stone tools found elsewhere around the world, have become arcane artifacts in our dynamic future of information technologies, but these stone tools still contain coded information of the past. Adzes, in that they are archaeologically recoverable and utilized throughout the archipelago’s history, can provide integral and collaborative information on issues ranging from subsistence developments, economic techniques and even politics.