Stone Adze Compositions and the Extent of Ancient Polynesian Voyaging and Trade

doi:10.1126/science.1147013

Account Information

Guest Alerts | Access Rights | My Account | Sign In

Reports

Stone Adze Compositions and the Extent of Ancient Polynesian Voyaging and Trade

Kenneth D. Collerson¹^* and Marshall I. Weisler²

The last region on Earth settled by humans during prehistorywas East Polynesia. Hawaiian oral histories mention voyagingfrom Hawai'i to Tahiti and back via the Tuamotus, an open oceanjourney of several thousands of kilometers. The trace elementand isotope chemistries of a stone adze recovered from the TuamotuArchipelago are unlike those of sources in central Polynesiabut are similar to the Kaho'olawe Island hawaiite, in the HawaiianIslands, supporting the oral histories. Other adzes collectedfrom the low coral islands of the northwest Tuamotus have sourcesin the Marquesas, Austral and Society Islands, and the PitcairnGroup, confirming that trade was widespread within East Polynesia.

¹ School of Physical Sciences–Earth Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
² School of Social Science–Archaeology, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: k.collerson{at}mailbox.uq.edu.au

Read the Full Text

The editors suggest the following Related Resources on Science sites:

In Science Magazine

PERSPECTIVES ANTHROPOLOGY: Tracking Polynesian Seafarers: Ben Finney (28 September 2007)
Science 317 (5846), 1873. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1149035]
| Summary » | Full Text » | PDF »