22 results in Skeletal Biology of the Ancient Rapanui (Easter Islanders)
9 - Rapanui dental morphology
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- By Vincent H. Stefan, Herbert H. Lehman College, CUNY, NY, USA, Randy Rozen, Castle Rock, CO, USA
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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Summary
Introduction
As can be seen in the chapters contained in this volume, almost every aspect of Rapanui skeletal morphology has been examined. This chapter deals specifically with the dental morphology of prehistoric Rapanui. Some research has been conducted on the dentition of the Rapanui, though these studies have been limited in their scope. The first dental study done on the 1981 Expedition sample of Rapanui skeletons involved dental pathology only (Owsley et al., 1983, 1985), and not dental morphology. An exhaustive search of the literature has revealed relatively few publications dealing with dental morphology of the Polynesians or specifically the Rapanui, a situation that has not changed significantly since Turner and Scott conducted a literature review in 1977 (Turner and Scott, 1977).
The earliest publications dealing with the dentition and dental morphology of the Polynesians, either directly or indirectly, are those written by Hrdliĉka (1920), Chappel (1927), Wissler (1931), and Riesenfeld (1956). Hrdliĉka (1920), Chappel (1927), and Wissler (1931) discussed the frequency of shovel-shaped, central, and lateral incisors among prehistoric Hawaiian individuals in comparison to a worldwide distribution of the shovel-shaped incisor trait among other populations. In addition to his examination of incisors, Chappel examined cusp numbers for the maxillary and mandibular molars (Chappel, 1927). Riesenfeld (1956) also discusses shovel-shaped incisors among native peoples of the Pacific, but only mentions an enigmatic “Polynesian” sample, without any description of its composition. Suzuki and Sakai (1964) continued the investigation of the frequency of shovel-shaped incisors among Polynesians, however, they utilized a modern, living sample of 12- to 13-year-old Polynesians of the Samoan Islands (living at the time dental casts were obtained in 1959).
More recent investigations and analyses of Polynesian dentition, or the utilization of Polynesians as reference samples, primarily involve the research of Christy G. Turner and colleagues. In 1977, Turner and Scott published the “Dentition of Easter Islanders” (1977). Data from this research, as well as those from Katich and Turner (1975), provided the “Polynesian” reference sample for an analysis of the dental crown morphology of the New Britain West Nakanai Melanesians (Turner and Swindler, 1978). In 2005, Turner utilized Polynesian samples in the analysis of a sample of Rotuma Islanders, in an attempt to identify a Polynesian or Melanesian origin (Turner, 2005).
14 - Demographic analysis of modified crania from Rapa Nui
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- By Douglas W. Owsley, Smithsonian Institution, DC, USA, Vicki E. Simon, Smithsonian Institution, DC, USA, Kathryn G. Barca, Smithsonian Institution, DC, USA, Jo Anne Van Tilburg, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA, CA, USA, Deidre Whitmore, Easter Island Statue Project, Santa Monica, CA, USA
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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Summary
Introduction
Rapanui art, especially carvings in stone and wood, has been the subject of numerous iconographic analyses. Not as well studied, however, are embellished human bones from Rapa Nui, particularly crania with incised or painted designs. While Rapanui scholars have known of these modified crania for over a century, there has been limited awareness of their number and variety due to the lack of comprehensive documentation. Less than 20 examples have been identified in the literature (Aliaga, 1983; Ault, 1922; Giannoni, 1993; Knoche, 1914; Métraux, 1940; Murrill, 1965; Poussart, 2010; Routledge, 1919; Thomson, 1891); yet, in connection with our study of late prehistoric and early post-contact human remains from Rapa Nui, more than 50 modified crania were noted in the collections of 13 institutions, prompting a more systematic study of this underreported art form. The objectives of this analysis are to synthesize available information related to acquisition history and recovery context, to present a demographic analysis of these modified crania to assess frequency of occurrence by age and sex, and to illustrate representative design motifs.
Methods
The modified crania dataset was compiled while documenting pathology in Rapanui human skeletal remains in 18 museum and university collections in Europe, North and South America, and on Rapa Nui (Owsley et al., this volume). Data collection included assigning age and sex to each individual following standard osteological methods (Buikstra and Ubelaker, 1994; Owsley and Jantz, 1989) and tracking bone representation and the completeness of each skeleton through computerized inventories. For each modified cranium the design was measured, replicated in detailed drawings noting the number and depth of individual incisions, and photographed when possible. The location of the design on the cranium was recorded, along with observations related to its production, such as whether the design appeared old as opposed to creation immediately prior to acquisition by a collector.
Results
Fifty-three modified crania were documented in this extensive survey. Table 14.1 provides background information for these cases including the curating repository, the name of the collector or donor, year and means of acquisition, the number of modified crania procured, and available provenience information.
3 - Chronology and Easter Island prehistory
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- By Carl P. Lipo, Binghamton University (SUNY), NY, USA, Terry L. Hunt, University of Hawai`i at Manoa, HI, USA
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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Summary
Introduction
Building a reliable chronology forms a critical foundation to explaining prehistory, historical ecology, and human biology on Rapa Nui. A survey of the literature for Rapa Nui over the past few decades reveals a slowly changing picture of the island's chronology. Indeed, estimates of colonization and prehistoric events that followed have varied for hundreds of years, complicating greatly the research built on such shifting foundations. In 2006, we published an analysis of radiocarbon dates associated with the earliest known archaeological record of Rapa Nui (Hunt and Lipo, 2006). Based on a suite of new radiocarbon dates from our excavations of the Anakena Dune as well as a compilation of available published dates, we established a ranking of radiocarbon date reliability as indications of human behavior. From these results, we concluded that the island was colonized at some point soon after AD 1200. This significantly shorter chronology was not what we had originally expected. Indeed, this seemingly late date indicated that the island had a prehistoric chronology at least 400 – perhaps even 800 – years shorter than previously assumed. Given the island's famous stone statues and monumental architecture, a shortened chronology challenged many of the claims made about population growth rates, direct and indirect human impacts on the environment, and processes for the emergence of cultural elaboration such as statuary and monument construction. Additional research from multiple archipelagoes across East Polynesia now confirms late colonization, consistent with new dates as well as multiple lines of evidence from the Eastern Pacific (Hunt and Lipo, 2006; Rieth et al., 2011; Wilmshurst et al., 2011). Ultimately, there exists no reliable evidence in support of human occupation of Rapa Nui prior to AD 1200 – a pattern found for late and rapid settlement over a vast region of East Polynesia (Rieth et al., 2011; Wilmshurst et al., 2011).
A later chronology for Rapa Nui conforms to the growing body of evidence that humans colonized Eastern Polynesia relatively late in prehistory, as well as researchers demanding higher standards for reliable radiocarbon dating (Anderson, 2009; Arnold, 2007; Hunt and Lipo, 2008; Kennett et al., 2006a; Lie et al., 2007; Prebble and Dowe, 2008; Prebble and Wilmshurst, 2009; Rieth et al., 2011; Wells and Stock, 2007; Wilmshurst et al., 2008; Wilmshurst et al., 2011).
6 - Rapanui non-metric cranial traits
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- By Patrick M. Chapman, South Puget Sound Community College, WA, USA
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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Summary
Introduction
Rapa Nui has long fascinated anthropologists due to the so-called “mysteries of Easter Island” made famous by Katherine Routledge and Thor Heyerdahl. One of these “mysteries,” from where the Rapanui came, was largely resolved in the 1960s with the pioneering work by Murrill (1965) followed by that of Howells (1970). Further refinement began in the 1990s through corrections in Murrill's work (Baker and Gill, 1997), analysis of mtDNA (Hagelberg, 1995; Hagelberg et al., 1994), extensive cranial metric analysis (Stefan, 2000), and the analysis of non-metric cranial traits (Chapman, 1999), in addition to archaeological (summarized by Weisler and Green, 2011) and linguistic studies (Marck, 1996; Pawley, 1996). These various approaches demonstrated a Polynesian origin for the islanders, focusing on the region around Mangareva or the Tuamotus as the most probable location for the source population (Chapman, 1999; Stefan, 2000). However, recent attention to issues of contact with the Americas has reopened the question of an American contribution to Rapanui population history (Jones, 2011; Matisoo-Smith, 2011; Ramírez-Aliaga, 2011; Scaglion and Cordero, 2011; Storey et al., 2011; Thorsby, 2010).
Early genetic studies of the Rapanui (Hagelberg, 1995; Hagelberg et al., 1994) find no evidence for an American contribution to the Rapanui gene pool. All 12 of the Rapanui examined, from Ahu Tepeu and Ahu Vinapu in the west of the island, demonstrate the 9 base pair deletion and point substitutions at three particular locations (16217, 16247, and 16261) that are considered “Polynesian markers.” However, the limited distribution and size of the samples suggest the possibility that a potential American contribution may have simply been overlooked because it was not evident in the lineages that buried their dead at those particular ahus. This is relevant given the assertion by Gill and Owsley (1993) for a social division on the island that restricted gene flow between groups in the east and west. Their argument is based on the unusual distribution of three rare skeletal anomalies: Bipartite patella, ankylosed sacroiliac joint, and a supracondylar foramen on the humerus. A bipartite patella and its less extreme manifestation, the vastus notch, is found in approximately 80 percent of a sample from Anakena, in the northern part of the island, but in less than 8 percent from a site on the Western coast (Ahu Kihi Kihi Rau Mea).
12 - Archaeogenetics and paleodemographic estimation of founding populations: Features of residential geography on Rapa Nui
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- By John V. Dudgeon, Idaho State University, ID, USA, Amy S. Commendador, Idaho State University, ID, USA, Monica Tromp, Idaho State University, ID, USA
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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Summary
Introduction and research background
The standard interpretation of the bioarchaeology of Rapa Nui is inextricably linked to ethnohistoric accounts of a geographically and socially patterned population throughout much of its prehistory (McCall, 1979; McCoy, 1973; Métraux, 1940; Routledge, 1919; Stevenson, 1984, 2002). In addition, the occurrence and distribution of monumental architectural constructions (ahu, moai) on the island have been held up as a clear-cut case of population segmentation and social competition among competing clans within a restricted, marginal environment (Diamond, 1995; Kirch, 1989; Stevenson, 2002). Previous research has attempted to explain relatedness among the Rapanui through the analysis of artifacts, the study of the stylistic features and spatial patterning of monumental architecture (Martinsson-Wallin, 1994; McCoy, 1973; Rounds-Beardsley, 1990; Stevenson, 1984, 1986, 2002), but these studies have placed a large explanatory burden on the social or territorial descriptions of ethnographers who visited the island after most of its population had been lost to introduced disease and the slave trade (McCall, 1994).
The cultural discontinuity produced by the demographic collapse of the native population by 1880 raises questions about the physical congruity of the territorial and social descriptions from cultural informants obtained after this time. The well-studied nature of the spatial distribution of high-investment architecture, coupled with the salvage ethnographies (see Lavachery, 1936; Métraux, 1940; Routledge, 1919; Thomson, 1891) from the late nineteenth to middle twentieth century, have created a plausible and commonsense set of interpretations for the Late Prehistoric and Early Protohistoric era that have insinuated themselves into nearly all the scholarly work on Rapa Nui archaeology over the past 50 years. We believe part of the reason for the paucity of research on patterns of biological relatedness on the island is due to the presumption of stylistic unity or apparent relatedness of the large artifact classes, coupled with the continued influence of the notion of the territorial boundary as a construction of sociological importance (Rounds-Beardsley, 1990; Stevenson, 2002), which tends to reify explanations rather than structure hypotheses.
Here we present the results of our recent analysis of ancient microsatellite DNA from human skeletons as a separate data class to augment current archaeological, physical anthropological, and ethnohistoric explanations for the spatial distribution of monumental architecture and settlement and habitation patterns.
References
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1 - Introduction: Research overview
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- By George W. Gill, University of Wyoming, WY, USA
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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Summary
The mysteries of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) have gripped the imagination of explorers, scientists, and the public for more than a century. The origin of the Rapanui people and the rise and fall of their advanced prehistoric culture raise many important scientific questions. Who were the Rapanui ancestors? Did they come to this remote island as part of a single Polynesian migration or multiple ones? Were all of these early inhabitants Polynesian or were some of them of South American origin? What forces were involved in the rise, decline, and eventual collapse of this unique culture? Answers to these questions could explain much about human mobility, resourcefulness, and adaptability.
Explorations of Easter Island within the modern era began largely with archaeological investigation. Beginning with the Norwegian Expedition of 1955–56, under the direction of the world-famous explorer, Thor Heyerdahl, an international team of archaeologists began the process of scientific inquiry (Heyerdahl and Ferdon, 1965). They excavated a number of well-documented sites, and at most of them encountered well-preserved human skeletons. Thousands of additional human bones were seen by these archaeologists since they existed in open caves and partially exposed burial chambers within ahu platforms (i.e., the platforms that support the giant Easter Island statues, or moai). These men realized the importance of human skeletons to future scientific investigation, and also the risk of their loss in the not too distant future as this tiny island would most certainly, in time, begin to open up to the outside world.
The 1981 Easter Island Anthropological Expedition, which resulted in the successful recovery, protection, and initial study of these threatened human bones, and which eventually allowed for many of the studies presented in this book, was inspired and assisted in many ways by these members of the original Heyerdahl team (especially William Mulloy, Gonzalo Figueroa G-H, and Thor Heyerdahl himself). This connection will be discussed in more detail below.
Frontmatter
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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11 - Genetic affinities of the Rapanui
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- By Erika Hagelberg, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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Summary
Introduction
The biological origin of the Rapanui is a subject of great interest to anthropologists and historians. While most scholars today agree that Polynesia and Easter Island were colonized by Southeast Asian seafarers associated with the Lapita Cultural Complex, there have been alternative theories, some verging on the fanciful (Bellwood, 1978; Howe, 2003). One well-known view, popularised by the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, is that Easter Island was settled by pre-Inca navigators stemming from the region of Lake Titicaca in Peru. Heyerdahl demonstrated the feasibility of a sea voyage from South America to Polynesia in his 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition, from Callao in Peru to Raroia Atoll in the Tuamotus, but his evidence for prehistoric trans-Pacific contacts is largely circumstantial (Heyerdahl, 1950, 1952).
The decline of the Easter Island population started in the Late Period of prehistory and was exacerbated after European contacts. The eventual destruction of much evidence of the prehistoric population, culture, and landscape spurred generations of biologists, anthropologists, and medical researchers to apply all available scientific techniques to the question of the origins and genetic affinities of the early inhabitants. From early on, explorers and scientists collected well-preserved crania from prehistoric burial sites, and these made their way to museums throughout the world. In the modern era, systematic excavations have been carried out, for example during the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition of 1955–56, and the Easter Island Anthropological Expedition of 1981, and complete, well-documented skeletons have been collected and submitted to a wide spectrum of biological studies (Clow et al., 1998; Gill and Owsley, 1993; Murrill, 1965). The results of these studies, together with multivariate craniometric analyses of all cranial samples, have demonstrated the Polynesian affinities of the Easter Island population (Howells, 1973a; Stefan, 2000), and rule out a major Peruvian influence. Yet questions remain on particular details of the origin of the ancient Rapanui, and there is still debate on the extent of the South American contribution to the overall Polynesian population structure and culture of the original Easter Islanders.
The living Rapanui have also been subjected to numerous genetic studies, from blood groups in the early decades of the twentieth century, to high-resolution DNA typing in recent years. Molecular genetic analyses on Pacific populations have provided contradictory evidence of past human trans-Pacific contacts.
7 - Intra-island discrete cranial trait variation
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- By Thomas Furgeson, Olympia, WA, USA, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming, WY, USA
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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Summary
Introduction
This study assesses the variation between regional skeletal samples from prehistoric Easter Island on the basis of several discrete cranial traits to determine if there exists significant variation between tribal regions as described in the ethnographic record. The skeletal sample is divided into five groups representing regions of Easter Island that correspond to purported ancient tribal areas (Figure 7.1) and are compared to one another to test for statistically significant cranial trait variation with regards to specific discrete characteristics.
Due to their apparently strong genetic and low environmental factors affecting them, discrete traits are useful in population studies (Corruccini, 1974). Discrete cranial traits can be used to determine genetic distance between populations. They may also be useful in determining genetic distance within populations if political or social divisions influence gene flow between subpopulations such as tribes, clans, or kinship groups. Field observations and preliminary studies indicate that discrete traits do vary among early Easter Islanders. This study evaluates 30 cranial discrete traits and tests the hypothesis that no significant variation in cranial discrete traits exists between regional skeletal samples representing ancient Easter Island tribal areas.
Skeletal sample
The skeletons used here are from a pool of 426 individuals housed at the Sebastian Englert Museum of Anthropology, Easter Island, Chile. Much of this sample was collected by the 1981 Easter Island Anthropological Expedition, during the earlier 1979 efforts by Rapu and Gill, and subsequent field seasons, as described in the Introduction (Chapter 1) of this book (see Gill, this volume). Gill collected or supervised discrete data collection, and data were entirely rechecked on a subsequent 2002 field trip to Easter Island. All records are on file at the University of Wyoming Human Remains Repository (HRR) at the University of Wyoming, Laramie. For this study, only those remains sufficiently preserved to allow collection of discrete cranial traits, and with clear provenience are used. Also, those of unknown age at death beyond childhood are excluded. This yields a total of 106 specimens. Specimens represent the five regions of the island used for this and prior studies. These regions are North, South, Northeast, West, and Southwest (Figure 7.1).
8 - Continuous non-metric characteristics of the early Rapanui
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- By George W. Gill, University of Wyoming, WY, USA
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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Summary
Introduction
The non-metric characteristics of the human skeleton that follow a morphological continuum of expression, that is, traits like length of the nasal spine, supraorbital ridge size, and degree of development of the nasal sill, are traits known by human osteologists to pattern quite differently by population and by sex. For instance, males tend to have large or medium supraorbital ridges and females generally show very slight ridges or none at all (Bass, 2005; Byers, 2011; White et al., 2012). Europeans and White Americans have sharp nasal sills and prominent nasal spines while American Blacks have very dull or absent nasal sills and very reduced nasal spines (Bass, 2005; Byers, 2011; Gill, 1998; Rhine, 1990; White et al., 2012). These traits, in fact, are so valuable in the human identification process that many, if not most, forensic anthropologists rely upon them more than craniometrics or discrete non-metric traits in analysis of skeletons. Unfortunately, in scientific research, working with these kinds of morphological characteristics is difficult. This is because they are hard to quantify. The precise numerical data of osteometrics, and repeatability between scientists in their application, facilitate effective quantitative analysis. The occurrences of discrete non-metric traits can likewise be expressed in frequencies with reasonable precision. The continuous, non-metric traits, on the other hand, provide no clear classificatory boundaries, and therefore must be assessed more subjectively. This, in turn, leads to greater inter-observer error. So, these very important traits, with very high heritability, and therefore great utility in defining populations and individuals, are not easy to work with, and therefore are often ignored in systematic population studies.
On the other hand, the value of these particular non-metric traits in assessing both sex and ancestry has been well known in physical anthropology since the earliest days of this field of science. E.A. Hooton at Harvard in the early part of the twentieth century defined many of the non-metric traits still utilized today in forensic anthropology and other areas of biological anthropology. For a comprehensive view of Hooton's list of these traits one may consult Brues (1990).
Very few non-metric discrete traits of the cranium will be discussed in this chapter since they are covered thoroughly in other chapters of this book (Chapman, Chapter 6; Furgeson and Gill, Chapter 7).
13 - Evidence for injuries and violent death
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- By Douglas W. Owsley, Smithsonian Institution, DC, USA, Kathryn G. Barca, Smithsonian Institution, DC, USA, Vicki E. Simon, Smithsonian Institution, DC, USA, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming, WY, USA
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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Summary
Introduction
Based on oral traditions, Rapa Nui is often portrayed as having a history of warfare and violence (Métraux, 1940; Routledge, 1919; Thomson, 1891) and a frequently cited hypothesis of societal collapse culminating in civil war (Diamond, 1995, 2005, 2007). There are, however, arguments against intertribal conflict resulting from such a decline (Hunt, 2007; Hunt and Lipo, 2009; Hunt and Lipo, 2011). While other types of data can be presented, direct evidence for both the presence and nature of past violence is marked on human skeletal remains. Previous analyses of injuries (Gill and Owsley, 1993; Owsley et al., 1994) determined that a relatively small percentage of Rapanui remains showed evidence of traumatic death. The current study revisits this topic among the prehistoric and historic Rapanui, using an expanded sample to assess physical evidence for injuries in the skull and limbs. The objective is to gain more definitive information about violence and warfare as factors related to the collapse of the society.
Easter Island warfare
Literature exploring and debating societal decline and collapse on Rapa Nui is extensive. Violence is a common theme in oral traditions recorded by late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century visitors. Among other legends in which conflict and cannibalism are prominent, a tribal war between the “Long Ears” and the “Short Ears” is described (Métraux, 1940; Routledge, 1919; Thomson, 1891). Multiple versions of this story exist, and while the details differ, the rivalry between the two groups results in the near-extermination of the Long Ears by the Short Ears. This event was dated to AD 1680 by Father Sebastián Englert (1948), based on his chronology of Rapa Nui and genealogical history (Lipo and Hunt, 2009). In 1956, the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition research team radiocarbon dated Poike Ditch, the location where most of the Long Ears were reportedly burned to death, to approximately AD 1676 (Smith, 1961a: 391). With reinforcement from this single radiocarbon date, AD 1680 became associated with a climactic event in Rapa Nui chronology that was used to delineate the Middle Period (ca. AD 1100–1680) from the Late Period (AD 1680–1868) (Lipo and Hunt, 2009; Smith, 1961a: 391, 1961b: 395).
5 - Craniometric variation of the prehistoric Polynesians and Rapanui
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- By Vincent H. Stefan, Herbert H. Lehman College, CUNY, NY, USA
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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Summary
The origin, migration, evolution, and interaction of Polynesian populations as a whole, as well as focused examination of specific islands or archipelagoes (i.e., Rapanui [Easter Islanders], Marquesas Islands, etc.) have been the center of Pacific investigation for many years. The prehistoric Polynesians are a culturally, linguistically, and biologically distinct group of humans. As one of the most widely dispersed peoples of the earth, the Polynesians have excited extensive theorizing about their origins. For over 200 years, theories have been multitudinous, confusing, contradictory, and ranging from scholarly to charlatanic and even on the lunatic fringe (Bellwood, 1979). No progress was made into the question of Polynesian origins until serious archaeological investigations were conducted, with primary attention focused on the migration route by which the ancestral Polynesians reached the islands of the Pacific.
The development of an ancestral Polynesian society from a Lapita Cultural Complex (Green, 1976; Kirch, 1989), and the subsequent dispersal of Polynesian colonizers throughout the Eastern Pacific had been readily accepted by most authorities. The Lapita Cultural Complex was believed to have originated in mainland Southern China and dispersed to Taiwan circa 4000 BC, with further dispersal to Melanesia via the Philippines and the Indonesian Archipelago occurring circa 3000 BC (Bellwood, 1979; Suggs, 1960; Van Tilburg, 1994). Bellwood (1991) refined this hypothesis concerning Polynesian origins, suggesting that the Polynesians originated in a demic expansion of Austronesian-speaking agriculturists from the South China mainland, approximately 6,000 years ago, and spread successively to Taiwan, the Philippines, Eastern Indonesia, and then Melanesia, reaching Fiji by about 3,500 years ago. From Fiji, they dispersed through Somoa/Tonga into East Polynesia about 2,000 years ago (Burley and Dickinson, 2001). This scenario has also come to be known as the “express train to Polynesia” (Diamond, 1988).
Chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA research has provided much information regarding the origins of the Polynesians. Several nuclear DNA markers (α-globin gene cluster – chromosome 16p13.3; β-globin gene cluster – chromosome 11p15; phenylalinine hydroxylase gene – chromosome 12q22-q24.1; human leukocyte antigen) have been examined and have indicated a close relationship to populations of Southeast Asia (Hertzberg et al., 1991; Hill et al., 1987; Serjeantson, 1985; Serjeantson et al., 1987; Trent et al., 1988). Analysis of these DNA markers has also indicated no or limited relationship to the Melanesians.
10 - Pelvic variability and sexual dimorphism in prehistoric Rapanui
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- By Amber Harrison, Tucson, AZ, USA, Nathan K. Harper, Las Vegas, NV, USA
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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Summary
Introduction
Accurate identification of human skeletal remains is central to forensic and archaeological investigations. Methods of identification have been devised for nearly every bone in the human body and it is widely agreed that the elements of the pelvic complex offer the best indicators of sex. The present study has evolved from research aimed at quantifying morphological differences between the sexes in adult pelvic morphology (Harrison, 2003; Harrison and Harper, 2007). In Harrison's (2003) study, 20 measurements were designed and tested on an anatomical collection of known age and sex in an attempt to quantify sexually dimorphic traits of the os coxa traditionally used in qualitative methods. The result of that study was a protocol of measurements that could be used for the determination of sex in unidentified remains with an accuracy of 85–95 percent. A follow-up study utilizing the same measurements then tested for differences between Blacks and Whites of the same sample. Results showed not only marked differences between the sexes, but between populations. This chapter presents the results of a preliminary analysis of quantifying sex and population differences in pelvic morphology, utilizing measurements of the os coxae designed by Harrison (2003).
Pelvic measurements are recorded on an archaeological sample from Rapa Nui and a sample of nineteenth‐ and twentieth‐century North Americans commonly used for the development of forensic and osteological standards. The goal of this chapter is three-fold: 1. test the efficacy of standard canonical discriminant analysis to quantify sexual dimorphism using an archaeological sample, 2. test for population differences in pelvic morphology between the groups, and 3. address sexual dimorphism specific to the Rapanui. This research highlights the potential for an accurate alternative approach to the determination of sex and throws into light the question of population variability in pelvic morphology.
The human os coxae
The adult human pelvic girdle is formed by the articulation of three components, the sacrum, coccyx, and os coxae (right and left innominates/hip bones). Prior to adolescence, each os coxa consists of three unfused parts; the ilium, ischium, and pubis that join and fuse in the acetabulum by early adulthood. In articulation the female pelvic complex generally exhibits laterally flaring iliac crests, a wide heart-shaped basin, wide sciatic notch, elongated superior pubic rami, wide-angle inferior pubic rami, and a wide, rectangular pubic body.
4 - A descriptive skeletal biology analysis of the ancient Easter Island population
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- By George W. Gill, University of Wyoming, WY, USA, Vincent H. Stefan, Herbert H. Lehman College, CUNY, NY, USA
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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- Skeletal Biology of the Ancient Rapanui (Easter Islanders)
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Summary
Introduction
This general description of the ancient Rapanui, based upon skeletal characteristics, addresses a number of dimensions. Craniometrics are utilized to provide insight into the general appearance of these prehistoric people, such as cranial and facial size and shape. Facial reconstructions on both male and female crania have also been produced, and provide additional details regarding appearance. These “living faces” have also yielded surprising results relating to the continuity of some facial characteristics from ancient times right on up into the modern era, as expressed among the living Rapanui people.
More extensive craniometrics, along with DNA research, have been our best line of inquiry into the origins and relationships of the prehistoric Easter Islanders, but that subject will be the focus of subsequent chapters of this book (especially Stefan, Chapter 5; Hagelberg, Chapter 11), and not the purpose of this descriptive chapter. The only craniometric features to be discussed here beyond the very basic descriptive ones are a few that have real significance in defining population variation, in forensic and other contexts. These are things like the quite useful dimensions relating to shape of the palate and size and shape of the mastoid processes, and also those pertaining to nasal projection. Some select measurements of the mandible have also been included.
Postcranial metrics of the femur and humerus are discussed here because of their importance in defining sexual dimorphism and population differences that are useful in forensic science contexts, and some other areas of inquiry. Calculations of living stature of these prehistoric people have been made from lengths of long bones. Adult femoral and humeral head diameters are also presented. These male and female averages differ from those published in the textbooks of human osteology and forensic anthropology based upon the usual samples of White and Black populations. Such variations among the Polynesians are important differences that not only will be fully described here but also need to eventually be noted in the broader osteological literature. A high degree of femoral platymeria constitutes another important difference documented here between the ancient Rapanui and large well-documented samples of Black and White peoples.
15 - East Polynesian and Paleoindian parallels and contrasts in skeletal morphology
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- By George W. Gill, University of Wyoming, WY, USA
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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- Skeletal Biology of the Ancient Rapanui (Easter Islanders)
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Summary
Introduction
The two most dramatic geographical expansions of late prehistoric Homo sapiens have been: 1. the peopling of Polynesia, and 2. the settlement of the Americas. Both population movements emanated from East Asia, but traditionally have been viewed as having consisted of two quite different Eurasian population elements that were, in fact rather distantly related genetically. The ancestral Polynesians, a South Asian coastal people, apparently possessed a pattern of physical characteristics (e.g., large, long skulls, reduced cheekbones, wavy hair, male beards, and light skin) resembling the trait pattern of the original Ainu people of Japan, some modern South and West Asians, and even generalized Europeans. The ancestral Native Americans, on the other hand, have been traditionally viewed as a North Asian people from the frozen steppes of the continental interior. They are assumed to have had a different trait pattern (short, wide skulls, heavy, prominent cheekbones, straight black hair, and heavy jaws and teeth) resembling that of modern North and East Asians and many contemporary Amerindian groups. Recent findings, however, call parts of this simple straightforward scenario into question. The Polynesian part of the equation seems accurate; the early American part perhaps less so.
More than any other contemporary population the people of Easter Island probably provide the best physical approximation of the ancestral Polynesians (i.e., the contact period Rapanui and the few unmixed individuals remaining today; not the majority of highly mixed modern Rapanui). This is because the island of Rapa Nui was throughout prehistory the most remote and therefore the most isolated of any of the Polynesian islands. It simply missed the later waves of population movement from mainland Asia that appear to have affected the population genetics of West Polynesia, Micronesia, and to a lesser extent Central Polynesia. This is not to infer that Easter Island existed for centuries without population change. Genetic drift undoubtedly occurred, and some evidence also points to a prehistoric introduction of a very small amount of Native American genetics. This “small thread” of Amerindian ancestry has been suggested by both DNA evidence (Thorsby et al., 2009; Hagelberg, this volume) and patterns of continuous, non-metric cranial traits (Gill et al., 1997; Gill, this volume). Peter Buck (1938), William Mulloy (1974) and others have also suggested more than one Polynesian settlement voyage to Easter Island.
2 - Review of Polynesian and Pacific skeletal biology
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- By Michael Pietrusewsky, University of Hawai`i at Manoa, HI, USA, Michele Toomay Douglas, University of Hawai`i at Manoa, HI, USA
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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Summary
Introduction
This chapter summarizes previous work in skeletal biology of the Pacific. Although evidence from other areas in physical anthropology is included, the major focus of this survey will be what studies of human skeletons reveal about the origins, health, and lifestyle of the indigenous inhabitants of the Pacific. While interest in the origins of Pacific Islanders, particularly Polynesians, continues to command attention, more recent studies in skeletal biology and bioarchaeology focus on health, disease, and lifestyle of Pacific Islanders. Studies in dental anthropology and molecular genetics, using skeletons from Easter Island, are omitted here but will be fully discussed in other chapters in this volume.
Following a brief summary of the geography and prehistory of the Pacific, we review initial observations and descriptive reports in physical anthropology using human skeletons (primarily crania) collected during the age of scientific expeditions to the Pacific in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Contemporaneously were more ambitious comparative analyses using crania found in museum collections; studies that unfortunately were mired in the typological paradigm of the time. Paralleling these early craniometric studies were the first anthropometric studies of the living inhabitants of the Pacific undertaken in the early decades of the twentieth century. The decades following World War II saw the first systematic archaeological excavations in the Pacific, which resulted in more extensive osteological investigations involving prehistoric human skeletons. More recently, work in the Pacific has focused on Lapita and post-Lapita skeletons (e.g., Vanuatu, New Guinea, and Fiji) and skeletons recovered during archaeological excavation and monitoring activities associated with Cultural Resource Management (CRM) work.
A plethora of early studies involved skeletons from the Pacific, but the possibilities of studying human skeletons in many parts of the Pacific are now drastically reduced due to issues surrounding repatriation and concerns of the indigenous groups. Despite these challenges, new information about the past inhabitants of the Pacific continues to emerge.
Pacific Islands: Geography, prehistory, and linguistics
Although based on a faulty perception of Pacific Island culture history (Kirch, 2000), for the sake of simplicity, this review will refer to Dumont d'Urville's (1832) tripartite division of the Pacific: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.
Index
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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16 - Rapanui origins, relationships, and warfare: A summary in theoretical context
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- By George W. Gill, University of Wyoming, WY, USA, Vincent H. Stefan, Herbert H. Lehman College, CUNY, NY, USA
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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- Skeletal Biology of the Ancient Rapanui (Easter Islanders)
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Summary
Mystery surrounds Easter Island at a number of levels, and this has made the tiny island and its interesting people, with their surprisingly advanced prehistoric culture, a focal point of interest for the outside world. Especially Western scholars have made great efforts to explore the island since its discovery by Europeans in 1722, with an attempt to answer the many questions raised by its isolated existence in the midst of a vast ocean. Who are these far away people who look similar to Europeans? Where did they come from? How did they get to this tiny island? How could they produce monumental architecture within such a small, remote location? What happened to bring an end to their advanced society? As pointed out in the early chapters of this volume, these “big questions” have riveted the attention of scientists and others for a very long time, as have other questions at a level of greater specificity, such as: How exactly were the statues carved? How were they moved and erected? What exact forces precipitated the social decline?
The contributions within this volume by mostly biological anthropologists and geneticists have helped answer some of these questions (e.g., origins and relationships), contributed important information towards answering others (e.g., settlement theories, injuries and conflict, social decline), and have lent little or nothing to others (e.g., carving and moving of statues). We biologists have little to offer regarding statue production and transport, and will leave the resolution of those mysteries to the engineers and archaeologists!
The major findings presented within the chapters of this volume are briefly summarized here under three primary subject headings: 1. basic skeletal structure and the physical appearance of the ancient Rapanui, 2. genetic composition and relationships, and 3. conflict and injury. Some of our findings also bear upon settlement theory (i.e., potential routes to Easter Island) and will be discussed in a fourth and final section on origins and settlement.
As outlined earlier in the Introduction (Chapter 1), the inspiration for much of the research work presented here grew out of the 1981 Easter Island Anthropological Expedition.
Contents
- Edited by Vincent H. Stefan, George W. Gill, University of Wyoming
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- Skeletal Biology of the Ancient Rapanui (Easter Islanders)
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