Radiocarbon dating reveals that Rapa Nui, the well -known Easter Island, was not as isolated as previously thought. Although Polynesia was populated from west to east, rituals born in Rapa ni propagated through the Pacific Islands in the opposite direction-from east to west.
A team of archaeologists, who analyzed ritual spaces and monumental structures throughout Polynesia, Questions the idea Usually accepted that Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, developed in isolation after its initial settlement.
The first peoples in Polynesia colonized the islands from west to east, rapidly expanding Tonga is Samoa Through the sea to the central eastern Polynesia and hence to distant lands such as Hawai’i, Rapa Nui and Totara, New Zealand.
After this initial colonization, it was thought that the East Polynesia IslandsIn particular the remote rapa NUI would have remained isolated from the world in the midst of the Pacific immensity.
However, despite its isolation, Ritual Practices Similar and monumental structures were observed in East Polynesia.
An example is the construction of maraesacred places used for religious and social purposes, central in Māori culture and other polynesian cultures.
These rectangular clearing were Community ritual spaceswhich, in some cases, remained sacred to this day.
However, have changed over time on different islands: In Rapa Nui, the famous Moai sculptures were built and placed on ritual temples platforms within the marae.
To reevaluate the way ritual expression spread and developed throughout the region, Paul Wallin e Helene Martinsson-Wallinresearchers at the University of Uppsala, Sweden, have compared archaeological data and dating from Radiocarbon of settlements, ritual spaces and monuments throughout East Polynesia.
The results of your study were presented in a published on Monday in the magazine Antiquity.
“O migration process of central areas of Western Polynesia such as Tonga and Samoa to East Polynesia It is not disputed here“The authors say in.
“Even so, We challenge the idea that the static colonization from west to east and the suggested dispersal for Eastern Polynesia and the idea that Rapa was not colonized once in the past and developed in isolation“.
P. Wallin / Antiquity
A marae in Mo’orea, in the Society Islands
The authors identified three separate phases of ritual activity in East Polynesia.
The first reflects West to East Expansionduring which ritual activity was focused on actions such as burials and banquets. These places were indicated by vertical stones. These activities were formed through continuous contact within interaction networks.
The second phase saw the clearer materialization of ritual through the construction of Marae. Radiocarbon dates suggest that this idea of making ritual places more visible originated in rapa nuiThen he spread west back to the central eastern Polynesia through existing exchange networks.
Finally, the third phase was defined by a increased isolationleading to internal changes. As hierarchical social structures developed independently in Rapa Nui, Tahiti, Hawai’i, etc., monumental structures were built as way of displaying power.
“The most important discovery is that, based on dating by C-14, we can observe a initial propagation of ritual ideas from west to east, ”says Professor Wallin.“ However, the complex and unified ritual spaces, known as maraeshow older dates in the east. ”
Overall, although discoveries do not question the idea that Polynesia was populated from west to east, show how subsequent ritual developments were much more complex than previously thought.
This indicates that the networks of interaction between islands were robust and, important, New ideas were also transferred from east to west.
“Initially, ritual ideas spread from west to east. Later, more elaborate temples structures developed on Easter Islandwhich later influenced other parts of East Polynesia – then in a movement from east to west“Concludes Professor Wallin.
