Re: Carbon-dates from the Society Islands....

From: Qiwi (marym_at_pl.net)
Date: 10/09/04 

Date: 8 Oct 2004 19:12:40 -0700

benlizross <benlizro@ihug.co.nz> wrote in message news:<41670424.347@ihug.co.nz>...
> Qiwi wrote:
> >
> > The following is from a paper by Atholl Anderson, Eric Conte, Geoffrey
> > Clark, Yosihiko Sinoto, and Fiona Petchey entitled:
> > 'Renewed Excavations at Motu Paeao, Maupiti Island, French
> > Polynesia'(2000)
> > Abstract:
> > "Earlier excavations in the ancient burial ground at Motu Paeao, on
> > Maupiti Island, French Polynesia by Emory and Sinoto in 1963 had
> > produced a diverse range of material culture of Archaic East
> > Polynesian type, similar to that known from the Wairau Bar in new
> > Zealand.
> > Typological considerations suggest that the Motu paeao burials dated
> > to the 10th century AD, and this age was bracketed by two radio-carbon
> > determinations from the site. In the light of recent radio-carbon
> > determinations indicating a 13th century age for Wairau Bar,
> > investigations were renewed at Motu Paeao.
> > These uncovered known burials and one new interment.
> > Determinations on samples of human bone gelatin and marine shell
> > indicate that the site dates to the 13th to 15th centuries."
> >
> > So according to this research the earliest known evidence of
> > settlement in the Society Islands now dates from 1200 to 1400 ad!!!
> > Even more striking is the confirmation that the earliest known sites
> > in the Societies were contemporary with the Moa-hunter sites at Wairau
> > Bar in Aotearoa!!
>
> One of the things I like about you, Qiwi, is the excitement you bring to
> this group. Look at that: five lines of your own in this post, and five
> exclamation marks!!!!! I can almost see you bouncing up and down in your
> chair at the keyboard.
>
> But for the benefit of more phlegmatic readers, perhaps you could hold
> off getting your third cup of coffee long enough to expand a bit on just
> what has got you so wound up? You do appear to be contributing some
> things of your own to what we can see in this bare abstract. The word
> "earliest", for example, does not occur therein, but you use it twice in
> your comments. The paper seems like another example of the "late-dating"
> trend led by Anderson, which I have mentioned more than once in the
> recent discussions, but which has not previously evoked this kind of
> reaction.
>
> So sketch the big picture. Let's even assume that your paraphrase of the
> content of the abstract is accurate. Why ought we to share your
> excitement?
>
> Ross Clark

The fact is Ross the abstract is as it appeared in the Rapa Nui
Journal 14(2) for June 2000.
I take it you find it only mildly interesting that carbon-dates from
the "earliest" known sites in the Societies are no earlier than the
Moa-hunter sites at Wairau Bar??
As for the "late-dating".... I am not convinced myself, but it is very
clear that no matter how much the dates are modified, the Marquesas
remain as the earliest....and the Cooks and the Societies remain at
the very end of the settlement process..... certainly not what one
would expect if the process was a West to East movement as claimed by
the so-called experts.

Quantcast