Papers by Reidar Solsvik
In the last decade, researchers have attempted to understand the structure of Ancestral Polynesia... more In the last decade, researchers have attempted to understand the structure of Ancestral Polynesian ritual space through Proto-terms found in lexicons of Proto-Polynesian and Proto-Oceanic. This practice can be seen as a “re-construction ” of the marae complex based on linguistic and ethnological data. In this paper I review research that has been done on the Polynesian marae-complex since the late 19th century in order to identify how archaeologists have used words and semantics in their interpretations of this history. Comparing words and meanings of words as a source to gain a deeper understanding of past and present phenomena seems to have been a common practice in Pacific research. In the field of research on Polynesian ritual space, the use of words and reconstructed terms may be described under three headings: a relational approach, concerned with meanings of individual features; a conceptual approach, in which various structures are seen as representing individual concepts; a...
Abstract: The Norwegian Archaeological Expedition to Easter Island and the East Pacific in 1955–1... more Abstract: The Norwegian Archaeological Expedition to Easter Island and the East Pacific in 1955–1956 was an important milestone in Easter Island studies, bringing a team of highly-qualified archaeologists to the island. The reports of the expedition contain a huge amount of research data and have been profusely consulted during past years. More results and casual observations of the expedition members were written in personal diaries and field notes. This short note describes the field notes and other documents of Edwin N. Ferdon, the archaeologist who performed excavations at the ceremonial center of ‘Orongo and was also very interested in ethnohistorical research of Easter Island society. The future study of Ferdon’s field notes, now in the collections of the Kon-Tiki Museum, will certainly reveal many new interesting facts and details. Abstract: La Expedición Arqueológica Noruega a la Isla de Pascua y el Pacifico Oriente de los años 1955–1956 fue un logro importante, trayendo un ...
American journal of physical anthropology, Oct 30, 2017
The Rapa Nui "ecocide" narrative questions whether the prehistoric population caused an... more The Rapa Nui "ecocide" narrative questions whether the prehistoric population caused an avoidable ecological disaster through rapid deforestation and over-exploitation of natural resources. The objective of this study was to characterize prehistoric human diets to shed light on human adaptability and land use in an island environment with limited resources. Materials for this study included human, faunal, and botanical remains from the archaeological sites Anakena and Ahu Tepeu on Rapa Nui, dating from c. 1400 AD to the historic period, and modern reference material. We used bulk carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses and amino acid compound specific isotope analyses (AA-CSIA) of collagen isolated from prehistoric human and faunal bone, to assess the use of marine versus terrestrial resources and to investigate the underlying baseline values. Similar isotope analyses of archaeological and modern botanical and marine samples were used to characterize the local environment. Re...
This publication is based on new fieldwork carried out on the island of Huahine, French Polynesia... more This publication is based on new fieldwork carried out on the island of Huahine, French Polynesia, in the years 2001-2004. The work was done within the frames of the project “Local Developments and Regional Interactions: The Huahine Archaeological Project” in collaboration between the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway, the Ethnographic Museum, Oslo, Norway, the Service de la Culture et du Patrimoine, Papeete, French Polynesia, and the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, USA. The work was financed by the Kon-Tiki ...
Journal of the Polynesian Society, Jan 1, 2005
During four field sessions in 2002, 2003 and 2004, we conducted test excavationsof ceremonial str... more During four field sessions in 2002, 2003 and 2004, we conducted test excavationsof ceremonial structures called marae in the district of Maeva, Huahine, French Polynesia. The project is based on a survey carried out by Dr. Y.H. Sinoto on the
Mata‘ire‘a Hill and in adjacent areas of the Maeva village. The island of Huahine is located in the Leeward Group of the Society Islands, approximately 160 km northwest of the island of Tahiti, and consists of two main volcanic islands: Huahine Nui and
Huahine Iti. The district of Maeva comprises the north/northeastern part of Huahine Nui that surrounds the sacred mountain Moua Tapu.In this article, we present a set of 14C dates from seven marae structures on Huahine.Except for one problematic date from marae Taputapuatea on Raiatea (cf. Wallin
1993:68, Fig. 56), these are the first reported 14C dates from any Leeward Islands marae. Of a total of 17 published 14C dates from excavations of marae structures in the Society Islands, all but one were analysed before 1970 (see Table 1). A set of dates from investigations in the Papenoo valley, Tahiti, by French, Hawaiian and New Zealand researchers in the late 1980s remains unpublished (Mark Eddowes pers. comm., October 2004).The set of 14C dates from seven marae represent our first assessment of marae construction and development in the Leeward Islands. We do not believe that ourpresent data is extensive enough to support any particular interpretations or models.These dates are also the first to be determined for marae structures in the SocietyIslands since Roger Green’s and José Garanger’s work on Mo‘orean and Tahitian
ceremonial structures in the 1960s and 1970s.
Kon Tiki Museum Occasional Papers, 2011
The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 2013
Archaeology in Oceania, Jan 1, 2010
Based on archaeological data it is time to re-evaluate the stratified chiefdom of the Society Isl... more Based on archaeological data it is time to re-evaluate the stratified chiefdom of the Society Islands. The model was constructed mainly on ethno-historical/ethnological data and has been used extensively, and this social system has been projected back in time, sometimes maybe too far. The question that may be asked is: -What happened during almost 1000 years of settlement in the Society Islands? It is now evident from new archaeological investigations of habitations and marae that the stratified chiefdom in the Society Islands was a late development, and that the society went through several changes through time. Therefore, we need to discuss the possibilities of an earlier existence of either traditional chiefdoms and/or open chiefdoms in the Society Islands, following the terminology developed by Goldman on chiefly organizations identified in other parts of Polynesia.
Abstract-In this paper we give an overview of the chronological evidence from four field seasons ... more Abstract-In this paper we give an overview of the chronological evidence from four field seasons of excavating marae sites on Huahine, in the Leeward group of the Society Islands. We also briefly discuss our findings in light of earlier work, mainly done on the islands of the Windward group. Since the beginning of scientific research in Polynesia it has been assumed that the Society Islands marae complex developed early. This may not be the case, and it is possible that these temple sites did not play an important part in Society Islands ...
Kon-Tiki Museum. Occasional Papers, 2011
This publication is based on new fieldwork carried out on the island of Huahine, French Polynesia... more This publication is based on new fieldwork carried out on the island of Huahine, French Polynesia, in the years 2001-2004. The work was done within the frames of the project “Local Developments and Regional Interactions: The Huahine Archaeological Project” in collaboration between the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway, the Ethnographic Museum, Oslo, Norway, the Service de la Culture et du Patrimoine, Papeete, French Polynesia, and the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, USA. The work was financed by the Kon-Tiki ...
Islands of inquiry. Colonisation, seafaring and the archaeology of maritime landscapes. Terra Australis, 2008
The investigations at marae Manunu (Figure 1) were part of an archaeological project called '... more The investigations at marae Manunu (Figure 1) were part of an archaeological project called 'Local development and regional interactions', a collaboration between the Kon-Tiki Museum, BP Bishop Museum, Oslo University, and the Service de la Culture et du Patrimoine, Tahiti, French Polynesia. The project was conducted from 2001 to 2004 on the island of Huahine in the Society Islands. One team from the BP Bishop Museum in Hawai'i, led by Dr YH Sinoto and E. Komori, investigated a submerged coastal habitation site on ...
Rapa Nui Journal, 2006
Chrono-metric U-Th 50 500.000 year Coral, stalagmitic calcite, calcite encru tation or infilling ... more Chrono-metric U-Th 50 500.000 year Coral, stalagmitic calcite, calcite encru tation or infilling on/in bone, calcium carbonate from pring waters, deposited carbonate, concretion in arid soil, caliche and calcrete Chrono-metric Thermoluminescence 50 500.000 Ceramic or other heated clay, oven tones, burnt Oint, stalagmitic calcite, sediments, volcanic glass, and lava. Chrono-metric Hydration-rim 200-100.000 Volcanic glas and ob idian. Typology All u e arne Only a relative Architectural traits of the monument. principle time cale Hi torical Historical record AD 1596-1900 Written record. Hi torical Genealogy c. AD 1300-1900 Oral traditions.
In the last decade, researchers have attempted to understand the structure of Ancestral Polynesia... more In the last decade, researchers have attempted to understand the structure of Ancestral Polynesian ritual space through Proto-terms found in lexicons of Proto-Polynesian and Proto-Oceanic. This practice can be seen as a "re-construction" of the marae complex based on linguistic and ethnological data. In this paper I review research that has been done on the Polynesian maraecomplex since the late 19 th century in order to identify how archaeologists have used words and semantics in their interpretations of this history. Comparing words and meanings of words as a source to gain a deeper understanding of past and present phenomena seems to have been a common practice in Pacific research. In the field of research on Polynesian ritual space, the use of words and reconstructed terms may be described under three headings: a relational approach, concerned with meanings of individual features; a conceptual approach, in which various structures are seen as representing individual concepts; and a lexical approach, which reconstructs the historical development of ritual structures based on interpretations of the semantics of Proto-morphemes. The paper ends with a discussion of these practices and the problems and prospects that they entail.
Book Reviews by Reidar Solsvik
Kon-Tiki Museet, 2019
Vi må ha en alvorlig prat om Thor Heyerdahl. Den norske vitenskapsmannen, formidleren og eventyre... more Vi må ha en alvorlig prat om Thor Heyerdahl. Den norske vitenskapsmannen, formidleren og eventyreren hadde en lite kjent teori, inspirert av Nazi-Tysklands store raseideolog Hans F.K. Günther, om en hvit herskerrase som kom fra Atlantis og spredte sivilisasjon til primitive mennesker. Alt dette ifølge boken Thor Heyerdahl og jakten på Atlantis, nylig utgitt på Humanist Forlag. Forfatteren er den 32 år gamle Per Ivar Hjeldsbakken Engevold, som har mottatt støtte fra Det faglitterære fond under arbeidet med boken. Allerede sommeren 2013, før han ble uteksaminert med mastergrad i historie ved Universitetet i Oslo, publiserte han bokens hovedargumenter i tidsskriftet Humanist. «Thor Heyerdahl og jakten på Atlantis går i dybden av Heyerdahls teoriverden og kaster nytt lys over en av Norges største helter», heter det i omslagsteksten. Og kildematerialet ser i første omgang imponerende ut, med hele 709 noter og 132 referanser. Det første en undrer seg over er imidlertid hvordan en bok kan kaste nytt lys over et gjennomforsket nasjonalikon som Thor Heyerdahl, når forfatteren ikke har konsultert verken Kon-Tiki Museets eller heyerdahlfamiliens arkiver. Engevolds hovedkilder består i stedet av biografiske skildringer, foruten Heyerdahls egne bøker. Det bærende argumentet i Thor Heyerdahl og jakten på Atlantis er at det i Heyerdahls teorier finnes «en gjennomgående rød tråd som binder sammen de mange ekspedisjonene og de arkeologiske utgravningene». Forfatteren hevder å ha funnet en «meta-teori», som Heyerdahl selv aldri lanserte i sin helhet. Det viser seg nemlig at den folkekjære eventyreren gjennom hele karrieren forfulgte en herskerrase av hvite kulturbringere, tilbedt som guder av primitive kulturmottakere. Odin og Kon-Tiki er fjerne slektninger i Heyerdahls teoriverden, hevder Engevold. De er representanter for det samme mystiske, hvite gudefolket, som brakte sivilisasjonens kunster fra førinkatidens Peru til Polynesia. Heyerdahl fant herskerrasens aner på andre siden av Atlanterhavet i form av lyse, rødblonde folkeferd som guancher, berbere, hetitter, fønikere, rediner og aser. Sporet førte ham helt tilbake til sivilisasjonens begynnelse, da de hvite lysluggene hadde seilt opp elvene i Nildalen, Mesopotamia og Indusdalen, og grunnlagt de første megalittiske høykulturene. Men hvor hadde dette folket kommet fra? Atlantis, skal vi tro forfatteren.
Kon-Tiki Museum, 2020
Heyerdahl critic Per Ivar H. Engevold claims in his 2019 book Thor Heyerdahl and the Search for A... more Heyerdahl critic Per Ivar H. Engevold claims in his 2019 book Thor Heyerdahl and the Search for Atlantis, that Heyerdahl was a pseudo-scientific hyper-diffusionist believing that all ancient civilizations were initiated by white-skinned people originating in Atlantis. As such, Engevold wishes to highlight a potential underlying racism in Heyerdahl’s migration theories. According to the author, the popular ocean journeys on the balsa raft Kon-Tiki and the three reed boats, Ra, Ra II and Tigris, were in reality intended only to reconstruct the migratory routes of a white master race. And as a result, claims Engevold, Heyerdahl believed that all civilizations could be attributed to these seafaring culture-bearers, and thus his theories robbed the indigenous peoples of the honor for the monuments constructed by their own ancestors. But are there any truth to these claims?
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Papers by Reidar Solsvik
Mata‘ire‘a Hill and in adjacent areas of the Maeva village. The island of Huahine is located in the Leeward Group of the Society Islands, approximately 160 km northwest of the island of Tahiti, and consists of two main volcanic islands: Huahine Nui and
Huahine Iti. The district of Maeva comprises the north/northeastern part of Huahine Nui that surrounds the sacred mountain Moua Tapu.In this article, we present a set of 14C dates from seven marae structures on Huahine.Except for one problematic date from marae Taputapuatea on Raiatea (cf. Wallin
1993:68, Fig. 56), these are the first reported 14C dates from any Leeward Islands marae. Of a total of 17 published 14C dates from excavations of marae structures in the Society Islands, all but one were analysed before 1970 (see Table 1). A set of dates from investigations in the Papenoo valley, Tahiti, by French, Hawaiian and New Zealand researchers in the late 1980s remains unpublished (Mark Eddowes pers. comm., October 2004).The set of 14C dates from seven marae represent our first assessment of marae construction and development in the Leeward Islands. We do not believe that ourpresent data is extensive enough to support any particular interpretations or models.These dates are also the first to be determined for marae structures in the SocietyIslands since Roger Green’s and José Garanger’s work on Mo‘orean and Tahitian
ceremonial structures in the 1960s and 1970s.
Book Reviews by Reidar Solsvik
Mata‘ire‘a Hill and in adjacent areas of the Maeva village. The island of Huahine is located in the Leeward Group of the Society Islands, approximately 160 km northwest of the island of Tahiti, and consists of two main volcanic islands: Huahine Nui and
Huahine Iti. The district of Maeva comprises the north/northeastern part of Huahine Nui that surrounds the sacred mountain Moua Tapu.In this article, we present a set of 14C dates from seven marae structures on Huahine.Except for one problematic date from marae Taputapuatea on Raiatea (cf. Wallin
1993:68, Fig. 56), these are the first reported 14C dates from any Leeward Islands marae. Of a total of 17 published 14C dates from excavations of marae structures in the Society Islands, all but one were analysed before 1970 (see Table 1). A set of dates from investigations in the Papenoo valley, Tahiti, by French, Hawaiian and New Zealand researchers in the late 1980s remains unpublished (Mark Eddowes pers. comm., October 2004).The set of 14C dates from seven marae represent our first assessment of marae construction and development in the Leeward Islands. We do not believe that ourpresent data is extensive enough to support any particular interpretations or models.These dates are also the first to be determined for marae structures in the SocietyIslands since Roger Green’s and José Garanger’s work on Mo‘orean and Tahitian
ceremonial structures in the 1960s and 1970s.