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An Archaeological Survey of the Manu'a Islands, American Samoa

1988; Polynesian Society; Volume: 97; Linguagem: Inglês

2230-5955

Terry L. Hunt, Patrick Vinton Kirch,

Asian American and Pacific Histories

As a legacy of colonial history, the Samoan archipelago is politically divided into the independent state of Western Samoa (Samoa i Sisifo), comprising the large islands of 'Upolu and Savai'i along with Apolima and Manono, and American Samoa, comprising Tutuila, 'Aunu'u, the Manu'a Group, and the diminutive outliers of Rose and Swains Islands. Extensive archaeological work in Western Samoa, beginning during the co-ordinated, multi-institutional Polynesian Culture History Pro gramme of the 1960s, produced the outline of a three-millennium-long prehistory beginning with Early Eastern Lapita pottery and continuing through to the development of uniquely Samoan cultural traits (Green and Davidson 1969, 1974; Jennings et al. 1976; Jennings and Holmer 1980; Davidson 1979). In striking contrast, the archaeology of American Samoa is poorly known, and it has remained impossible to outline a local cultural sequence, yet there is no reason to expect that the archaeological resources of American Samoa are any less abundant or significant than those of Western Samoa, or that the eastern islands have been occupied for a shorter period. The problem is simply that of a scarcity of archaeo logical exploration and study. The first modern archaeological survey in American Samoa was car ried out by Kikuchi (MS 1963,1964) on Tutuila and 'Aunu'u in 1961-2. Kikuchi provided an overview of the main types of surface sites, but was neither intensive nor systematic in his coverage. In 1962, Kikuchi and Sinoto extended the survey to Manu'a, and conducted minor test ex cavations on Ta'? and Tutuila (Emory and Sinoto 1965). Until recently, the only other major field project in American Samoa was that of Frost (MS 1978), who conducted minor excavations at seven sites on Tutuila. Several limited cultural resource surveys were carried out under contract to the National Park Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Ladd MS 1970; Kikuchi, Silva, and Palama MS 1975; Silva and Paiama MS 1975; McCoy MS 1977). In 1980, Clark compiled a summary of all recorded archaeological sites for the American Samoan Historic Preser