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The rapid emergence of the archaic Tongan state: the royal tomb of Paepaeotelea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2016

Geoffrey Clark ,
Christian Reepmeyer  and
Nivaleti Melekiola
Geoffrey Clark*
Affiliation:
Archaeology and Natural History, School of Culture, History and Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
Christian Reepmeyer
Affiliation:
College of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
Nivaleti Melekiola
Affiliation:
Lapaha village, Hahake District, Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

New research indicates that the royal tomb Paepaeotelea was built c. AD 1300–1400, more than 200 years earlier than its traditional association with Uluakimata I, who ruled when the Tongan polity was at its greatest extent. The large and stylistically complex tomb marks a dramatic increase in the scale of mortuary structures. It represents a substantial mobilisation of labour by this early archaic state, while the geochemical signatures of stone tools associated with the tomb indicate long-distance voyaging. The evidence suggests that the early Tongan state was a powerful and geographically expansive entity, able to rapidly organise and command the resources of the scattered archipelago.

Keywords

South PacificTongatombstate formation
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 90 , Issue 352 , August 2016 , pp. 1038 - 1053
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2016 

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