The ScMo-350 site, Haumi, Moʻorea (Society Islands): Preliminary analysis of coastal occupation spanning the colonization phase to classic phase

Abstract

In the Society Islands, multi-phase coastal sites with successive occupations spanning several centuries have been difficult to find and have been poorly studied, resulting in a vague understanding of this archipelago's founding cultural complex and its adaptations to specific island environments through time. Discovery and excavation of ScMo-350, a well-stratified coastal site in Haumi, Moʻorea, Society Islands, provides robust sample sizes for understanding the timing and function of early Māʻohi coastal settlements and their constellation of use through time. My discussion of the site focuses on four topics: methodological issues for identifying early colonization sites in Central Eastern Polynesia; site stratigraphy and dating; the timing of island colonization on Moʻorea and its comparison to the Faʻahia site on Huahine; and preliminary analysis of ScMo-350 sub-surface features and artifacts to understand site function and its change through time. Bayesian analysis of short-lived samples from ScMo-350's earliest deposits and those from the Faʻahia site are described in an effort to refine our understanding of the Society Islands’ Colonization Phase.