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

• Autores: Geoffrey Clark, Christian Reepmeyer, Nivaleti Melekiola
• Localización: Antiquity, ISSN 0003-598X, Vol. 90, Nº 352, 2016, págs. 1038-1053
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • 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.