Lithics and/or stone tools found in ancient Tonga revealed the island’s prehistoric interaction with neighboring islands in the central Pacific. Researchers found that a large number of stone tools recovered and geochemically analyzed in Tonga were identified as having originated from Samoa, Fiji, Tahiti and the Society Islands.
So, what is the significance of finding imported lithics in Tonga?
Let’s look at the 2014 research titled “Stone Tools from the Ancient Tongan State Reveal Prehistoric Interaction Centers in the Central Pacific.”
The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was authored by Geoffrey R. Clark, Christian Reepmeyer, Jon Woodhead, Nivaleti Melekiola, William R. Dickinson and Helene Martinsson-Wallin.
The research indicated that many lithic artifacts recovered from excavation sites in Tonga were imported from other islands, suggesting frequent prehistoric long-distance voyaging.
To understand it better, let’s take a trip back to the prehistoric Pacific, around A.D. 1300.
Tonga consists of about 160 limestone and volcanic islands spread out over 748 square kilometers of land area. The Lapita people first settled in Tonga about 2,800 years ago.
Tonga developed a maritime state that covered a whole archipelago under one political system, which was not usual during those times.
The paramount Ui Tonga or Lord of Tonga ruled the ancient Tongan state and was administered by closely related chiefly families.
The first and oldest center of the Tongan state was in Heketa, the site of the first monumental stone architecture. Interaction with Fiji and Samoa was noted during the initial phase of state formation in A.D. 1200-1300.
Heketa was later abandoned, and the Tongan chiefdom was transferred to Lapaha around A.D. 1350-1400. Monumental structures were built in Lapaha, including 27 stone-faced royal tombs of the paramount Tui Tonga family.
Radiocarbon dating showed the first royal tomb was built in A.D. 1300-1400, and the last was built in A.D. 1760. According to the authors, the oldest tomb estimated to date back to A.D. 1350 has lithics from central Tonga and Samoa, and the tombs built around A.D. 1550-1650 have stone tools from Samoa.
They noted that the largest of the tombs contained more than 500 tons of quarried limestone and showed lithics from several sources, including central Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji.
In Tongan traditions, the biggest tomb is linked to the 29th Tui Tonga, which had close links to chiefly families in Fiji and Samoa. The exotic stone tools in this tomb suggests the movement or transfer of valuables with extensive family or political connections.
In addition to the tombs, other structures constructed in Lapaha included ditch systems, roads, earth burial mounds, bathing wells, sitting platforms, standing stones and a canoe harbor and wharf that highlighted the importance of maritime transport.
Tonga’s population during prehistoric times reached around 30,000 to 40,000 people. About half of the population lived in Tongatapo.
Also known as “Sacred Tonga,” Tongatapo is a limestone island where one can see all the volcanic rock artifacts such as adzes, grindstones, flakes, hammer stones and cooking stones.
The authors noted that the Tongan state center was the site of ceremonial events, such as funerals, marriages and the first fruit festivals called “Inasi,” which drew thousands of people from all over Tonga.
During the Inasi ceremony, the Tui Tonga mediated with the god Hikuleo to ensure a bountiful crop harvest. Visitors to the festival brought tribute goods and manufactured products, including stone adzes. Other gifts included yams, megapode eggs, pearly shells, mats, young sea birds, fish from a sacred lake, ironwood, arrowroot and fiber for attaching hooks to large trolling lures and making fish nets.
The authors analyzed 599 rock samples and 32 reference samples from other islands using different methods to determine prehistoric interaction. They noted that although the people were using the volcanic sources in Tonga to produce stone tools, about two-thirds of all adze flakes came from Samoa and Fiji.
Raquel Bagnol is a longtime journalist. She worked as a reporter for Marianas Variety on Saipan and Island Times in Palau. Send feedback to gukdako@yahoo.com
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