Archaeology of Atafu, Tokelau: Some initial results from 2008

Surface survey, shovel testing, and stratigraphic excavations were done on Atafu Atoll in Tokelau during August 2008. Initial results suggest that Fale Islet has the most potential for further archaeological research. Dense cultural deposits on this islet are >1 m (39 in.) deep. Cultural material recovered includes food bone, fire-affected volcanic rock, tool-grade basalt flakes and tool fragments, Tridacna shell adzes, and pearl-shell fishhook fragments. Dog bone occurs from the earliest deposits through to the late prehistoric, while pig bone is found only in historic contexts. Fish bone is common throughout, and, with the exception of Tridacna, there are few edible mollusk remains. Initial EDXRF (Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence) analyses have found the basalt to be consistent with documented sources on Tutuila, Samoa. Basal radiocarbon dates from two excavation units are 660-540 cal. BP and 500-310 cal. BP (at 2σ). TOKELAU AND PREVIOUS ARCHAEOLOGY Tokelau is a group of three atolls, Fakaofo, Nukunonu, and Atafu, located ~500-600 km (311-373 mi.) north of Samoa in the equatorial Pacific. Global climate change and rising sea level will have a disproportionate effect on these atolls because of their tiny landmass (~10 km [3.9 mi.], most of which is < 2 m (6.6 ft.) above sea level. The current human population is ~1,400 persons, and this is probably near the prehistoric maximum (Huntsman & Hooper 1996). Like other atolls, Tokelau has a severely limited resource base — a situation that necessitated the development of strong cultural mechanisms for resource management and resiliency. The sole prior archaeological project in Tokelau aimed to establish the presence of archaeological deposits on each atoll, obtain initial estimates of their age, and a general idea of their contents (Best 1988:104). Best excavated at the modern village location on each atoll. He found deposits at each containing: well-preserved faunal material (McAlister 2002); bone, shell and stone tools; in situ features; and exogenous material such as ceramics and basalt. Best’s (1988) radiocarbon dates on the lowest cultural strata are in the ~1,100-600 cal. BP range (as re-calibrated by Addison & Kalolo 2009), a critical time for understanding the settlement of East Polynesia and the Polynesian outliers as well as understanding the interaction network that distributed Samoan basalt over a large portion of the Southwest Pacific (Addison, in prep.). Although long seen as marginal to the main processes in Polynesia, the northern atoll arc (Tuvalu, Tokelau, Phoenix Islands, Line Islands, and Northern Cook Islands) may have played a critical role in post-Lapita Polynesian dispersals and subsequent interactions (Addison 2007). Typical early East Polynesian artefacts are found in the Line, Phoenix, and Northern Cook Islands (Anderson, et al. 2002; Anderson, et al. 2000; Bellwood 1978; Chikamori, et al. 991; Pearthree & Di Piazza 2003), while West Polynesian basalt tools are found in Tokelau, the Phoenix, and Northern Cook Islands (Best, et al.1992; Di Piazza & Pearthree 2001).