A Precise Chronology for Polynesian Monumental Architecture via Th-230 Coral Dating

通过 Th-230 珊瑚测年得出波利尼西亚纪念性建筑的精确年表

• 批准号: 0542222
• 负责人: Warren Sharp
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Berkeley Geochronology Center
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-08-01 至 2009-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0542222&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Precise; Chronology; Polynesian; Monumental; Architecture

Throughout both the Old and New Worlds, the development of monumental architecture, such as religious temples and shrines, provides one of the clearest archaeological signals of the emergence of complex, stratified societies from simpler societies organized primarily around kinship. In particular, complex chiefdoms and the early archaic states that emerged from them typically exercised power through a control hierarchy linked to religious ritual and temples. Precise and accurate dating of such ceremonial architecture can therefore provide unprecedented insight into the pace of economic, social, and political developments in ancient societies that lacked calendars and written records. Conventional approaches to dating such monumental architecture constructed in Polynesia prior to European contact have relied principally on the use of oral traditions and radiocarbon dating, supplemented by considerations of architectural style and construction methods. However, the accuracy of uncorroborated oral traditions is uncertain, the precision of radiocarbon dates within key intervals can be severely degraded by the inherent difficulty encountered in converting radiocarbon dates to calendar years, and considerations of construction style and technique do not reveal the tempo of related social changes. In Eastern Polynesia, however, a widespread and ancient association between coral and ritual sites and structures makes it possible to precisely and accurately date a variety of ceremonial architecture using superior radio-isotopic dating techniques applicable to coral offerings. Prof. Patrick Kirch and Dr. Warren Sharp, the principal investigators on this project, have recently shown that a species of branch coral placed by ancient Hawaiians as dedicatory offerings on coastal fishing shrines and inland agricultural temples may be dated with precisions of circa + or - 10 years by using a technique based on the radioactive decay of minute amounts of the element uranium incorporated into coral skeletons during their growth. Preservation of delicate surface structures on archaeological corals selected for dating confirms that ancient Hawaiians collected living corals. Thus the coral dates, which record growth of the coral skeleton, closely correspond to placement of corals on altars or in temple walls. Accordingly, Kirch and Sharp propose a comprehensive program of coral dating applied to monumental ritual structures in two Eastern Polynesian societies, Hawai'i and the Society Islands, where ritual architecture was closely associated with the emergence of sociopolitical complexity. Kirch has extensive experience in both areas and our proposed dating study will build on well-established archaeological contexts based on extensive mapping, site studies and radiocarbon dating developed during previous and ongoing studies by himself, additional collaborators T. Ladefoged (U. of Auckland), L. Holm and J. Kahn (doctoral candidates, U.C. Berkeley), and others.Broader impacts of the proposed research will include developing the application to archaeology of the powerful uranium-decay coral dating technique, with its potentially widespread application to archaeological studies in Polynesia and elsewhere that ancient humans used live corals. The proposed research will also enhance the training of two U.C. Berkeley doctoral candidates in archaeology, and provide "hands-on" laboratory research experience for a U.C. Berkeley undergraduate student. The Society Islands component of the project will be coordinated with l'Universite de Polynesie Francaise, and will enhance recent academic collaborations between that institution and U. S. archaeologist

在整个旧世界和新世界中，宗教寺庙和神社等纪念性建筑的发展提供了最清晰的考古信号之一，表明复杂的分层社会从主要围绕亲属关系组织的简单社会出现。特别是，复杂的酋长管辖地以及由此产生的早期古老国家通常通过与宗教仪式和寺庙相关的控制等级制度来行使权力。因此，对此类仪式建筑的精确年代测定可以为我们提供前所未有的洞察力，让我们了解缺乏日历和文字记录的古代社会的经济、社会和政治发展速度。对欧洲接触之前在波利尼西亚建造的这种纪念性建筑进行年代测定的传统方法主要依赖于口头传统和放射性碳年代测定，并辅以对建筑风格和施工方法的考虑。然而，未经证实的口头传统的准确性是不确定的，关键间隔内的放射性碳测年精度可能会因将放射性碳测年转换为历年所遇到的固有困难而严重降低，并且对构建风格和技术的考虑并不能揭示相关的节奏社会变化。然而，在波利尼西亚东部，珊瑚与仪式场所和结构之间存在着广泛而古老的联系，使得使用适用于珊瑚祭品的高级放射性同位素测年技术来精确和准确地测定各种仪式建筑的年代成为可能。该项目的主要研究员帕特里克·基尔希教授和沃伦·夏普博士最近表明，古代夏威夷人将一种分支珊瑚作为沿海捕鱼圣地和内陆农业寺庙的供奉品，其年代精确度可能约为+或- 10年，采用基于珊瑚生长过程中融入珊瑚骨骼中的微量铀元素的放射性衰变的技术。为测年而选择的考古珊瑚上精致的表面结构的保存证实了古代夏威夷人收集了活珊瑚。因此，记录珊瑚骨架生长的珊瑚日期与祭坛或寺庙墙壁上珊瑚的放置密切相关。因此，基尔希和夏普提出了一项全面的珊瑚测年计划，应用于夏威夷和社会群岛这两个东波利尼西亚社会的纪念性仪式结构，其中仪式建筑与社会政治复杂性的出现密切相关。基尔希在这两个领域都拥有丰富的经验，我们提出的年代测定研究将建立在完善的考古背景之上，该背景是基于他本人以及其他合作者 T. Ladefoged（奥克兰大学）之前和正在进行的研究中开发的广泛测绘、现场研究和放射性碳测年。 、L. Holm 和 J. Kahn（博士研究生，加州大学伯克利分校）等人。拟议研究的更广泛影响将包括开发强大的铀衰变珊瑚测年技术在考古学中的应用技术，其可能广泛应用于波利尼西亚和其他古代人类使用活珊瑚的考古研究。拟议的研究还将加强两名加州大学教授的培训。伯克利考古学博士生，并为加州大学伯克利分校提供“实践”实验室研究经验。伯克利分校本科生。该项目的社会群岛部分将与法国波利尼西大学协调，并将加强该机构与美国考古学家最近的学术合作