Ancestral Polynesian plain ware production and technological style: a view from Aganoa, Tutuila Island, American Samoa

Abstract

Combining temper analysis of Polynesian Plain Ware with the concept of technological style, I argue that at least two separate pottery production groups are reflected in the ceramic assemblage of Aganoa, an ancestral Polynesian village on Tutuila Island, American Sämoa. These production groups appear to have been consistent over time and probably reflect long term divisions in ancestral Polynesian social organization. Identification of such groups provide greater insight into production organization, allowing Sämoan archaeologists to begin to ask questions about how the organization of pottery production articulated with other aspects of ancestral Polynesian society, including exchange, production of other material culture, and political organization.