A Commanding view of the Pacific: highland land use as viewed from Vainu'u, a multi-component site on Tutuila Island, American Samoa.

Abstract

We discuss recent findings from Vainu’u (AS-32-016), a multi-component highland site on Tutuila Island, American Samoa. Vainu’u is of interest for at least three reasons. First, as the earliest recorded highland site in the Samoan archipelago, this site changes our understanding of the Samoan cultural chronology. Second, as a ceramic-bearing site, material culture recovered from Vainu’u complements assemblages recovered from lowland and coastal sites. Third, the post-ceramic occupation observed at Vainu’u provides interesting insights into residential occupation during the Monument Building Period.