Abstract:
The Ulu Tree site is located on the island of Tutuila, American Samoa. It is situated on the Tafuna Plain,
a broad flat plain of fresh basaltic tuffs and lavas on the southwest side of the island that are of Holocene
age (Stearns 1944). The Ulu Tree site is among a growing number of pottery-bearing sites that have
been salvaged due to ongoing construction activities by the American Samoa Power Authority (ASPA).
Pottery-bearing sites are particularly significant in Samoa for three reasons: 1) The presence of pottery is
considered a characteristic feature of "Ancestral Polynesian Society," the purported ancestors of eastern
Polynesians; 2) There is heated controversy over whether ceramic production ceased ca. 1600 BP, or
whether it continued into the later prehistoric period; and, 3) ceramics lend themselves to analyses that
can answer key questions about prehistoric economies - something about which little is known in Samoa
for the period of 3300 to 1600 BP. Items 1 and 2 above are particularly controversial, and continued
investigation of well-stratified early Samoan sites is much needed. Because ceramics are central to these
key issues in Samoan archaeological studies, it is imperative that every collection of ceramics be fully
documented and reported, and thereby available for scholars, who might then approach a more
comprehensive understanding of these vital issues. It is with this spirit in mind that we make this report of
the Ulu Tree ceramics available.
