A Radiocarbon sequence for Samoan prehistory and the Pulemelei Mound

Abstract

We examine radiocarbon dates from Samoan archaeological sites using the fourfold division of Samoan prehistory established by Green (2002). The context of dating samples was assessed to recognize potentially "reliable" determinations in the Samoan [sup.14]C corpus. Radiocarbon dates associated with earth and stone structures were identified to one of four phases of construction/use to develop a chronology for the emergence and use of domestic and monumental architecture. The 17 radiocarbon determinations from the Pulemelei mound site were used to generate a local prehistoric sequence for the Letolo area. In general the results parallel the prehistoric sequence for Samoa, but the chronology of the Pulemelei mound demonstrates that monumental architecture in West Polynesia can have a complicated developmental history spanning several centuries.