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As previously stated there is, within the accumulated artifact collection, now growing evidence to suggest that the culture identified by Sinoto (1970) as "Archaic East Polynesian" or by Bellwood (1978) as "Early East Polynesian" is in all probability the same culture which is responsible for the majority of the Tubuai artifacts. There now remains the important task of establishing some sort of chronological framework relative to the presence of these artifacts. It may even be found that even earlier occupations ocurred, however the bulk of the evidence points to a culture which was equipped with grooved coffee bean shaped octopus lure sinkers (incipient in Samoa) Terebra-shell chisels (as opposed to Micronesian gouges of the same shell), Fusinus or Latirus-shell chisels and drills, branch coral files, Porites coral sanding blocks, sea urchin spine files, simple one piece rotating and jabbing hooks made of pearl-shell or turbo-shell, untanged quadrangular and triangular cross sectioned adzes, as well as many other diagnostically important artifacts. Within the early adzes from the Marquesas (where the earliest known Eastern Polynesian settlements have been dated to 1-200 B.C.) are found forms which were discontinued later on or replaced by other types and a chronological progression has been suggested by Suggs. A similar progression is evident in the highly diversified Tubuai adze collection, suggesting a long period of occupation. This fact as well as the appearence of many ancient forms in the Tubuai collection allows the possibility of the existence of an early settlement which may be more than 2000 years old. Test pit excavation may finally resolve this question. If such early occupations can be demonstrated through the use of radiocarbon dating a major revision of current archeological and ethnological theories will be necessary. It would appear as though Archeology in Polynesia has been largely diverted into the problem of Lapita Origins, while many important issues in the settlement of Eastern Polynesia remain unresolved, ignored or shelved. Archeologists now seem content to discover that Western Polynesia was apparently discovered and quickly settled about 3500 or more years ago and seem undisturbed by the fact that the many islands now broadly known as the homeland of the Society Island culture have a known historical depth of only about 1500 years. Certain Researchers have suggested that even the early dates derived from the Marquesan radiocarbon determinations do not reflect accurately the true time depth of Eastern Polynesian settlement. Kirch (1987) stated "the possibility that the Marquesas were colonized as early as the mid-first millennium B.C. deserves a serious hearing."
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