If we allow the possibility of such early settlement and we permit an even earlier date for exploration, then the Lapita Culture as it may have existed in some remote outpost of Western Polynesia now seems the most likely source of the initial early Eastern settlements. Voyaging from West to East as far as the Marquesas and returning means the inevitable discovery of the Society Islands and I would not be surprised if both groups of Islands were discovered and occupied before 500 B.C. (Suggs 1961, page 176, also suggests that the Society group was settled probably about the same time as the Marquesas). Oddly this important issue seems now to have a low priority in relation to Lapita Research, however when all the pots are finally counted it may be found that the huge wealth of archeological data gleaned from the earliest Lapita cultures yields little that will resolve the issue of the emergence of the Archaic Eastern Polynesian Culture. A culture so differentiated from that of Western Polynesia that no known direct source area has yet been discovered.
Certainly this is an Archeological problem, a problem which may eventually be resolved given extensive sampling. It may be that the evidence has been largely destroyed, and that proof will not come from the existing methodology but rather from another discipline such as Comparative Implementology. A breakthrough in one of any number of related sciences could see the development of absolute dating of one or a number of artifacts, hydration-rind dating being a notable 'recent' example. I would like to suggest here as I have elsewhere that stone artifacts, may ultimately yield much information, given a thorough scientific analysis. The fact that stone is one of the few durable materials which can be undeniably identified as being modified by man greatly increases its archeological value. Its chemical composition and molecular integrity must yield specific parameters as to rates of decomposition and surface degradation. These parameters when correlated to the environmental variables will yield precise information. that may be chronologically structured. The rate of surface degradation in the form of a patinated layer, should be measurable, even though highly variable. At the very least stone samples from a single site, where the material and environmental factors remain relatively constant, such as adze workshops, should demonstrate a chronologically precise progression of patination. Once a number of specific rates of patination have been established for the various environmental conditions, such as acid soils, sand (alkaline) soils, neutral soils, and or prolonged surface exposure, a chronological framework may be constructed. A number of such studies would soon show the average rates of patination for a wide variety of rocks in a wide range of environments. Such information, would be very valuable to the Archeologist engaged in preliminary exploration where the establishment of early sites is of paramount importance, a few well patinated flake tools (which are often much easier to find than any other artifact) could at the least offer a generalized time scale.
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