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Joel Klenck, Final Report for the West Manu’a Archaeological Survey, Island of Ofu, American Samoa

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Abstract

Archaeologist Joel Klenck authors an archaeological survey for prehistoric and historic properties covering approximately 60.12 acres (24.32 hectares) was conducted above the current village of Ofu, on the western coast of Ofu Island, Manu’a Archipelago, for the American Samoa Historic Preservation Office, in compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (“NHPA”), as amended. The project resulted in the identification and recordation of seven (7) historic sites, AS-13-050 to AS-13-056, comprising two hundred and seven (207) historic features, 661 lithic tools or pieces of debitage, 9 coral tools, 32 bones of a domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus), 4 molluscs representing three species, and 1 metal casing from a bullet. These features, particularly the slope terraces, were occupied during pre-contact periods and afterwards. The survey featured both pedestrian research and ground penetrating radar allowing a surficial and stratigraphic analyses of each locale.
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Book
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The book is particularly aimed at students of Samoan culture, botanists and lay people who want to know the names and uses of plants in Samoa. Samoans have a rich heritage of using native and other traditional plants found in the islands to fulfill their everyday needs. The archipelago is home to nearly 800 native vascular plants, and the ancient Samoans also brought another 50 or so plant species with them for use as food, shelter, clothing, and other necessities of life. In recent times, however, much of the traditional plant lore has been lost as Samoa has undergone profound changes related to the introduction of western ways and material goods. A whole generation has grown up without much of this traditional knowledge that their parents and grandparents had, and the information is slowly being lost. Plants in Samoan Culture: the Ethnobotany of Samoa is about this traditional plant lore, and is based upon the botanical literature of the last 150 years and the author's 30 years of work in Samoa. The book, which is richly illustrated with about 150 black and white photos, includes all the current and traditional use of plants in Samoan culture. The book is divided into chapters on food (staples and minor plants), plaiting of weaving materials, cordage, tapa cloth, wood products (for houses, boats, and artifacts), medicine, ornamentation, and other uses. It also features a listing of all Samoan plant names, with their scientific names, habitat, status, and uses. Also included is an appendix with other plant names that have not been substantiated.
Technical Report
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The archaeological analysis of the Fagamalo site was conducted to keep the Fagali’i-Maloata-Fagamalo (“FMF”) Waterline Projects, for the American Samoa Power Authority (“ASPA”), in compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (“NHPA”), as amended. The Act requires all federally funded projects to record and mitigate damage to historic sites, usually greater than fifty (50) years of age. The ASPA Engineer Service Division’s (“ESD”) Archaeology Department also ensures that construction crews follow the American Samoa Coastal Management Act of 1990 (“ASCMA”) and adhere to the provisions of the Samoan Project Notification and Review System (“PNRS”), which further protects historic sites. To fulfill the requirements of the NHPA, ASPA archaeologists completed Phase I, II, and III mitigation activities at Fagamalo, a town near the western coastline of Tutuila Island in American Samoa. These methodologies comprised the clearance of vegetation, pedestrian surveys, the mitigation of shovel-test pits, and excavation of square-meter excavation units. Archaeologists retrieved an array of artifacts including Polynesian plainware ceramic sherds, adzes, adze pre-forms, volcanic glass, lunate-shaped lithic artifacts, debitage, lithic chisel, fire-cracked rocks, clays annealing to basaltic cinders, and clays of various colors. The use of ceramics at Fagamalo indicates ceramic utilization was more widespread than previously recorded in archaeological literature, suggests the possibility of ceramic manufacturing at the sites, and encourages additional archaeological surveys in the west of Tutuila Island.
Technical Report
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Archaeologist Joel Klenck authors an archaeological identification project for prehistoric and historic properties covering approximately 70 acres was conducted on Breakers Point for the American Samoa Historic Preservation Office, in compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (“NHPA”), as amended. The project resulted in the identification and recordation of two sites: World War II defensive fortification complex (AS-23-64) and a precontact site (AS-23-65) that comprised 77 features and more sub-features (loci) and artifacts. There are 62 World War II features belonging to AS-23-64 and 23 precontact features ascribed to AS-23-65. A nomination for the U.S. National Register of Historic Places will be submitted for sites AS-23-64 and AS-23-65.
Article
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The archaeology of Sāmoa has been structured around the investigation of settlement patterns and systems since the 1960s, and such investigations have been variously used to explore questions of temporal change relating to, among other things, political structure and subsistence. This same intellectual structure is applied here to the evaluation of variation between the geographically close islands of Ofu and Olosega, extending previous approaches by considering population estimates. These analyses, which include a calculation of carrying capacity and population estimates based on settlement patterns, suggest that Olosega supported a higher population density than Ofu, perhaps because of investments in tree cropping on the former. Variation in settlement distribution, subsistence strategies and population density has important implications for population resiliency and vulnerability in small-island societies.
Article
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This communication presents results from LiDAR-guided field research in 2017 which revealed the existence of continuous indigenous population zones stretching from the coast to three or more kilometres inland across the district of Palauli East, Savai‘i. The findings amplify archaeological evidence of a small number of inland settlements (recorded in the 1970s and earlier) on the main islands of ‘Upolu and Savai‘i as well as recent studies of the small islands of the Manu‘a group and Manono. They build the case that in centuries prior to the 19th century inland settlement was far more extensive and villages were not, as had been widely assumed, mainly located on the coast. The findings also support contentions that Sāmoa May have had a much larger population in previous centuries than that indicated by missionary estimates of the mid-19th century.
Article
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The small island of Manono, positioned between ‘Upolu and Savai‘i in the Sāmoan Archipelago, is known in oral traditions of West Polynesia as having had an important political role during the immediate pre-Christian period. An archaeological programme carried out between 2012 and 2015 has mainly concentrated on the mapping of parts of the Northern half of the island, around Salua Village. This has allowed us to study in detail a portion of the slope as well as the central plateau of Manono, known to preserve a star mound first mapped in the 1960s during the large-scale programme organised under the direction of R.C. Green and J.M. Davidson. Our mapping of the 9ha fortified ridge has identified another 13 star mounds of different shapes and types, representing the largest concentration of this specifically Sāmoan layout known to date in this part of the archipelago. These are associated with another two structures of distinctively Tongan typology, referred to as sia heu lupe. Initially we present the general settlement pattern of the Northern part of Manono Island. This is followed by a review of the main characteristics of the 14 mapped star mounds and data on their chronology. The diversity of size, height and number of arms is addressed, showing significant differences in work expenditure between individual platforms. This variability is best illustrated by the identification of three star mounds that lack central fill and are only recognised as wild pigeon-snaring structures by the presence of raised branches/arms. Finally, the Manono settlement pattern data are positioned in relation to the larger study of the pre-Christian history of Sāmoa.
Article
Aerial LiDAR data offers a valuable tool in locating ancient anthropogenic landscapes around the world. This technology is particularly ideal in places where thick vegetation obscures the ground surface, reducing the utility of satellite imagery. On the islands of American Samoa, many interior anthropogenic landscapes remain unsurveyed, largely because the terrain makes it difficult and there is only general knowledge of where the anthropogenic modification May have existed. Aerial LiDAR flown in 2012 is proving to be a valuable tool in locating these prehistoric anthropogenic areas, yet improvements can be made on the methodology. This paper provides an unsupervised classification method to identify anthropogenic landscapes based on slope and hypsometric index: a topographic measure of roughness. Areas of American Samoa with known anthropogenic modifications were used to develop the classification techniques, which were then extended to areas where anthropogenic landscapes are undocumented and unexplored. The findings presented here suggest that interior anthropogenic patterns May be strongly dependent on island topography.