Style vs. Function in Polynesian Fish Hook Shank Variation

Summary

Polynesian i’a makau, or fishhooks, may stand in for ceramics for the purpose of generating culture-historical units, facilitating relative dating of the three Hawaiian assemblages under scrutiny (Allen 1996). Artifact assemblages at Waiahukini, Makalei, and Pu’u Ali’i contained over 1000 intact or partial fishhooks and fragments of shaped pig bone representing unfinished manufacture. Allen’s (2015) conceptual style-function model of hook attributes necessitates a focus on stylistic shank variation, which reflects manufacture choices rather than fishing efficiency of the object. To test whether these attributes are actually stylistic choices, we propose a tensile strength test of experimental artifacts. To negate biases conferred by heterogeneity in the material or in manufacturing skill, we generate three-dimensional recreations of shank variation observed in the site assemblages. These models are subjected to conditions they would experience during use, given the physical properties of modern pig bone. If differential performance of shank "style" is quantifiable, then aspects of shank variation must be considered functional attributes.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20766