Bottom-Up Data on Sociopolitical Complexity in Ancient Samoa

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Supporting Practical Inquiry: The Past, Present, and Future Contributions of Thomas Dye" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Explanations of sociopolitical complexity are often linked to competition over the control of resources and changes in resource structure, including productivity, predictability, distribution, and other characteristics. These explanations also reference variables of human demography and the environment that may influence resource structure. In Samoa, with the exception of work on the small islands of Ofu and Olosega, speculation on social and political change, the rise of chiefdoms, has proceeded without these kinds of data. In the spirit of Tom Dye’s bottom-up approach to archaeological explanation, we examine one of the largest catchments in Samoa and summarize the most recent archaeological, environmental, and demographic data relevant to changes in social complexity. The earliest rock walls (boundaries or connecting paths) are monumental in size and contemporary with population increase inferred through analysis of modern DNA. Dating of additional features (small walls, terraces) and environmental variation indicates later changes to resource structure. We propose that changes in sociopolitical complexity in Samoa were kick-started by demographic variation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Supporting Practical Inquiry: The Past, Present, and Future Contributions of Thomas Dye   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35766.0