The temporal occurrence and possible uses of obsidian mata'a on Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile). Issue 2 (8th January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: STEVENSON, CHRISTOPHER M.; WILLIAMS, CAITLIN
• Is Part Of: Archaeology in Oceania. Volume 53:Issue 2(2018)
• Page Start: 92
• Page End: 102
• Publication Date: 2018-01-08
• Subjects: obsidian -- mata'a -- warfare -- hydration dating -- deforestation -- Rapa Nui -- obsidienne -- mata'a -- guerre -- datation d'hydratation -- déforestation -- Rapa Nui; Archaeology -- Islands of the Pacific -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- Australia -- Periodicals; Physical anthropology -- Islands of the Pacific -- Periodicals; Physical anthropology -- Australia -- Periodicals; Anthropology, Physical -- Southeast Asia -- Periodicals; Anthropology, Physical -- Australia -- Periodicals; Anthropology, Physical -- Pacific Islands -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- Southeast Asia -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- Australia -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- Pacific Islands -- Periodicals; 990
• DOI: 10.1002/arco.5145
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0728-4896

Abstract

ABSTRACT: One of the more visible tools in the Rapa Nui archaeological record is a large flake modified to form a broad blade and tang. Referred to as mata'a, these implements have conventionally been interpreted as "spear points", or weapons of war, which are proposed to have been made in large numbers during a period of internal conflict in the late seventeenth century. Obsidian hydration dating of 63 mata'a fragments from the southern coast of Rapa Nui indicates that their usage peaked in the sixteenth century, declined in frequency afterwards, and briefly spiked in the early AD 1700s. This non‐convergence with the period of warfare recorded in the oral history, and the decline in frequency of the tool within the lithic assemblage, argues for an alternative interpretation. The results of previous experimental archaeology focusing on tool breakage patterns and micro‐wear studies, coupled to island deforestation, suggests that the tool had a role to play in forest clearance.