The Polynesians: Prehistory of an Island People.

• Author: Wolff, John U.

The Polynesians as a people have captured the public imagination since their earliest contacts with the West at the end of the eighteenth century. However, other than that they were supposed to have led a carefree and idyllic tropical existence, not much is known about these people and their history, and certainly nothing that corresponds to reality of their culture. In fact they developed a unique and complex culture (or rather cultures), and some of their extraordinary achievements are unparalleled in the history of mankind. Much of this civilization disappeared in the process of contact with the outside world, and it is one of the achievements of modern archaeology, anthropology, and linguistics that much of what is now lost to living memory has been pieced together before it has become irretrievably lost. Of course, not everything is lost. In many areas of Polynesia the languages and cultures are very much alive, and although much has changed, no doubt much remains under the surface to reflect the old prehistorical civilization and is in need of study and interpretation. This book is an admirable and very readable summary of the great mass of knowledge which can be deduced on the basis of archaeological, linguistic and literary data that have been preserved. Although much of these data are technical and complicated, the author here presents the results in a clear and engaging manner without simplifying, without skipping over abstruse matters, and without failing to present in every case the factual basis on which the conclusions rest. For readers who wish to learn what this extraordinary civilization achieved and how it developed, this book is a perfect introduction. One also can obtain a good idea of the life of these people, as much as can be ascertained. Far from being happy and carefree, life was fraught with hardship, marked by internecine warfare, and beset by calamities, including overpopulation and despoliation of the environment which caused whole populations to perish. The unique religion and the extraordinary monuments which were erected on some of the Polynesian islands were developed in order to deal with these unhappy conditions of life.

The author is an archaeologist and much of the book is devoted to the archaeological record, which is the most important source of our knowledge about the history of these people and their civilization. This record consists of stone structures, mostly of religious significance, and...