"Of Calendars and Kings: Gods, Temples and the Piciales and the Development of Archaii States in Hawaii"

 

Seminar by Professor Clive Ruggles, University of Leicester

 

Report By Claire Hyland

The lecture given by Professor Clive Ruggles from the University of Leicester was on the topics of astroarchaeology in the prehistoric societies of Hawaii and Polynesia, the evolution of the Hawaiian Archaii states and how the stars and the natural Hawaiian landscape have influenced the orientation of various temples throughout Hawaii and Polynesia. Professor Ruggles has spent the last ten years studying the ancient temples strewn throughout Hawaii and attempting to decipher their enigmatic relationship to the southern constellations. In addition to his main thesis on the Heiau (religious temples) of Hawaii, professor Ruggles explained the history and archaeology of the astronomy within the Hawaiian society and why the stars played such a prominent role within the beliefs of the Hawaiian people.

Professor Ruggles began his lecture by detailing the evolution of Polynesia as a society and culture. All the islands spoke different dialects of the same language and the Polynesians began inhabiting the peninsula around the 2^nd millennium BC. From 1000 AD further colonisation and exploration occurred until the arrival of Captain Cook in the 1700s. The discovery of new islands by the ancient Polynesians may have been by fortuitous accident as they sailed the ocean in wooden canoes and navigated uncertain waters by the stars, waves and by keeping the shore within the line of sight. These voyages were replicated in 1967 with the maiden voyage of Hokule’a ship. The islands of Hawaii and Polynesia boasted as wildlife pigs, fowl and feral dogs and grew as their natural fauna breadfruit, taro, coconut and banana.

Next, Professor Ruggles discussed the five different islands of Hawaii (Kau’i, O’ahu, Moloka’i, Mani and Hawaii) and their initial discovery and settlement by the native Hawaiians. Around 1000AD, the islands are discovered and colonised. In 1200-1400AD, the fertile and accessible agricultural wetlands are cultivated and in 1400-1600AD the distant and less bountiful agricultural dry-lands are brought under human dominion as rising populations force more people to move to previously inhabited areas. At the 1600AD mark, the development of the Hawaiian kingdoms began in earnest. These were archaic and hereditary with no towns or urban bases (Crops in Hawaii could not be stored or preserved; lessoning the need for towns).

In the ethno-history and oral history of the Hawaiian kingdoms genealogy was of the utmost importance to the ruling classes. It heightened their status, showed them to be worthy kings and separated them from the common folk. Early Hawaiian Authors such as John Papa l’i and David Malo stress the massive significance and influence of genealogy within the Hawaiian elite class. The Kumulipo was a highly detailed and revered star chart describing the ancestry of the ancient Hawaiian kings, their importance to the universe and why they deserved to be rulers.

The astroarchaeology of Hawaii and Polynesia concerns the astronomy, navigation and the influence of stars upon the material culture of each respective society. In navigation, the positions of stars at night can help with traversing the wide open sea and in learning the locations of islands. The rising and setting of stars can be learned off in order to use them as a sort of star compass. The coming of the missionaries to Hawaii in the 18^th and 19^th centuries resulted in the planets and many stars receiving new names albeit in the Hawaiian language. Lubika is Jupitar, Wenuka is Venus, Hipa-kane is the constellation Aries and Kr’aha is Ursa Major. In the Na i Noa Hoka, a catalogue for Hawaii star names, it shows the original Hawaiian names for the stars along with the ones the missionaries bestowed upon them at a later date. There are two editions of this book; one printed in 1975 and 2015. It also gives a star/genealogy chart tracing which kings and other elite classes are descended from which stars. 

In astronomy, the heliacal rise sees the stars rising at dawn around May/June. At the Acronychal rise the stars, after the earth’s rotation away from the sun, start to rise at sunset in November and in Hawaii these are noted for marking the New Year. In Hawaii, the Makaliki festival is held to celebrate the New Year and the god of agriculture, Lono. On the Island of Tongo, there is a coral tritithon called Ha’amonga a Maui which was built around 1200AD and has a solar alignment. After reading ‘Stonehenge Decoded’ and realising that he had a similar monument within his kingdom, the King of Tonga started a ritual ceremony at the monument in 1967. Also on the island are several solar calendar markers; most are located on the east side and are natural places for observation. The lava columns at Kumukahi are known as the “sun pillars”.

In Hawaii itself the landscape is dotted with the ruins of temples and ancient shrines. The orientations for these structures are in a variety of directions and seem to correlate with whatever god is being worshipped. Ancient Hawaiian temples are called Heiau and are often made from stone, have a square shape along with an inside altar and contain varied offerings such as coral or beach worn pebbles. The ideal heiau has opposing female/male sides orientated along a south/north basis. Many of the Hawaiian heiau are located in Kahikinui Kaupo; overgrown agricultural dry lands divided into ten land sections (ahupaa’a) and have been surveyed by UC Berkeley. There are over 60 recorded and preserved heiau and the majority date to circa 1600AD. These temples usually have the altar opposite the entrance and their orientation is influenced by whatever god is being worshipped. Kane, as the god of the (east) rising sun, has temples with an east orientation. Kanaloa, god of death and the sea, has temples facing towards the ocean. Ku, god of war and the north, has north facing temples while Lono, god of fertility and agriculture, has southerly temples.

On Hawaii, there is an archaeological monument in Kahiki Nu-e known as Panana which points to the south. It is a single wall with a notch in the centre. 20m long and 1m wide, the wall is unconnected to any other monument.  In Hawaiian, Pa means wall and nana means sight. Panana is also the modern Hawaiian word for compass. Is this a memorial wall? Was this a connection to the days of voyaging and navigating by the light of the stars? We know that this monument was built around 1200AD, the time when the big voyages came to an end. It most likely commemorates the end of an era in Hawaii and is a symbol of nostalgia for a more adventurous sea-faring age.

"Discovering the Northern Picts: Survey and Excavation in Northern Scotland"

Seminar by Dr Gordon Noble, University of Aberdeen


Report by Laura Cawley


This seminar focused on fortifying rulership in Northern Britain, in relation to the Picts. The period in question was the transition of the Iron Age to the Early Medieval period. This seminar was informed by Dr. Gordon Noble’s research in the Northern Picts Project. The focus of this project is Eastern and Northern Scotland and the Picts people, with a particular focus on Early Medieval Scotland (circa 400-900 AD).
At this time in Scotland there was a great diversity of people. The Picts were distinguished by their carved stones and metalwork. Areas researched as part of the project include forts, burial practices, environment, and symbol stones, as well as possible domestic settlements. Cé is one of the areas included in the project.

The origins of the Picts have been a source of confusion for historians and archaeologists in the past. At this time the origins of new forms of social hierarchy and authority were widespread. As a result of this complexity, the project uses interdisciplinary means to aid in its research, and material culture is utilised to define new relations of power.
The anthropogenic and archaeological signatures of kingship have left their mark on Scotland. Increased ritual power and the sacred role of the leader were shown through the power they exerted on nature. This led to sacred and exclusive objects and distinctive burials and monuments.
Irish written evidence has been used to enhance the project. These documents provide evidence of kings as leaders in war, justice and religion. They were involved in clientship which was materialised through military service, hospitality and annual labour, for example constructing ramparts. Kingship was also seen as part of the world order, and making things run as they should.
The historical sources used in this project include Ptolemy’s Geography, which uses 1st century AD information, and mentions many tribes. The Picts are mentioned from the 3rd century AD as a source of trouble for the Romans. This sudden mention of the Picts could be as a result of the consolidation of tribes to counteract the threat of the Romans. The mention of fewer tribes in later Roman sources could support this theory. Other sources include the kinglists of the 8th century AD, which note Pictish over-kingship by the 7th century AD. Later sources emphasise royal centres in the South.
The archaeological record is now being used to trace the origins and development of the Picts. This record includes symbol stones, fortified sites, and cemeteries. The writing system identified on the symbol stones is believed to mark out powerful individuals. Metalworking symbols on the stones are seen to be symbols of power. The Late Bronze Age and Iron Age hillforts which reemerge in the Post-Roman period were central to the kingship of these powerful individuals, according to the sources.

The origin of these symbol stones is generally taken to be the Late Roman period- 8th/9th centuries AD, but there is no real consensus. They originate in Northern Pictland. These stones have been dated relative to Christian monuments.
The symbol stones and fortified sites form the main sources for the project. One of the sites studied is Dunnicaer, which is a fortified site with carved stone monuments. Its promontory fort dates to the Pictish period. One of the structures there, Beannachar House, has Pictish stones in its association. These stones were found in 1832 by village youths but not studied until much later. The dates of the site are early- 3rd/4th century AD. Roman sources say that the Picts were sea raiders, which may mean that this site’s coastal location was a natural choice.
Rhynie is another fortified site studied for the project. The name means a place associated with a great king. It was a high status fortified site dating to the 5th/6th century AD, and was contemporary with the stones found there. This famous group of Pictish stones are more polished and elaborate than those found at Dunnicaer. They are an earlier type, as there is no Christian symbolism on them as on other stones. Symbols on these stones include fish, the Pictish beast, and the famous Rhynie Man. This was an important find as human representation in Pictish stones is rare. One of these stones was also left in its original location, which is rare with such stones. This provides a rare study opportunity. Ditches and a palisade were found nearby.
Imports were found at the site, including a Late Roman amphora from the Mediterranean and dating to the 6th century AD. These are rare in this area; they are found in South-West England at high status sites. Only two other sites in Scotland boast such a find, and both have royal associations. Glass from Western France which formed a beaker for wine was also found, and this is also a rare find in Eastern Scotland. High status metalworks such as bronze pins, brooch moulds, and exceptional iron tongs, which are also represented on the stones, were also found at the site.
The site has been dated from 450-550 AD, and is seen as a landscape of power. This was an Iron Age fort which was reused in the Early Medieval period. A high status cemetery and square barrows dating from 450-550 AD were also found. A stone socket for a standing stone was discovered at the entranceway of the fort, near Rhynie Man, with a deliberate deposit of a cattle jaw bone placed at the bottom.

This is a secular site but there are cult and ceremonial associations. Axe carrier symbols were found which have animal heads and elaborate teeth, similar to Rhynie Man, and could be interpreted as shamanic figures. There were similar axes to those represented found at the burial of Sutton Hoo, and Lagore crannóg in Meath. These were royal sites which also had animal remains, which were sacrificial at the burial and mostly cattle in huge quantities at Lagore. This shows how kings may have been implicated in the religious practices of their people.
Burghead was also studied, and is the largest Pictish fort. It is a promontory fort with monumental walls and depictions of bulls which may relate to animal sacrifice. Early Christian sculpture has been found, as the site was used to almost 1000 AD, when Christianity was spreading. Little excavation has been done, and the site was damaged with the building of a town on top of it. Test excavation revealed intact Early Medieval deposits and a cattle bone midden. Radiocarbon dates of the rampart place it in the 5th/6th century AD, the post hole to the 6th century AD, and the midden to the 9th/10th century AD.

Almost all of the forts studied date to the 5th century AD, showing them to be Post-Roman phenomena. Some sites, such as Rhynie, became disused during the 6th century, while the larger forts, such as Burghead, continued to be used for longer periods. This may mirror the rise of the overking in the sources; less centres of power as power becomes more centralised to certain areas.
In conclusion, warfare was materialised through enclosures which were important to the Northern identity in the 3rd/4th century, but this may have been geographically restricted. There may also have been use of sacred and restricted script to denote emerging elites in the same period. Bands of clientship allowed forts to be built in the late Roman and Iron Age periods, but these were consolidated from the 5th century AD and in a Post-Roman context. In the 5th/6th century an element of the divine and sacred was introduced in relation to rulership.

If you would like more information on this project, it can be found through the Tarbat Discovery Centre’s website, and the Northern Picts Facebook group.

“Dublin – Dead Centre of the Viking West?”

Second Seminar by Dr Stephen Harrison from University of Glasgow, given on 1st October 2015

Report by Catríona Baldwin

Was Medieval Dublin the conscience core of the Viking world? This was the question posed to us by Dr. Stephen Harrison on Thursday evening. Following the highly anticipated publication of his project “The Viking Graves Project”, after some fifteen years in the working, Dr. Harrison held the attention of a teeming crowd as he passionately spoke about his project. While informing us of the details of the project, Dr. Harrison also accentuated the variety of hidden issues and problems with the collection and scrutinizing of the materials available for use. Although problems with the antiquarian tradition of recording and preservation data was not unique to Ireland, the Royal Irish Academy’s methods of the documentation of Viking Graves left a lot to be desired. Records of the Viking Grave objects were not only limited but were frequently contradictory, with references being mixed up or not registered at all. For example, a sword unearthed in College Green was given four separate registration numbers. In order to overcome these issues, acquisition groups, based on location and dates, were established and in time were further filtered down to distinguish artefacts from each other within these assemblages. By doing this, it was then applicable to work out the minimum amount of Viking Graves in Ireland, an objective that had never been achievable prior to the project.
The outcome of these acquisition groups was astonishing. From 63 acquisition groups, collectively composed of 401 artefacts, it was arbitrated that there are 107 Viking burials in Ireland. Furthermore, it was also determined that of these 107 burials, three quarters of all furnished Viking graves and four fifths of all Irish Viking grave goods are from Dublin and even more curiously over half of all Irish furnished Viking graves are linked to Kilmainham – Islandbridge. In addition to this, the project enabled the ability to effectively map out the burial complexes in order to further analyse any distinctive patterns. This led to the questioning as to whether or not Dublin was in fact the centre of the Viking Western world.

Fig 1: Viking Burial Sites at Dublin. © National Museum of Ireland. 

In order to answer this question, Dr. Harrison examined the diversity and distributional patterns of Viking burials between Ireland and the insular British Isles. He uncovered that 21% of all Insular Viking graves and 29% of all Viking grave goods found throughout Ireland and Britain, are found in Dublin. This arises the question as to whether or not this is simply caused by a statistical blip and other Viking complexes around Ireland have yet to be located. Dr. Harrison made the compelling argument that due to the scale and extent of these Irish Viking burial complexes that this interpretation simply isn’t plausible and that location of Viking burials is deliberately concentrated in Dublin. In conjunction with this, Dr. Harrison, drawing upon the work of Neil Price, also acknowledged the unconventionally and uniqueness of Irish Viking graves and the rituals that appear to accompany these graves. Not only did Kilmainham-Islandbridge produce the largest number of balances in either Britain or Ireland, but was one of the prime locations where weapons were consciously destroyed beyond any repair.  Predominately in the central zone (Kilmainham-Islandbridge) were weapons deliberately bent, damaged or cremated as part of a carefully controlled ritual. This is perceived to be interconnected with the ideology that weapons, and in particular swords, are symbols of male dominance and power with Viking burials often being furnished with more weapons than one individuals could comfortably carry.
In addition to this, the distinction of Irish Viking weapons from that of the rest of the Viking world further exhibits the uniqueness of Irish Viking Burials. Not only were Irish Viking swords more elaborately decorated than their continental counterparts but other weapons, such as Dublin type Spearheads are found nowhere else in the Viking world. Smaller in size than traditional Scandinavian spearheads, the Dublin Type with its decorated rimmed sockets, was used primarily for throwing rather than for stabbing. Similarly Dublin type shield bosses were equally exclusive to Ireland. Found closely clustered, the shield bosses are believed to have originated from a single workshop, signifying localised metal production in Ireland.

Although male Viking graves are not stereotypical of traditional male Viking burials, female graves do not express this level of local identity and in fact are routinely identical to their eastern equivalent. This has led rise to a number of questions. Were female Viking graves more conservative than male graves, again tying in with this question of male dominance and power, or were the female graves trying to preserve a Scandinavian identity which was otherwise being rapidly assimilated into Irish society?
The question as to if Dublin really was the dead centre of the Viking west still remains a topic for debate. However as Dr. Harrison points out that regardless of the direction in which you approach Dublin you will undoubtfully pass a Viking burial complex. Not only are these complexes mapping out Viking Dublin but are also gallant expressions of a formidable community. We wish Dr. Harrison all the best with his book and further projects and once again thank him for coming and delivering a fascinating talk.

Trowel Call for Papers

Trowel volume XVI will be launched later this year. The editors of the paper are currently looking for contributors for this volume. Trowel is an archaeological journal from the School of Archaeology, University College Dublin. It is a great opportunity for undergraduates, postgraduates and early career researchers to begin their publishing career and share their work. As well as sources from UCD, input from other sources is especially welcomed to represent different perspectives across the field of archaeology. Those from a scientific, historical, anthropological or classical background are encouraged to contribute. 

Interested parties should submit an abstract no longer than 300 words by 21st June 2015 to trowelucd@gmail,com. Published articles will be no longer than 3000 words.

More information on Trowel and past volumes can be found at http://trowelucd.weebly.com/.

UCD Archaeological Society Inaugural lecture & Launch of Trowel XV

The Society is honoured to welcome Prof Chris Scarre for its Inaugural Lecture this year. 

The lecture is entitled: "Missing Persons? formal Disposal and Funerary Practices in Prehistoric Britain"and will start at 6pm on Thursday 20th November in the Fitzgerald Debating Chamber in the UCD Student centre. 

It will be followed by a wine reception during which Trowel XV will be launched.

All welcome!