Terry L Hunt
Biographic Data
| ID | 113318 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Terry L Hunt |
| GIVEN NAMES | Terry L |
| FAMILY NAME | Hunt |
| SIGNATURE | HUNT T L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Arizona |
| ORCID | 0009-0008-6257-8533 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 44 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 419 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 38 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 6 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1987 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Can Palm Logs Float? Evaluating the Physical Viability of Raft Transport for Rapa Nui Moai
Recent suggestions that palm log rafts may have transported moai statues on Rapa Nui require evaluation of whether fresh palm wood can provide sufficient buoyancy for multi‐ton cargo. This analysis integrates experimental flotation tests, structural analyses of palm stem anatomy, and buoyancy calculations using modern palm analogs to reconstruct the extinct Rapa Nui palm. Fresh palm logs sink when placed in water because of their internal structu…
Reassessing the role of Polynesian rats (Rattus exulans) in Rapa Nui (Easter Island) deforestation
The walking moai hypothesis
The premise and potential of model-based approaches to island archaeology
In a recent paper published in The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology , John Terrell (2020) objected to the proposition that islands can offer model systems to study human behavior and ecodynamics (see Cherry and Leppard 2018; DiNapoli and Leppard 2018; DiNapoli et al. 2018; Fitzpatrick and Erlandson 2018; Kirch 2007; McLaughlin, Stoddart, and Malone 2018; Pilaar Birch 2018). He argues that a review of insular model systems in the study of…
Revisiting warfare, monument destruction, and the ‘Huri Moai’ phase in Rapa Nui (Easter Island) culture history
Warfare is widely accepted as a transformative factor in human history. However, as warfare is not inevitable in human groups, archaeologists must critically assess the empirical evidence for war and its importance in the past. Here, we reevaluate the culture history of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), often interpreted as a case of warfare resulting in social upheaval. Common accounts hold that, prior to European contact, clan groups eventually ceased …
A model-based approach to the tempo of “collapse”
Buena gobernanza de los bienes comunes de Rapa Nui
La sustentabilidad de las comunidades en Rapa Nui (Isla de Pascua, Chile) requiere de una buena gobernanza de los recursos compartidos y comunes. Las estructuras de gobierno deben equilibrar los intereses individuales con las necesidades comunes de la comunidad, ya sea en la gestin de tierras comunales necesarias para el cultivo, el agua subterrnea, las piedras para herramientas, los caladeros, el patrimonio cultural o el turismo. Gran parte de l…
The ethnohistory of freshwater use on Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile)
Sources of drinking water on islands often present critical constraints to human habitation. On Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile), there is remarkably little surface fresh water due to the nature of the island’s volcanic geology. While several lakes exist in volcanic craters, most rainwater quickly passes into the subsurface and emerges at coastal springs. Nevertheless, the island sustained a relatively large human population for hundreds of years,…
The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Oceania
The prehistory of Oceania begins with the occupation of New Guinea over 50,000 years ago, up to the settlement of Aotearoa/New Zealand in the last 700 years. The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Oceania presents this history in regional overviews and debates through 21 chapters by leading archaeologists and scholars of allied fields. Chapters present the latest findings and future research directions on the New Guinea region and archipelagos from V…
East Polynesian Islands as Models of Cultural Divergence
The diverse island societies of East Polynesia are well-suited as models for comparative evolutionary analysis. Settled ca. 750 BP by a common ancestral population, colonists of the remote corners of the Pacific shared a pool of cultural traits that included commensal species, language, technology, and other cultural practices. Following colonization however, island populations diverged in language, subsistence practices, degree of territoriality…
The colossal hats (pukao) of monumental statues on Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile)
Fishhook variability and cultural transmission in East Polynesia
The colonisation of East Polynesia unfolded as a rapid dispersal by culturally related groups on a massive geographical scale. In settling distant oceanic islands, populations developed new technology in response to local environments, but also shared selectively neutral aspects of artefact design. Building on the work of Sinoto and Allen, we examine proximal endpoint line‐attachment‐devices (LADs) in fishhook assemblages from East Polynesia to a…
Using Structure from Motion Mapping to Record and Analyze Details of the Colossal Hats ( Pukao ) of Monumental Statues on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Structure from motion (SfM) mapping is a photogrammetric technique that offers a cost-effective means of creating three-dimensional (3-D) visual representations from overlapping digital photographs. The technique is now used more frequently to document the archaeological record. We demonstrate the utility of SfM by studying red scoria bodies known as pukao from Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile). We created 3-D images of 50 pukao that once adorned t…
Diet of the prehistoric population of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) shows environmental adaptation and resilience
OBJECTIVES: The Rapa Nui "ecocide" narrative questions whether the prehistoric population caused an avoidable ecological disaster through rapid deforestation and over-exploitation of natural resources. The objective of this study was to characterize prehistoric human diets to shed light on human adaptability and land use in an island environment with limited resources. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Materials for this study included human, faunal, and bo…
Understanding variability in the hinterlands
Recent archaeological excavations in Miloli‘i Valley, Kaua‘i are discussed to provide data from an isolated and marginal hinterland, far removed from the island's political centres. We develop a chronological sequence of site construction and use and discuss the nature of pre‐contact Hawaiian settlement and subsistence. We also outline elements of human–environment interactions from the settlement period to the protohistoric era, and provide tent…
Weapons of war? Rapa Nui mata'a morphometric analyses
New Guinea
New Guinea, inhabited for approximately 50,000 years, has been the focus of far less archaeological research compared to Australia and Polynesia, to the south and east, respectively. However, the archaeology of this island is significant to perennial archaeological topics including the development of agriculture and social complexity, the explanation and effects of human interaction, the archaeological relevance of paleoenvironmental research, an…
The "Austronesian" Dispersal in Island Southeast Asia
The dispersal of Austronesian-speaking farmer-voyagers from Taiwan into Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) and out into the Pacific is one of the great metanarratives of global history. In this chapter, the major lines of multidisciplinary evidence for the "Austronesian" dispersal into ISEA are critically evaluated. Several key points emerge: usage of the term "Austronesian" should be restricted to languages and not be applied to genetic attributes or …
The ‘walking’ megalithic statues (moai) of Easter Island
High-precision radiocarbon dating shows recent and rapid initial human colonization of East Polynesia
The 15 archipelagos of East Polynesia, including New Zealand, Hawaii, and Rapa Nui, were the last habitable places on earth colonized by prehistoric humans. The timing and pattern of this colonization event has been poorly resolved, with chronologies varying by >1000 y, precluding understanding of cultural change and ecological impacts on these pristine ecosystems. In a meta-analysis of 1,434 radiocarbon dates from the region, reliable short-live…
The 13th century polynesian colonization of Hawai’i Island
A Public Database of Archaeological Resources on Easter Island (Rapa Nui) Using Google Earth
The archaeological record of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) has long captivated the public and archaeologists alike. The monumental statues (moai) are the most famous of the archaeological features of the island. Other aspects of the record, however, include platforms (ahu), statue (moai), transport roads, and a wide range of architectural features. Although large portions of the island have been surveyed as part of government-funded projects to docume…
Stylistic variability of stemmed obsidian tools (mata’a), frequency seriation, and the scale of social interaction on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
A.D. 1680 and Rapa Nui Prehistory
A.D. 1680 remains a central date in the prehistory of Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The date was first proposed as the year of an epic battle calculated from the number of generations recounted in the oral traditions. Later this estimate was linked to a radiocarbon date from the Poike Ditch. While the emphasis of the date has shifted in the literature from being the timing of a war between prehistoric groups, it is now taken to represent a prehistori…
Inventing ‘Easter Island’
New Guinea
New Guinea, inhabited for approximately 50,000 years, has been the focus of far less archaeological research compared to Australia and Polynesia, to the south and east, respectively. However, the archaeology of this island is significant to perennial archaeological topics including the development of agriculture and social complexity, the explanation and effects of human interaction, the archaeological relevance of paleoenvironmental research, an…
Human Diversity and the Myth of the Primitive Isolate
The Pacific has been thought of as a region in which isolated societies are related to one another more by descent from the same ancestral traditions than by continuing social, political, and economic interaction. The apparent marginality of island societies has led scholars to assume that language, biology, and culture have coevolved in this part of the world in such an orderly fashion that language can be used to circumscribe populations and re…
Historical Ecology in the Pacific Islands
Rethinking Easter Island's ecological catastrophe
Archaeology of the Lapita Cultural Complex
A radiocarbon chronology for Sāmoan prehistory
Ancient DNA of the Pacific rat (Rattus exulans) from Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Is there an early Far Western Lapita province? Sample size effects and new evidence from Eloaua Island
Mapping prehistoric statue roads on Easter Island
High resolution satellite photographs offer a new picture of the tracks along which the Easter Island giant statues were hauled from the central quarry to the exhibition sites. The survey traced 32 km of seven major roads, confirmed by features on the ground, where their current condition gives reasons for concern. The authors suggest that the radial pattern implies social division into small groups
A model-based approach to the tempo of “collapse”
Stylistic variability of stemmed obsidian tools (mata’a), frequency seriation, and the scale of social interaction on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
The ‘walking’ megalithic statues (moai) of Easter Island
The premise and potential of model-based approaches to island archaeology
In a recent paper published in The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology , John Terrell (2020) objected to the proposition that islands can offer model systems to study human behavior and ecodynamics (see Cherry and Leppard 2018; DiNapoli and Leppard 2018; DiNapoli et al. 2018; Fitzpatrick and Erlandson 2018; Kirch 2007; McLaughlin, Stoddart, and Malone 2018; Pilaar Birch 2018). He argues that a review of insular model systems in the study of…
Evidence for a Shorter Chronology on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Archaeologists have long accepted a colonization date of between AD 400 and 800 for Rapa Nui based on few radiocarbon dates, lake-core results, and assumptions from historical linguistics. A new suite of radiocarbon dates from stratigraphic excavations at Anakena and "chronometric hygiene" analysis of earlier radiocarbon determinations reveals little reliable evidence for a longer chronology. In this paper we present additional lines of evidence …
Introduction
Elemental Composition and Inference of Ceramic Vessel Function
Using Structure from Motion Mapping to Record and Analyze Details of the Colossal Hats ( Pukao ) of Monumental Statues on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Structure from motion (SfM) mapping is a photogrammetric technique that offers a cost-effective means of creating three-dimensional (3-D) visual representations from overlapping digital photographs. The technique is now used more frequently to document the archaeological record. We demonstrate the utility of SfM by studying red scoria bodies known as pukao from Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile). We created 3-D images of 50 pukao that once adorned t…
A Public Database of Archaeological Resources on Easter Island (Rapa Nui) Using Google Earth
The archaeological record of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) has long captivated the public and archaeologists alike. The monumental statues (moai) are the most famous of the archaeological features of the island. Other aspects of the record, however, include platforms (ahu), statue (moai), transport roads, and a wide range of architectural features. Although large portions of the island have been surveyed as part of government-funded projects to docume…
A.D. 1680 and Rapa Nui Prehistory
A.D. 1680 remains a central date in the prehistory of Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The date was first proposed as the year of an epic battle calculated from the number of generations recounted in the oral traditions. Later this estimate was linked to a radiocarbon date from the Poike Ditch. While the emphasis of the date has shifted in the literature from being the timing of a war between prehistoric groups, it is now taken to represent a prehistori…
Weapons of war? Rapa Nui mata'a morphometric analyses
Diet of the prehistoric population of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) shows environmental adaptation and resilience
OBJECTIVES: The Rapa Nui "ecocide" narrative questions whether the prehistoric population caused an avoidable ecological disaster through rapid deforestation and over-exploitation of natural resources. The objective of this study was to characterize prehistoric human diets to shed light on human adaptability and land use in an island environment with limited resources. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Materials for this study included human, faunal, and bo…
Understanding variability in the hinterlands
Recent archaeological excavations in Miloli‘i Valley, Kaua‘i are discussed to provide data from an isolated and marginal hinterland, far removed from the island's political centres. We develop a chronological sequence of site construction and use and discuss the nature of pre‐contact Hawaiian settlement and subsistence. We also outline elements of human–environment interactions from the settlement period to the protohistoric era, and provide tent…
The ethnohistory of freshwater use on Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile)
Sources of drinking water on islands often present critical constraints to human habitation. On Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile), there is remarkably little surface fresh water due to the nature of the island’s volcanic geology. While several lakes exist in volcanic craters, most rainwater quickly passes into the subsurface and emerges at coastal springs. Nevertheless, the island sustained a relatively large human population for hundreds of years,…
The "Austronesian" Dispersal in Island Southeast Asia
The dispersal of Austronesian-speaking farmer-voyagers from Taiwan into Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) and out into the Pacific is one of the great metanarratives of global history. In this chapter, the major lines of multidisciplinary evidence for the "Austronesian" dispersal into ISEA are critically evaluated. Several key points emerge: usage of the term "Austronesian" should be restricted to languages and not be applied to genetic attributes or …
Is there an early Far Western Lapita province? Sample size effects and new evidence from Eloaua Island
An Ancestral Polynesian occupation site at To'aga, Ofu Island, American Samoa
Excavations in a deeply stratified coastal site at To'aga, Ofu Island, in the Manu'a group of American Samoa, yielded evidence of human occupation spanning the entire Samoan cultural sequence. The earliest deposits, dated to 3700–3300 BP, may represent a Lapita Period occupation, although the present sample is very limited. An Ancestral Polynesian phase, dated from 2500–1900 BP, is well attested, with abundant Polynesian Plainware ceramics, simpl…
Archaeology of the Lapita Cultural Complex
Reply to Best
Elemental Composition and Inference of Ceramic Vessel Function
Historical Ecology in the Pacific Islands
Historical Ecology in the Pacific Islands
Human Diversity and the Myth of the Primitive Isolate
The Pacific has been thought of as a region in which isolated societies are related to one another more by descent from the same ancestral traditions than by continuing social, political, and economic interaction. The apparent marginality of island societies has led scholars to assume that language, biology, and culture have coevolved in this part of the world in such an orderly fashion that language can be used to circumscribe populations and re…
Introduction
Historical Ecology in the Pacific Islands
The Pacific Ocean islands have long been considered a natural laboratory where the evolution of human cultures can be studied in the context of thousands of island ecosystems. This text presents research in the ecological history of the Pacific Islands. Focusing on the environmental impact wrought by the Oceanic populations before the advent of Western contact, it challenges earlier views that the islands underwent dramatic environmental change o…
Posing Questions for a Scientific Archaeology
Focuses on the interplay between theory, methods, and the generation of data from the archaeological record in pursuit of scientific explanations for historical change.
Mapping prehistoric statue roads on Easter Island
High resolution satellite photographs offer a new picture of the tracks along which the Easter Island giant statues were hauled from the central quarry to the exhibition sites. The survey traced 32 km of seven major roads, confirmed by features on the ground, where their current condition gives reasons for concern. The authors suggest that the radial pattern implies social division into small groups
Late Colonization of Easter Island
Easter Island (Rapa Nui) provides a model of human-induced environmental degradation. A reliable chronology is central to understanding the cultural, ecological, and demographic processes involved. Radiocarbon dates for the earliest stratigraphic layers at Anakena, Easter Island, and analysis of previous radiocarbon dates imply that the island was colonized late, about 1200 A.D. Substantial ecological impacts and major cultural investments in mon…
Rethinking Easter Island's ecological catastrophe
Ancient DNA of the Pacific rat (Rattus exulans) from Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Radiocarbon and DNA evidence for a pre-Columbian introduction of Polynesian chickens to Chile
Two issues long debated among Pacific and American prehistorians are ( i ) whether there was a pre-Columbian introduction of chicken ( Gallus gallus ) to the Americas and ( ii ) whether Polynesian contact with South America might be identified archaeologically, through the recovery of remains of unquestionable Polynesian origin. We present a radiocarbon date and an ancient DNA sequence from a single chicken bone recovered from the archaeological …
The Role of Culture and the Future of the Evaluation Function
The author draws connections across the three articles in this thematic segment and poses a series of questions on the future of the evaluation function. He concludes that an enduring role for evaluation within Canadian public administration requires the adoption of a culture change agenda within the evaluation community and, by extension, within the organizations in which we work. Central to such a change agenda is sustained movement toward incr…
Evidence for a Shorter Chronology on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Archaeologists have long accepted a colonization date of between AD 400 and 800 for Rapa Nui based on few radiocarbon dates, lake-core results, and assumptions from historical linguistics. A new suite of radiocarbon dates from stratigraphic excavations at Anakena and "chronometric hygiene" analysis of earlier radiocarbon determinations reveals little reliable evidence for a longer chronology. In this paper we present additional lines of evidence …
A radiocarbon chronology for Sāmoan prehistory
A.D. 1680 and Rapa Nui Prehistory
A.D. 1680 remains a central date in the prehistory of Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The date was first proposed as the year of an epic battle calculated from the number of generations recounted in the oral traditions. Later this estimate was linked to a radiocarbon date from the Poike Ditch. While the emphasis of the date has shifted in the literature from being the timing of a war between prehistoric groups, it is now taken to represent a prehistori…
Stylistic variability of stemmed obsidian tools (mata’a), frequency seriation, and the scale of social interaction on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
High-precision radiocarbon dating shows recent and rapid initial human colonization of East Polynesia
The 15 archipelagos of East Polynesia, including New Zealand, Hawaii, and Rapa Nui, were the last habitable places on earth colonized by prehistoric humans. The timing and pattern of this colonization event has been poorly resolved, with chronologies varying by >1000 y, precluding understanding of cultural change and ecological impacts on these pristine ecosystems. In a meta-analysis of 1,434 radiocarbon dates from the region, reliable short-live…
The 13th century polynesian colonization of Hawai’i Island
A Public Database of Archaeological Resources on Easter Island (Rapa Nui) Using Google Earth
The archaeological record of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) has long captivated the public and archaeologists alike. The monumental statues (moai) are the most famous of the archaeological features of the island. Other aspects of the record, however, include platforms (ahu), statue (moai), transport roads, and a wide range of architectural features. Although large portions of the island have been surveyed as part of government-funded projects to docume…
The ‘walking’ megalithic statues (moai) of Easter Island
Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies (38 works) · Archaeology (31 works) · Geography (27 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (24 works) · History (23 works) · History (16 works) · Biology (13 works) · Isotope Analysis in Ecology (12 works) · Art (10 works) · Prehistory (10 works)