Reinvestigating a key site for<scp>P</scp>olynesian prehistory: new results from the<scp>H</scp>ane dune site,<scp>U</scp>a<scp>H</scp>uka (<scp>M</scp>arquesas)

Abstract

Abstract Since the first excavations by S inoto and K ellum in 1964–1965, the Hane dune site, situated on U a H uka, M arquesas Islands, has been considered as a key site in central E astern P olynesia and, as such, has been utilised in different colonisation models. However, some problems remained, particularly due to the lack of full publication of the original excavation results, and it appeared that these issues could only be resolved with new investigations. In 2009, the authors opened an 18 m 2 excavation that produced a controlled stratigraphy of ten layers. This paper presents the first results, focusing on the stratigraphy and new dates obtained, indicating a sequence of nearly six centuries, from early human settlement around the mid‐tenth century until the abandonment of the dune around the mid‐sixteenth century.