Technological and social aspects of the use of obsidian in the ancient and traditional cultures of the Pacific (the case of stemmed obsidian tools (mata’a) on Easter Island)

Authors

  • ANDREY V. TABAREV Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Novosibirsk, Russia)
  • EKATERINA A. EREMEEVA Far Eastern Federal University (Vladivostok, Russia) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0460-1108

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24866/1997-2857/2023-2/5-14

Keywords:

Pacific archeology, obsidian, stemmed tools, mata’a, island isolation, Easter Island

Abstract

The article provides a technological analysis of obsidian stemmed tools (mata’a), known from ethnographic collections and archaeological research on Easter Island (Polynesia). The authors examine the models of cultural transfer of lithic technology under island isolation, as well as the social aspect of the use of volcanic glass in the context of gift-giving economy, ritual and decorative art of the ancient and traditional cultures of the Pacific basin.

Author Biographies

  • ANDREY V. TABAREV, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Novosibirsk, Russia)

    Doctor of Historical Sciences, Head of the Sector of Foreign Archeology.

  • EKATERINA A. EREMEEVA, Far Eastern Federal University (Vladivostok, Russia)

    Master's student, Department of History and Archeology, School of Arts and Humanities.

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Published

28-06-2023

Issue

No. 2 (2023): Humanitarian research in the Eastern Siberia and the Far East

Section

ARCHAEOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY IN CIRCUM-PAСIFIC

How to Cite

Technological and social aspects of the use of obsidian in the ancient and traditional cultures of the Pacific (the case of stemmed obsidian tools (mata’a) on Easter Island). (2023). Humanitarian Research in the Eastern Siberia and the Far East, 2, 5-14. https://doi.org/10.24866/1997-2857/2023-2/5-14