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Transformations: history and prehistory in Hawaii
Author(s) -
Gosden Chris
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
archaeology in oceania
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1834-4453
pISSN - 0728-4896
DOI - 10.1002/j.1834-4453.1996.tb00359.x
Subject(s) - prehistory , meaning (existential) , history , archaeology , period (music) , action (physics) , prehistoric archaeology , anthropology , sociology , epistemology , aesthetics , art , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics
This article explores the relationship between archaeological evidence and writings on anthropological history in Hawaii. The work of Sahlins has caused a renewed interest in history and this has focused on structures of meaning and how these can be put at risk through unforeseen events. Meaning is not often accessible to the prehistorian, but through considering patterns of practice as they unfold over long periods of time we can look at the landscapes within which meanings were generated. A brief consideration of the some aspects of the archaeology of Hawaii aims to show how patterns of practice were increasingly formalised and channelled, laying the basis for social divisions and their symbolic systems which are seen from the early historic period. By combining evidence from archaeology and history it is possible to consider how thought and action are mutually influential, as well as look at the differing timescales on which these two elements of human life operate.