Phenotypes of Pacific Peoples Polynesian Phenotype Two Basic Categories of Biological Variation/Data: 1. Discontinuous: genetic data 2. Continuous: somatic or morphological 1 Continuous Variables Anthropometric characters: e.g., features of head and body shape, stature, head length, shoulder width, etc. Anthroposcopic characters: nonmeasurable features-- e.g, skin color, hair form etc. 2 Polynesian Phenotype Historical Record Anthropometry of living (e.g., Howells 1970) Skeletal record (prehistoric) E.g., studies of skulls, Lapita skeletons etc. 3 1
Early Explorers "clear skinned, gracefully and robustly built, quite naked and tattooed in patterns of blue, with long loose hair...they had much cause to praise their Creator..."(from: Mendana). They are of the larger size of Europeans, all excellently made, and some handsome both men and women, the only bad feature they have is their noses which are in general flat, but to balance this their teeth are almost without exception even and white to perfection, and the eyes of the women especially are full of expression and fire (Beaglehole 1963:334). 4 "Noble Savage"."I never saw men better made, and whose limbs were more proportionate: in order to paint Hercules or a Mars, one could nowhere find such beautiful models" (Bougainville 1772:249). 5 More Explorers the Natives of this Country are a strong raw boned well made Active people rather above than under the common size especially the men [Capt. Cook] These islanders are generally of tall stature, well proportioned...some, who appeared to be the tallest among them, and whom we measured, were allover six feet in height [(attributed to Lieutenant Roux of Marion du Fresne s Ship] 6 2
Hawaiians &Samoans to be 'rather above the middle stature, well formed, with fine muscular limbs, open countenances...the chiefs in particular are tall and stout... [Wm. Ellis], Samoan men were a remarkably fine looking set of people, and among them were several above six feet high, with Herculean proportions [Erskine] 7 Darwin (1901) civilized and semicivilised nations sexual selection has effected something in modifying the bodily frame of some of the members. Cook remarks that the superiority in personal appearance "which is observable in the erees [ariki] or nobles in all the other islands (of the Pacific) is found in the Sandwich Islands" 8 Ellis (quoted by Oliver 1974) the chiefs, and persons of hereditary rank and influence in the islands, are, almost without exception, as much superior to the peasantry or common people, in stateliness, dignified deportment and physical strength, as they are in rank and circumstances Their limbs are generally well formed, and the whole figure proportioned to their height; which renders the difference between the rulers and their subjects so striking, that some have supposed they were a distinct race 9 3
Polynesian Phenotype 'Polynesians are generally tall, with males averaging between 169 and 173 centimeters. Skin color is lighter than that of most Melanesians, and there is a much higher incidence of brachycephaly and straight and wavy hair. Features which indicate affinity with Mongoloid populations include scarcity of body hair, and the fairly high frequencies of shovel-shaped incisors and the epicanthic eyefold' [Bellwood 1978:31] 'Polynesians are (or were) large in size: relatively tall, large boned, and tending to corpulence.' [WW Howells] 10 Skeletal Evidence a large and robust phenotype was present in Tonga by 770 BP. [Pietrusewsky, 1969] 11 [Houghton (1980:67-68) 'from island groups as distant in space and in time as Tonga, Samoa, the Marquesas, Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand, the physical pattern... is pervading: tall robust people with long bodies, short legs, bowing of the limb bones and a number of distinguishing features to these bones.' 12 4
Polynesian Skull Shape Cranial vault angular and pentagonal Flattened temples Projecting zygomatic bones Flat-sided face vertical in profile Cheek bones at right angles to the facial surface 13 Polynesian Head Form High vault Head Shaping 14 Polynesian Body Proportions 5' 7.5 (171 cm) Trunk length > leg length 15 5
20 th Century Pacific Science Congress, Honolulu, 1920 Bayard Dominick Expeditions: "the determination of the physical characters and of the racial affinities of the Polynesians" (Sullivan 1921:3). "Polynesia is astonishingly uniform... (Shapiro & Buck 1936:33-34). 16 Howells anthropometric grouping analysis Howells (1970) (principal components or factor analysis) anthropometric data from Oceania (except Indonesia) collected between 1900-1968. 151 populations (male samples), 7 variables: stature, head length, breadth, face width and height, nose height and nose breadth. Australian - with no significant internal differentiation. Micro-Polynesian - with Polynesian homogeneity - developed in isolation from a more varied and general Micronesian matrix. (Poly. not influencing Micronesia) Melanesia - much varied - but distinct from Australia with considerable effects on parts of Micronesia (west and center) and reverse contributions from Micronesia in parts of New Guinea and the Solomons. 17 Discussion Topics 1. Can a Polynesian phenotype be discerned. How would you characterize this phenotype? 2. What does this phenotype say about the origin of Polynesians? 3. What are the major kinds of data used by biological anthropologists to study the physical characteristics of Pacific people? 18 6