Sources of sand tempers in prehistoric Tongan pottery

The sources of volcanic temper sands in prehistoric pottery found on low-lying raised-coral islands of Tonga have long been uncertain. The paucity of noncalcareous sand on most inhabited Tongan islands has led to the suggestion that temper was imported from the active magmatic are to the west, or even that most pottery was imported to Tonga from Fiji. The simple mineralogy of the tempers, which are composed almost exclusively of pyroxene and plagioclase mineral grains, volcanic rock fragments, and opaque ferro-magnesian oxide grains, is compatible with derivation from Tongan volcanics, but island volcanoes of Tonga lack deposits of rounded and well-sorted sands that are similar texturally to the tempers. Discovery of local placer deposits composed of volcanic sand on beaches otherwise composed of calcareous reef detritus within the Ha'apai Group of central Tonga provides a satisfactory local source for temper on the shorelines of several inhabited islands. The beach placer sands were apparently derived from reworking of thick tephra deposits that mantle the islands. Detailed compositional analysis of temper sands in numerous ancient Lapitoid potsherds from all the constituent island groups of Tonga implies that pottery making was once a widespread industry making use of locally available raw materials. Stylistically diagnostic protohistoric Fijian potsherds, found in small numbers on several islands in Tonga, can be distinguished from the older indigenous Lapitoid wares by their anomalous tempers, which contrast sharply with the Tongan volcanic temper sands. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.