Geospatial analysis of fortification locations on the island of Tongatapu, Tonga

Recent research investigating earthwork fortifications on Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga, using lidar data identified numerous defensive sites on the island (Parton et al. 2018), with the antiquity of the earliest building phase dating to at least 1300 CE (Clark et al. 2018; Spennemann 1989). This corresponds well with the hypothesis that fortifications appear in the Pacific at 1300–1800 CE (Field 2008). However, it is widely held that most fortifications on Tongatapu were constructed during the civil war era, from 1799 to 1852 CE (McKern 1929; Spennemann 1986; Wood 1975). Beyond questions about the exact timing of initial fortification construction,