History, Phylogeny, and Evolution in Polynesia [and Comments and Reply]

In the study of evolution, biological or cultural, a critical element is a methodology for distinguishing homologous from analogous characters. The historical knowledge this requires must be sought in the phylogeny of the modern groups under study & their common ancestors. Polynesian societies are a well-defined case of cultural divergence for which specific shared ancestor traits can be distinguished from convergent developments due to common selective pressures through the application of methods for determining cultural groups' phylogenetic relationships (Romney, A. K., "The Genetic Model and Uto-Aztecan Time Perspective," Davidson Journal of Anthropology, 1957, 3, 35-41; & Vogt, E. Z., "The Genetic Model and Maya Cultural Development" in Vogt, E. Z., & Ruz, L. A. [Eds], Desarrollo Cultural de los Mayas [Cultural Development of the Mayas], Mexico, DF: U Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 1964, 9-48) to recent archeological & historical linguistic work. A series of hypotheses regarding major factors underlying divergence & convergence in Polynesia is proposed for empirical testing. Comments are offered by Peter S. Bellwood (Australian National U, Canberra), R. C. Dunnell (Dept of Anthropology, U of Washington, Seattle), Tom Dye (Dept of Anthropology, Yale U, New Haven, Conn), Chris Gosden (Dept of Archaeology, La Trobe U, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia), Chandler W. Rowe (Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii), John Terrell (Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Ill),Evon Z. Vogt (Dept of Anthropology, Harvard U, Cambridge, Mass), R. L. Welsch (Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Ill), & Ralph Gardner White (PK 13,500 Punaauia, Tahiti, French Polynesia), with a Reply by Kirch & Green. 4 Figures, 142 References. Modified HA