Explanations of the origin and genesis of Pacific field monuments commonly assume they reflect local social change in islands or island groups which were increasingly isolated following colonization. A recent review of early West Polynesian archaeology suggests that the penecontemporaneous appearance of various kinds of field monuments from eastern Melanesia to Polynesia may be better explained as evidence of interaction and the movement of people and/or ideas, possibly associated with the colonization of East Polynesia.
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Anita Smith (2004) studied this question.
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