Archaeological evidence suggests that Layer III abuts and is earlier than Layer II, which in turn abuts and is earlier than Layer I. We can define these relationships as abutting because there is no evidence for hiatuses between the phases or for overlap (BCal allows for both such phase relationships if required).
The arrival of the Polynesians can be identified in the above chronology. They must have arrived before the creation of the pond (Layer II), since they created it. Therefore the start of Layer II (which is contemporary with the end of Layer III), must be later than the arrival of the Polynesians. Given interpretations of the archaeological record for the region, the archaeologists' best estimate for the date of the arrival of the Polynesians can be represented as a normal distribution with a mean of 600 AD and a standard deviation of 100 years.
Laboratory no. | Radiocarbon determination | Material dated | Layer | Origin |
4128 | 2816±74 | humus | Layer III | atmospheric |
4127 | 440±160 | sediment | Layer II | marine |
4126 | 630±150 | sediment | Layer II | marine |
4125 | 370±140 | sediment | Layer II | marine |
4124 | 360±180 | sediment | Layer II | marine |
Two important issues should be raised about the radiocarbon data. Firstly, as expressed in the table, the organic sample from Layer III metabolised in an atmospheric environment. This is different to the other samples, which metabolised in a marine environment. Secondly, because some of the samples metabolised in a marine environment, delta-R reservoir corrections must be applied to them. The recommended delta-R offset for Hawaii is 110±80 (Dye 1994).
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T. Dye, Apparent Ages of Marine Shells: Implications for Archaeological Dating in Hawai`i. Radiocarbon 36(1):51-57 (1994)