Report of the Director for 1922 23 



This element has probably contributed some of the Caucasoid traits to 

 Polynesians. 



There is a basic Polynesian culture for the present termed Culture 

 "A" over which has been superposed a later culture (Culture "B"). 

 The most important elements of Culture "A" are: (i) a rectangular 

 house with end posts and bed space; (2) a canoe made of five parts; 

 (3) a tanged adze; (4) cooking by means of heated stones in ground 

 ovens; (5) the use of stone pestles for pounding food; (6) the use of 

 wood, gourd, and coconut shell, rather than pottery, for containers; (7) 

 skillful woodworking and carving; (8) tattooing; (9) the making of 

 tapa, or bark cloth; (10) a characteristic relationship system; (11) the 

 custom of adopting and betrothing children; (12) systematic agriculture 

 and fishing, taro and potato cultures; (13) professional craftsmanship 

 and leadership in industry; (14) tribal government of simple patriarchal 

 communism; (15) preserving heads of enemies as trophies, and cannibal- 

 ism; (16) ancestor worship, the preservation of genealogies, and the 

 hiding of skeletal remains; (17) inspirational diviners; (18) a speculative 

 creation mythology conceived on the principle of dualism, expressed in 

 terms of male and female agencies. Culture "A" is distributed through- 

 out Polynesia, but is most clearly distinguished in New Zealand and the 

 Marquesas — marginal regions little affected by later influences. 



As compared with Culture "A." Culture "B" is cliaracterized by a 

 higher social and religious development rather than a higher technical 

 development, and is dominent in northern and central Polynesia. It is 

 considered not as the culture of a race unrelated to the Polynesians, but 

 as the culture of a second migrating wave of a people closely related to 

 those represented by Culture "A." In addition to the elements listed for 

 Culture "A," Culture "B" is characterized by other elements among which 

 are: {19) the oval house; (20) wooden head rests; (21) utensils with 

 legs; (22) organized government; (23) a rigid social classification; (24) 

 complicated systems of land division and ownership; (25) great sacred- 

 ness of chiefs and elaborate etiquette; (26) organized dancing as a social 

 and religious institution; {2y) organized religious ceremonial and priest- 

 hood; (28) a generation cult and seasonal rites; (29) haruspication. 



It is interesting to note that the basal Polynesian physical type (Type 

 A) is universally distributed, but strongest in the south, and that the 

 original culture ( Culture "A", also universally distributed, is clearest in 

 the south (New Zealand) and in the east (the Marquesas). Also physical 

 Type B is strongest in north and central Polynesia, the same region in 

 which elements in Culture "B" are dominant. This demonstrated parallel- 

 ism of racial types and cultural stratification rests on conclusions arrived 



