Much of the research into East Polynesian ceremonial sites focuses on temple-altar ( marae-ahu ) complexes as sacred sites where varied religious rituals and rites of passage were performed. Yet ethnohistoric documents and the Tahitian lexicon suggest a broader role for Ma‘ohi (indigenous Tahitian) ceremonial architecture as the foci of individual and corporate ceremonies of a religious, economic and political nature. Utilising a spatio-temporal perspective, I investigate the function of feasting at terraces attached to a range of community and familial level temples, in addition to communal spaces within residential sites in the Society Islands. My goal is to explore the ways that Ma‘ohi household leaders, chiefs and priests may have utilised feasting to materialise their economic authority, while at the same time facilitating the formation of communal identities. I utilise archaeological data to identify feasting at monumental architectural sites of varying scale and complexity and house sites of differing status. I then turn to ethnographic analogy and social theory to suggest differing functions of feasting at different site types. As I argue, feasting serves as a highly visible social act, representing not only a political leader’s generosity, but delineating boundaries of particular social groups and control over resources. In the Society Island chiefdoms, at both the household and community scales, feasting is strongly correlated, but not uniquely associated with, ceremonial sites and served varied secular and sacred functions. I conclude that feasting actively solidified local and community level leader’s economic, socio-political and ideological power in varied ceremonial contexts of the late prehistoric Society Island chiefdoms.

中文翻译：

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在社会群岛的史前晚期居民和礼仪场所用餐的功能

对东波里尼西亚礼仪场所的许多研究都集中在圣坛-圣坛（marae-ahu）复合体上，这些圣殿群是执行各种宗教仪式和通行仪式的神圣场所。然而，民族历史文献和大溪地大词典表明，Ma'ohi（土产大溪地）礼仪建筑作为具有宗教，经济和政治性质的个人和公司礼仪的焦点，其作用更为广泛。利用时空视角，我研究了在社会群岛居民区中的公共空间之外，在一系列社区和家族级庙宇的露台上宴席的功能。我的目标是探索毛希族家庭领袖，酋长和祭司利用宴会来实现其经济权威的方式，同时促进公共身份的形成。我利用考古数据来识别规模和复杂性各不相同的纪念性建筑遗址和地位不同的房屋遗址的盛宴。然后，我转向人种学的类比和社会理论来提出不同地点类型的宴会的不同功能。如我所言，宴会是一种高度可见的社会行为，不仅代表政治领袖的慷慨大方，而且还描​​绘了特定社会群体的边界和对资源的控制。在家庭和社区两级的社会岛首领中，盛宴与礼仪场所密切相关，但并非唯一关联，并具有多种世俗和神圣的功能。我得出的结论是，大饱口福积极巩固了地方和社区领导的经济实力，