Patrick Vinton Kirch is Class of 1954 Professor of Anthropology and Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of many books, including Feathered Gods and Fishhooks and On the Road of the Winds (UC Press).

• ContentsPreface1. From Chiefdom to Archaic State: Hawai‘i in Comparative and Historical ContextWhat Are Archaic States?Theories of Primary State FormationHawai‘i as a Model System for State EmergenceMarshall Sahlins’s ChallengeA Phylogenetic Model for PolynesianCultural EvolutionThe Nature of Ancestral Polynesian SocietyHow Did Contact-Era Hawai‘i Differ fromAncestral Polynesia?Was Hawai‘i Unique in Polynesia?2. Hawaiian Archaic States on the Eve of European ContactSources for Reconstructing Contact-Era Hawai‘iHawaiian Polities: Size and ScaleClass Stratifi cation and Divine KingshipElite Art, Craft Specialization, and Wealth FinancePolitical, Administrative, and Settlement HierarchiesSystems of ProductionThe Hierarchy of Priests and TemplesThe State Cults and the Ritual CycleLand and LaborWarSummary3. Native Hawaiian Political HistoryGenealogies of Renown, Traditions of PowerFounding Traditions of Settlement and VoyagingPolitical Developments of the Fifteenth toMid-sixteenth CenturiesUsurpation and Political Consolidation in the Hawai‘iand Maui KingdomsDynastic Histories of the Seventeenth toEighteenth CenturiesPolitical Developments of the Contact EraAgency in History: Ali‘i Routes to Power4. Tracking the Transformations: Population, Intensification, and MonumentalityThe Hawaiian Cultural SequencePopulation and Demographic TrendsContrastive AgroecosystemsTemporal Pathways of Intensifi cationMarine Resources and AquacultureMonumentality and the Temple SystemRoyal Centers and Elite Residence PatternsWhen Did the Hawaiian Archaic States Emerge?5. The Challenge of ExplanationPrevious Explanations for Hawaiian Cultural ChangeUltimate Causation: Population, Intensifi cation, and SurplusProximate Causation: Status Rivalry, Alliance, and ConquestWhy Did Archaic States Emerge First on Hawai‘i and Maui?Hawai‘i and Archaic State EmergenceNotesGlossary of Hawaiian TermsReferencesIndex

"Concise, but data-rich and sophisticated in its dissection of social theory." -- Norman Yoffee Times Literary Supplement (TLS) "Rich and wide-ranging... Kirch cements his reputation in this book... Here we see the master at the top of his game." -- Paul D'Arcy Anthropos "Complete and compelling... This is an important book, and everyone with a serious interest in Hawaiian history should read it." -- Thomas A. Woods, Executive Director, Mission Houses Museum Hawaiian Jrnl Of History