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The D Squares
*****There remained one final unknown, the West wall, a quick glance at the map shows that a concentrated effort had be made all on the East wall but before finally allowing nature to recover her hold on the trench an attempt had to be made along at least one part of the opposite wall. I began excavating the D squares in the hopes of relating the layers of one side to the other, as well as to find again artifact clues that might help to identify more precisely the role and position of Tubuai in the history of early East Polynesia.


*****Inspired by the finds in the C Squares I hoped that I would find something in around the same area on the opposite wall, starting then at about the 36 meter mark and working shoreward....see plan. The first few squares were rather empty by comparison to the richness on the other side but once beyond the 34 meter mark I again started finding important artifacts, not the least of which was a unique harpoon head, complete with a lashing grouve...see Diagram 25.19 PSP-2

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*****However the real surprise beyond some exciting new artifacts was the unusual thickening of the lower layer as it advanced west, and the depth. Here I was finding burnt hearths that extended down as far as the water table, in fact they rested upon the hardpan of ancient coral bed ... click on photo or here for an enlargement

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