surfresearch.com.au    polynesian surfriding : introduction

Science 4 March 2011:
Vol. 331 no. 6021 pp. 1181-1185
DOI: 10.1126/science.1201477

    Report

Paleoindian Seafaring, Maritime Technologies, and Coastal Foraging on California’s Channel Islands

    Jon M. Erlandson1,2,*,
    Torben C. Rick3,
    Todd J. Braje4,
    Molly Casperson1,2,
    Brendan Culleton2,
    Brian Fulfrost5,
    Tracy Garcia1,2,
    Daniel A. Guthrie6,
    Nicholas Jew1,2,
    Douglas J. Kennett2,
    Madonna L. Moss1,2,
    Leslie Reeder7,
    Craig Skinner8,
    Jack Watts9, and
    Lauren Willis1,2

Abstract

Three archaeological sites on California’s Channel Islands show that Paleoindians relied heavily on marine resources. The Paleocoastal sites, dated between ~12,200 and 11,200 years ago, contain numerous stemmed projectile points and crescents associated with a variety of marine and aquatic faunal remains. At site CA-SRI-512 on Santa Rosa Island, Paleocoastal peoples used such tools to capture geese, cormorants, and other birds, along with marine mammals and finfish. At Cardwell Bluffs on San Miguel Island, Paleocoastal peoples collected local chert cobbles, worked them into bifaces and projectile points, and discarded thousands of marine shells. With bifacial technologies similar to those seen in Western Pluvial Lakes Tradition assemblages of western North America, the sites provide evidence for seafaring and island colonization by Paleoindians with a diversified maritime economy.

catching and riding
The activity of surfriding is comprised of five basic components:
1. The paddle out.
2. Wave selection.
3.The take off
4. The ride
5. The dismount.
These are hereafter designated as Basic Surfriding Activity (BSA).

in addition to Basic Surfriding Actitity, surfriding also incorporates several supplementary activities (SSA).
These operate in both before and after basic surfing activity and in both an individual and a communal context.

1. Weather Forecasting
Since the occurrence of suitable surfriding waves is the result of a complex combination of climatic condtions, surfriders make the following assesments:
a. General meterological conditions.
b. Conditions specific to individual surfriding locations.
c. A critical anaylsis of the surf zone immediately before the paddle out.

2. Craft design, construction and maintainance.

3. An assesment of surfriding performance and conditions.

the critical face
The critical factor in achieving the initial take-off is the angle of the wave face.
Generally, the smaller the surf craft, the more critical the angle.
The horizontal conical shape of the wave is integral to the dynamics of surfriding.

a hydrodynamic wave.
The dynamics of a naturally generated idividual breaking wave are highly complex.
These include wind generated waves, standing waves and tidal bores.
There are also mechanically generated hydrodyrnamic waves.

2. Supplementary Pre-Surfriding Activities
Note these operate in both an individual and a communal context.

2.1. Weather Forecasting
Since the occurrence of suitable surfriding waves is the result of a complex combination of climatic condtions, surfriders make the following assesments:
a. General meterological conditions.
Most surfriding locations vary primarily by season

b. Conditions specific to individual surfriding locations.
c. A critical anaylsis of the surf zone immediately before the paddle out.

2.2. Craft design, construction and maintainance.

2.3. Surfriding performance and conditions assesment.

1.3 Basic Surfriding Activity
1. The paddle out.
2. Wave selection.
3.The take off
4. The ride
5. The dismount.

"The first people to arrive in the islands relied almost wholly on seafood - 'fish, turtles, crabs, sea-birds and porpoises', the archaeologists tell us.
<...>
Since seafishing was so much a part of their lives, it is not surprising that the Polynesians became expert builders of canoes and makers of fishing gear." (1)

While long term occupation saw the development of an introduced horticulture, the essential basis of Polynesian culture remained maritime.
However, to avoid possible western preconceptions (for example a comparision with the Vikings), Polynesian culture could probably be better described as "aquatic".

"They lived in a perpetual sun-drenched summer which was seldom too hot and never too cold, with a sea-breeze ever rustling the palms.
Their rainfall was adequate, their diet was well-balanced, and the sea was on their doorstep - the lagoons to swim in, the breakers to surf in, the beaches to play on." (2)

Surfriding was only one, albeit the most remarkable, of the Polynesian's interaction with their aquatic enviroment and must be assessed in the context of a range of skills and associated activities.

"They were a people who set unusual store by the physical things of life.
They admired strength, grace, agility, beauty and sexual skill.
...
They invented games, such as surf-riding and wrestling, which were tests of physical courage and co-ordination. " (3)

While physical strength, evidenced in outstanding feats of swimming, was highly valued, the concepts of "thrill" and "style" were of equivalent importance.
These later elements are integral to Polynesian surfriding and high diving.

While surfboard construction was certainly enhanced by an extensive tradition of Polynesian canoe building, it would be contentious to therefore conclude that surfboard riding was a direct development from canoe surfing.
The three native forms of aquatic locomotion; canoe, board and body (swimming); were probably developed cumulatively and in conjunction on flat-water (rivers and bays) long before their application in the open ocean.

The progressive application of these skills to the surfzone, with an increased mobility and access to fishing resources, occurred well before the great voyages of Polynesian occupation.
Apart from the practical advantages, the thrill of paddling out and returning through the waves was, no doubt, immediately evident.
It is an over-simplication to see such developments as exclusively practical or recreational.

To illustrate one example of cumulative and conjunctive development; Polynesian swimming (characterized by an overarm stroke and the flutter kick- variously, and incorrectly, known as the Australian or the American Crawl) is obviously derived from surfboard paddling technique, yet given the potential danger of the rider being separated from their board (or canoe) in high surf conditions, proficient swimming skills would appear essential.
A case of which came first, the platypus or the egg?

1. Cameron, Ian: Lost Paradise - The Exploration of the Pacfic.
Century Hutchinson Limited
Brookmont House, 62-65 Chandos Place, Covent Garden, London, WC2N 4NW.
Also Melbourne, Auckland and Johannesburg, 1987, page 28.

2. Cameron: Lost Paradise (1987), page 38.

3. Cameron: Lost Paradise (1987), page 32.

While there may be some similarities with snow-skiing or snow-sledding, the unique spatial and temporal transience of the individual ocean wave is elemental to the unique activity of surfriding.
Suffice it to say at this point, the dynamics of breaking waves (surf ) and the fundamental mechanics of surfriding are infinitely complex.
 

Surfriding developed in the western Pacfic in ancient times and reached a pinnacle in performance, and surfriding conditions, with the use of large surfboards in the Hawaiian islands.
Not only has ancient surfriding survived into the modern era, in a reversal of European voyages of discovery, surfriders have now "colonised"  the planet's oceans and seas, and in some instances lakes and rivers.

Advances in surfboard design and construction and surfriding performance have been dramatic.
Furthermore, the traditional surfriding methods (body, board and canoe) have spawned a variety of modernized craft or derivations: the Surfski, the inflatable Mat, the Morey Boogie, the Windsurfer, the Kite board and Tow-in surfriding.
On land, surfboard riding has been replicated on the Skateboard and the Snowboard.
The traditions of ancient Polynesian sailors also continue into the modern era in the form of the twin-hulled catamaran.
The contribution to modern swimming by ancient Polynesian  exponents; while relatively undocumented, unresearched  and, inevitably, difficult to assess; is worthy of serious consideration.
The combined global cultural and commerical impact of these developments has been substantial.

Any discussion of earliest developments of board surfriding can only ever be speculation.
The potential for yet to be discovered archeological evidence that may dramatically enhance the discussion appears distinctly remote.
Three possible senarios are that board surfriding developed as a variation bodysurfing, a variation of canoe surfing or, most likely, a combination of both.

Note that the critical angling across the wave face of board riders essentially replicates body surfing technique and is signicantly less prominent in canoe surfing.
However, the highly developed construction techniques of ancient Polynesian canoe builders certainly were an invaluable resource in the building of surfboards.

The use of a wooden stick, the  pole, as a tool probably dates from mankind's earliest encounters with large bodies of water.
The use of the log (a large wooden stick) as a basic form of water transport possibly dates, relatively, from not much later.

"Archaelogists argue from what they know about the tools available to early humans and their use of suitable raw materials for other purposes, that a single log, ridden astride, may well have been the earliest form of water craft."

De Souza, Philip: Searfaring and Civilisation - Maritime Perspectives on World History.
Profile Books Ltd.
58A Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8LX, 2001.
www.profilebooks.co.uk
Paperback edition 2002, page 8.

Stone tools were required to construct  the raft (a combination of logs bound with rope), initially maniplated with the pole.
The pole was subsequently modified as the rudder, the paddle and, at some point, the mast.
The canoe, constructed  from a large log, in replacing the raft was mankind's first fully independent form of transport - with massive  implications for cultural expansion.
As the forefront of the eastern movement of coastal exploration and occupation that began approximately 70,000 years ago on the coast of the Arabian penisular and ended at Easter Island c400 C.E., Hawaiian canoe builders had a maritime inheritance possibly stretching back 45,000 years.

Body surfing's heritage is probably of a similar magnitude, give or take 15,000 years.

The earliest records of surfriding are the ancient Hawaiian oral legends.
These are invaluable in identifying ancient surfriding locations (brilliantly collated by Ben Finney c1959) and establishing surfriding's significance in Hawaiian society.
However, like most oral legends, they are invariably focused on the activities of Hawaiian royalty (Ali'i) and rarely report the activities of the commoner.
While current research indicates the ancient legends have no information of a technical nature that is of value to this paper, note that they possibly establish the earliest association between the beach and sexuality.
This connection was a significant attraction to some 19th century visitors to Hawaii, and has subsequently become a staple of the "culture of romance".

There are some know examples of Hawaiian petroglyphs that may depict surfriders and/or surfriding.
The images do not appear to include technical details of interest
Also note the dating such images is open to question, some petroglyphs are known to be post-contact.
Any further examination would require expert archeological research.

The earliest documented reports of surfriding and surfboards are by members of Captain Cook's Pacific expeditions between 1769 and 1779.
While none of these reports are directly attributable to James Cook himself, as I.C Campbell noted in A History of the Pacific Islands (1989):

Originally recorded in personal journals detailing date and location, these are excellent resources by writers with extensive maritime experience.
Some of these reports have only been recently available to surfing historians.
In  these (and subsequent) cases, the reports are dated as closely as possible to the date of composition, and not the date of publication.
The least authentic report, in Cook and King edited by Douglas (1784), had the most significance, published in a multitude of contemporary editions and subsequently quoted in numerous books and articles.
The official publication included the first illustration of a surfboard, but not surfriding.
Probably all the 19th century visitors who reported surfriding activities had read, or were in some way familar, with Cook and King (1784) and this may be reflected in their accounts.

Western visitors to the Hawaiian Islands in the early 19th century were mostly naval personnel, Christian
missionaries, whalers or traders in seal skins or sandalwood.
The reports of surfriding by missionaries, those with the longest exposure to Hawaiian culture, are generally the most detailed.
Hawaiian surfriding was noted by large number of correspondents; Thomas Warren's 1859 assessment is probably only slightly exaggerated:

"Every man, woman or child who has ever written home concerning the Sandwich Islanders, have described their 'surfboards', and their astonishing skill in guiding them through a surf in which no civilized man could live, as also their excellence in swimming, and almost superhuman endurance in the water."

Illustrations depicting surfriding accompanied some19th century accounts, however most struggle to convincingly represent the dynamics of wave riding.
To a large extent these difficulties would continue until the end of the century when developments in photography would have a significant and long term impact on surfriding culture.
While not depicting surfriding (avoiding the difficulties noted above), probably the most important image of the early 19th century is Jacques Arago's illustration of an Hawaiian chief's residence and surfboard, circa 1819.

The first surfriding retrospective report (circa 1840) by David Malo, a native Hawaiian  with extensive knowledge of the ancient traditions, was originally written and published in the Hawaiian language.
Despite his credentials as a cultural commentator, Malo's focus on surfriding competition and the associated gambling activites perhaps reflects elements of his strong Christian convictions.
Malo is far more informative on the canoe, not doubt reflecting its supreme importance to Hawaiian society.

By the middle of the 19th century, as Hawai'i was beginning to build its reputation as a tourist destination, the
indigenous culture was under considerable threat.
The reports of the number of surfriders progressively diminish with the approach of  the 20th century.
The accounts, increasingly by independent travellers (tourists), in the second half of the 19th century vary considerably in quality.

Ot these, John Dean Caton's report from Hilo in 1878 is an outstanding work of observation and analysis, worthy of intensive study.
Some accounts appear in a "dramatised" version; for example Charles Stoddard (1866), although it is probable in Stoddard's case that the technical information is essentially reliable.
Several later reports are questionable in their authenticity, and where they appear to reprise earlier accounts their status as significant contributions is debateable.
Similarly, many illustrations are probably not reliable or accurrate representations and many appear to be the work of commissioned artists who possibly never visited the Hawaiian islands.
A number of illustrations by Wallis McKay, circa 1874, appear to best represent surfriding dynamics before the use of photography.
By the turn of the century, all surfriding illustrations appear to be essentially based on comtemporary photographic images.

In the later 19th century, John Papa I'i produced a second surfriding retrospective, originally written and published in the native language like Malo, in a series of newspaper articles,1868-1870.
I'i not only has impecable credentials as a historian, he had significant personal surfriding experience and provides a wealth of pertinent information.
He is the only writer to note an ancient surfboard design, the 'kiko'o'; a classification presents some difficulty to later commentators.

A later retrospective, "by a native of the Kona district of Hawaii, familiar with the sport", published by Thomas Thrum in 1896 contains the only known detailed account of ancient surfboard construction.
Given the date of the publication, it would appear highly unlikely that the reporter personally witnessed many of the reported activies and in some instances he is possibly composing from a local oral history.
The article certainly does not have the status of authencity that can be attributed to Malo (1840) and I'i (1870).
Thrum's account surfboard construction essentially parrallels Malo's 1838 report specifically detailing canoe building, possibly indicating an unstated (and invalid) assumption that these were virtually identical processes.
Furthermore, Thrum's extensive details pertaining to ancient surfboard construction exhibit several technical difficulties.
It should be noted that Thrum's publication had a long term commerical interest in the developing tourist trade and it may have been in his interest to embellish surfriding's status.
Thrum's published report has had a major impact on most subsequent commentators.

As the remnants of the original ancient surfriding culture continued to decline, a modern rebirth was beginning; spearheaded by haoles Alexander Hume Ford on land and George Freeth on the waves.
The earliest days of the revival were famously documented in an article by the American travel-writer Jack London, descibing a visit to Waikiki in 1907, twelve months before the Ford's formation of the Outrigger Canoe Club at Waikiki.

Rightfully, the star of the modern revival was not a haole but a native Hawaiian, Duke Paoa Kahamamoku.
Kahanamoku's aquatic achievements were immense and his contribution to surfriding, ongoing.

In 1935 Tom Blake, one of Kahamamoku's proteges, published the seminal book on surfriding, Hawaiian Surfboard.
Apart from an account of contemporary surfriding, Blake examined the origins of Hawaiian surfriding, initially  documenting the ancient oral surfriding legends.
He also collated and analysed a limited number of the early written and illustrated reports, beginning with Cook and King (1784) and Webber's illustration.
A surfriding convert, Blake was enthusiastic in identifying these reports but occassionally, and not unreasonably,  his historical analysis is less than rigorous.
Blake's work is the essential foundation of modern surfriding history, without which this commentary would not exist.

Reflecting the surfriding performance of the era, in Hawaiian Surfboard Blake tends to regard prone surfing as generally a juvenile activity and concentrates on riding in the standing position; an approach that may in fact diminish, rather than exalt, the surfriding performance of the ancient Hawaiians.
Influenced by his own surfboard designs and restoration research, he concentrates on the long thick board which he designates as the olo, somewhat to the detriment of the more common and numerous thin board, the alai.

Significantly, and not unsuprisingly given it's unique status, Blake extensively quoted from Thrum's 1896 article on surfboard construction and the associated religious rites.
He essentially adopts Thrum's (unstated and questionable) assumption:

Blake identifies (only) one error in Thrum.
Unfortunately, almost every subsequent book detailing the history of ancient Hawaiian surfriding paraphrases or directly quotes some of the questionable elements proposed by Thrum, and endorsed by Blake, invariably without further analysis.
The account now appears firmly ingrained in surfriding literature.

The one possible exception is the work of Ben Finney (1959, 1960) and his co-authors James Houston (1966, 1996) and Frank Margan (1970).
In series of articles and books, developed from Finney's research for a masters thesis in anthropology, these works significantly improve on Blake's work, setting the future standard for surfriding historical research and analysis.
While Finney acknowleges Thrum's article and to a large extent replicates Blake's analysis, he avoids or modifies some of the more extreme claims.

Surfing historian, Malcom Gault-Williams reproduces a large proportion of the previously discussed texts and illustrations in Legendary Surfers: Volume 1 - 2500 B.C. to 1910 A.D. (2005).
The introduction notes:

Unfortunately, Gault-Williams quest for objectivity can occassionally disguise a lack of rigorous analysis.

Finally, there is a significant number of ancient surfboards are held by cultural institutions, notably the Bishop
Museum, that may provide data available from any other source.
This paper has been prepared in preparation for a visit to examine the ancient surfboards held by the Bishop
Museum, Honolulu.
Until such an examination of the boards is completed, some conclusions are speculation.

Notes
There are none - all the above will be subsquently repeated at various sections in the body of the paper and will be fully annotated there.

polynesian surfriding :  chapter 1
the development of a polynesian aquatic culture

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