Rocker Jaws from the Marshall Islands : Evidence for Interaction Between Eastern Micronesia and West Polynesia :

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Twenty-seven mandibles from precontact sites on three Marshall Islands atolls were examined to determine the presence of post-settlement human interaction between eastern Micronesia and West Polynesia. Some 49% of our assemblage were rocker jaws; that is, they had no antegonial notch and the lower border of the mandible was convex so it rocked to and fro when placed on a flat surface. Rocker jaws are more common (50-90%) among Polynesian populations than anywhere else in the world. The relatively high incidence of rocker jaws in the precontact people living on these Micronesian atolls adds further support to the inferred interaction between eastern Micronesia and West Polynesia suggested by shared artifact styles and linguistic affinities.

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