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Compositional analyses have long been used to determine the geological sources of artefacts. Geochemical "fingerprinting" of artefacts and sources is the most effective way to reconstruct strategies of raw material and artefact procurement, exchange or interaction systems, and mobility patterns during prehistory. The efficacy and popularity of geochemical sourcing has led to many projects using various analytical techniques to produce independent datasets. In order to facilitate access to this growing body of data and to promote comparability and reproducibility in provenance studies, we designed Pofatu, the first online and open-access database to present geochemical compositions and contextual information for archaeological sources and artefacts in a form that can be readily accessed by the scientific community. This relational database currently contains 7759 individual samples from archaeological sites and geological sources across the Pacific Islands. Each sample is comprehensively documented and includes elemental and isotopic compositions, detailed archaeological provenance, and supporting analytical metadata, such as sampling processes, analytical procedures, and quality control.

Temporal coverage Collections include artefacts that may date from the initial settlement by the ancestors of Māori around AD 1280 through the period of regular contact with Europeans after AD 1850. (2) Methods Each artefact was assessed mid-z elements (Nb, Rb, Y, Zr, Sr) and other elements (Fe, Mg) using a pXRF and then matched to a geochemically distinct natural source of obsidian. Geographically ambiguous source assignments, such as assignment to a general volcanic zone, were not included. We note that out of the 15 known geochemically distinct natural sources of New Zealand obsidian [12], only 13 have been identified in archaeological collections. Steps The two university laboratories that produced this data each specified procedures in a series of publications. The specific lab protocols and machines used evolved over this period and so readers are directed to original studies for a fuller description. Examples of methods for Bruker pXRF, a type used in both laboratories, is summarised below.

The title of the article is intended to focus the attention of Western writers on international relations theory upon two aspects of this rapidly growing research area. Rather than meeting with an incomprehensible neglect it is our argument that the aspects referred to might well be accorded one of the key places. Failure to do so, it our contention, when transferred from considerations of theoretical efficiency into the no less precarious realm of practical policy, might well have proportionately hazardous implications. We would beg forbearance, however, if within the necessarily limited scope of this article only a very perfunctory and sketchy outline of the meaning and implications of the omissions can be given. The sole purpose of this article is to provoke interest in these particular areas rather than to supply the deficiencies – a task which clearly could only be undertaken in the expanded context of a major work.

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