CONCLUSIONS

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On the whole the Fijians are predominately Melanesian but with numerous Polynesian affinities that vary with locality. The Melanesian qualities are in part Negroid or Negritoid and in part Australoid. The Negroid resemblances are best illustrated by frizzly black hair, broad noses with depressed nasion and flaring nostrils, thick lips, and dark pigmentation (pls. 11 and 12). Australoid elements are general hairiness, strong brow ridges, low, sloping foreheads, compressed parietal and temporal areas, and some prognathism (pl. 13). The presence of Australoid suggestions need not mean that they come from Australia, but that they form a part of the Melanesian make-up. This interpretation of the Melanesians as a hybrid people conforms with similar designations by such students as Birdsell[19] and Hooton.[20] Polynesian influence in Fiji is most clearly demonstrated by lighter pigmentation, tall and muscular body build, moderate brachycephaly, broad faces and jaws, high and fairly long noses and strong chins. I found much the same resemblances between Fijians and Polynesians as did Howells;[21] however, in my comparisons the Polynesian similarities are outweighed and outnumbered by a greater array of Melanesian characters. The essential Melanesian character of the Fijian population is further demonstrated by recent blood-analysis comparisons; the conclusions of Simmons et al., identify the Fijians as Melanesian.[22]

The Fijians who live in the interior of Viti Levu show the most frequent Melanesian traits (pls. 11 and 14). These people are shorter, have narrower shoulders and chests; their heads are narrower and lower vaulted; they have broader noses, thicker lips, are hairier, and have darker skins. This condition, occurring as it does in the mountainous interior, which may be regarded as a refuge area, supports the theory that the Melanesian is the earlier component in Fiji.

The eastern Fijians stand in considerable contrast to the interior tribes and are the most Polynesian in appearance (pl. 15). They have lighter skins, greater stature, and heavier musculature. Their heads are broader, as are their faces and jaws; their noses are larger, narrower, and higher bridged, and their chins are more pronounced.

The coastal sample might be called intermediate or a more even blend of Melanesian and Polynesian.

The northwestern people resemble the coastal tribes. This means they show fewer departures in either a Melanesian or Polynesian direction. This also means they do not tell us whether the legendary ancestors, who are supposed to have first landed in Fiji on the northwest coast of Viti Levu,[23] were Melanesian or Polynesian. These data may mean one of three things: (1) the Fijian tradition of a landing at this place eight or ten generations ago is groundless, (2) the immigration did take place but whatever racial traits predominated, whether Melanesian or Polynesian, have been homogenized and obscured by subsequent intermixture and by movements back and forth on Viti Levu, (3) the landing did occur but the ancestors were already a Melanesian-Polynesian blend when they arrived.


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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