Melinda S Allen
The University of Auckland, Anthropology, Faculty Member
- University of Hawaii at Manoa, Anthropology, Department Memberadd
- I'm an archaeologist at the University of Auckland (New Zealand) with a focus on human palaeoecology, including human... moreI'm an archaeologist at the University of Auckland (New Zealand) with a focus on human palaeoecology, including human ecodynamics, human-climate interactions and landscape change. My current research projects revolve around long-term variation in Pacific marine fisheries; inter-species perspectives; the timing and drivers of human colonisation in East Polynesia; and Polynesian exchange and interaction systems.
I'm also the Editor of "Journal of the Polynesian Society", one of the world's oldest anthropological journals. For over 125 years JPS has been a major venue for publications relating to the history, culture, language, and biology of Pacific peoples, past and present: http://thepolynesiansociety.org/jps/index.php/JPSedit
Niche construction theory has played a prominent role in archaeology during the last decade. However, the potential of niche construction in relation to agricultural development has received less attention. To this end, we bring together... more
Niche construction theory has played a prominent role in archaeology during the last decade. However, the potential of niche construction in relation to agricultural development has received less attention. To this end, we bring together literature on the forms and sources of agronomic variability and use a series of examples to highlight the importance of reciprocal causation and ecological inheritance in trajectories of agricultural change. We demonstrate how niche construction theory can inform on emergent mutualisms in both inceptive and established agronomic contexts, the recursive relationships between humans and their agronomic environments, and bridges between the past and present.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Knowledge of biodiversity in the past, and the timing, nature, and drivers of human-induced ecological change, is important for gaining deep time perspectives and for modern conservation efforts. The Marquesas Islands (Polynesia) are one... more
Knowledge of biodiversity in the past, and the timing, nature, and drivers of human-induced ecological change, is important for gaining deep time perspectives and for modern conservation efforts. The Marquesas Islands (Polynesia) are one of the world's most remote archipelagos and illustrate the vulnerability of indigenous bioscapes to anthropogenic activities. Characterised by high levels of endemism across many biotic groups, the full spectrum of the group's flora and fauna is nonetheless incompletely known. Several centuries of Polynesian settlement reshaped biotic communities in ways that are not yet fully understood, and historically-introduced mammalian herbivores have devastated the indigenous lowland flora. We report here on archaeological recovery of a diverse assemblage of plant and arthropod subfossils from a waterlogged deposit on the largest Marquesan island: Nuku Hiva. These materials offer new perspectives on the composition of lowland plant and arthropod communities pene-contemporaneous with human arrival. Bayesian analysis of multiple 14 C results from short-lived materials date the assemblages to the mid-12 th century AD (1129-1212 cal. AD, 95.4% HPD). Evidence for human activities in the catchment coincident with deposit formation includes Polynesian associated arthropods, microcharcoal, and an adzed timber. Plant macrofossils (seeds, fruits, vegetative structures) and microfossils (pollen, phytoliths) reveal coastal and lowland wet-moist forest communities unlike those observed today. Several apparently extinct taxa are identified, along with extant taxa currently constrained to high altitude and/or interior areas. A diverse inventory of subfossil arthropods-the first pre-18 th century records for the islands-includes more than 100 distinct taxa, with several new archipelago records and one previously unreported for eastern Polynesia. The assemblages provide new insights into lowland Marquesan forest communities coincident with human arrival, and portend the considerable anthropogenic transformations that followed. These records also have implications for human colonisation of the Marquesas Islands and East Polynesia at large.
Research Interests:
The timing of human colonization of East Polynesia, a vast area lying between Hawai‘i, Rapa Nui, and New Zealand, is much de- bated and the underlying causes of this great migration have been enigmatic. Our study generates evidence for... more
The timing of human colonization of East Polynesia, a vast area lying between Hawai‘i, Rapa Nui, and New Zealand, is much de- bated and the underlying causes of this great migration have been enigmatic. Our study generates evidence for human dispersal into eastern Polynesia from islands to the west from around AD 900 and contemporaneous paleoclimate data from the likely source region. Lake cores from Atiu, Southern Cook Islands (SCIs) register evidence of pig and/or human occupation on a virgin landscape at this time, followed by changes in lake carbon around AD 1000 and significant anthropogenic disturbance from c. AD 1100. The broader paleoclimate context of these early voyages of explora- tion are derived from the Atiu lake core and complemented by additional lake cores from Samoa (directly west) and Vanuatu (southwest) and published
hydroclimate proxies from the Society Islands (northeast) and Kiribati (north). Algal lipid and leaf wax biomarkers allow for comparisons of changing hydroclimate conditions across the region before, during, and after human arrival in the SCIs. The evidence indicates a prolonged drought in the likely western source region for these colonists, lasting c. 200 to 400 y, contemporaneous with
the phasing of human dispersal into the Pacific. We propose that drying climate, coupled with documented social pressures and societal developments, instigated initial east- ward exploration, resulting in SCI landfall(s) and return voyaging, with colonization a century or two later. This incremental settlement process likely involved the accumulation of critical maritime knowledge
over several generations.
hydroclimate proxies from the Society Islands (northeast) and Kiribati (north). Algal lipid and leaf wax biomarkers allow for comparisons of changing hydroclimate conditions across the region before, during, and after human arrival in the SCIs. The evidence indicates a prolonged drought in the likely western source region for these colonists, lasting c. 200 to 400 y, contemporaneous with
the phasing of human dispersal into the Pacific. We propose that drying climate, coupled with documented social pressures and societal developments, instigated initial east- ward exploration, resulting in SCI landfall(s) and return voyaging, with colonization a century or two later. This incremental settlement process likely involved the accumulation of critical maritime knowledge
over several generations.
Research Interests:
Globally, the place of dogs in the anthropogenic niche is varied, with dogs often tightly integrated into human communities, but sometimes pushed to the margins, and occasionally persisting as independent feral populations. Dog-human... more
Globally, the place of dogs in the anthropogenic niche is varied, with dogs often tightly integrated into human communities, but sometimes pushed to the margins, and occasionally persisting as independent feral populations. Dog-human symbioses are correspondingly diverse, ranging from mutualistic to commensal to
competitive. The Pacific Islands, and Polynesia in particular, offer a useful context in which to consider dog-human symbioses across varied socio-environmental settings. The translocation of domestic dogs across this oceanic region was underway more than two millennia ago, if not earlier, with dogs established on numerous Pacific Islands. However, occasionally dogs were subsequently extirpated, a situation often attributed to competition between dogs and their human managers. Here we focus on how the dog-human symbiosis shifted as
colonists moved from the small, environmentally-circumscribed, islands of tropical central Polynesia, to the largest, most ecologically diverse landmasses in the region—the islands of Aotearoa New Zealand. We hypothesize that the mid-13th century settlement of Aotearoa New Zealand initially resulted in competitive release for
Polynesian dogs (i.e., relaxation of competition with humans) but as large native prey were depleted, and human communities economically reorganised, dog-human competition arose anew. These two hypotheses are evaluated
using: a) country-wide data on dog distributions and abundance over time; and b) a regionally focused analysis of dental markers relating to dog diet and health. Our results support the hypothesis of competitive release on entry to Aotearoa New Zealand; dogs were quickly distributed across the two main islands, onto many
large offshore islands, and into varied ecological niches—where they were generally well represented and associated with human occupations. This situation appears to have been followed by interspecific competition midway through the Maaori sequence (ca. AD 1450–1650), when both dog assemblages and dog abundances are poorly represented. From the mid-17th century, dog population rebound is suggested, possibly accompanied by new husbandry practices. These trends are not, however, well reflected in the regionally focused dental marker analysis, where good oral health and adequate nutrition are indicated. Published studies of dog coprolites and stable isotopes analyses help flesh out the dental analyses and point to avenues of future study. Our research gives new insights into variability in dog-human symbioses across the Pacific Islands and potentially elsewhere, with a particular focus on the conditions that give rise to competition and the value of multi-proxy analyses in unravelling these complex entanglements.
competitive. The Pacific Islands, and Polynesia in particular, offer a useful context in which to consider dog-human symbioses across varied socio-environmental settings. The translocation of domestic dogs across this oceanic region was underway more than two millennia ago, if not earlier, with dogs established on numerous Pacific Islands. However, occasionally dogs were subsequently extirpated, a situation often attributed to competition between dogs and their human managers. Here we focus on how the dog-human symbiosis shifted as
colonists moved from the small, environmentally-circumscribed, islands of tropical central Polynesia, to the largest, most ecologically diverse landmasses in the region—the islands of Aotearoa New Zealand. We hypothesize that the mid-13th century settlement of Aotearoa New Zealand initially resulted in competitive release for
Polynesian dogs (i.e., relaxation of competition with humans) but as large native prey were depleted, and human communities economically reorganised, dog-human competition arose anew. These two hypotheses are evaluated
using: a) country-wide data on dog distributions and abundance over time; and b) a regionally focused analysis of dental markers relating to dog diet and health. Our results support the hypothesis of competitive release on entry to Aotearoa New Zealand; dogs were quickly distributed across the two main islands, onto many
large offshore islands, and into varied ecological niches—where they were generally well represented and associated with human occupations. This situation appears to have been followed by interspecific competition midway through the Maaori sequence (ca. AD 1450–1650), when both dog assemblages and dog abundances are poorly represented. From the mid-17th century, dog population rebound is suggested, possibly accompanied by new husbandry practices. These trends are not, however, well reflected in the regionally focused dental marker analysis, where good oral health and adequate nutrition are indicated. Published studies of dog coprolites and stable isotopes analyses help flesh out the dental analyses and point to avenues of future study. Our research gives new insights into variability in dog-human symbioses across the Pacific Islands and potentially elsewhere, with a particular focus on the conditions that give rise to competition and the value of multi-proxy analyses in unravelling these complex entanglements.
Research Interests:
Exchange activities, formal or otherwise, serve a variety of purposes and were prominent in many Pacific Island societies, both during island settlement and in late prehistory. Recent Polynesian studies highlight the role of exchange in... more
Exchange activities, formal or otherwise, serve a variety of purposes and were prominent in many Pacific Island societies, both during island settlement and in late prehistory. Recent Polynesian studies highlight the role of exchange in the region's most hierarchical polities where it contributed to wealth economies, emergent leadership, and status rivalry in late prehistory. Building on this research, we hypothesized that exchange in low hierarchy chief-doms (kin-based polities where there are distinctions between commoners and elites but ranking within the latter is lacking, weak, or ephemeral) would differ in frequency and function from that associated with strongly hierarchical polities. We address this hypothesis through geochemical, morphological, and distributional analyses of stone tools on Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands. Non-destructive Energy-Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) and destructive Wavelength-Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (WDXRF) analyses of 278 complete and broken tools (adzes, chisels, preforms) from four valleys identify use of stone from at least seven sources on three islands: five on Nuku Hiva and one each on Eiao and Ua Pou. A functional analysis demonstrates that no tool form is limited to a particular source, while inter-valley distributions reveal that the proportions of non-local or extra-valley tools (43 to 94%, mean = 77%) approximate or exceed results from other archipelagoes, including those from elite and ritual sites of Polynesian archaic states. Intra-valley patterns also are unexpected, with non-local stone tools being recovered from both elite and commoner residential areas in near-equal proportions. Our findings unambiguously demonstrate the importance of exchange in late prehistoric Marquesan society, at varied social and geographic scales. We propose the observed patterns are the result of elites using non-local tools as political currency, aimed at reinforcing status, cementing client-patron relations, and building extra-valley alliances, consistent with prestige societies elsewhere and early historic accounts from the Marquesan Islands.
Research Interests:
It is widely recognised that Polynesian settlers developed central Pacific islands into productive economic landscapes, but the character and tempo of these transformations are poorly understood. Archaeological wood charcoal assemblages... more
It is widely recognised that Polynesian settlers developed central Pacific islands into productive economic landscapes, but the character and tempo of these transformations are poorly understood. Archaeological wood charcoal assemblages are uniquely suited to inform on landscape change, especially when the principal food crops were arboreal. We use a large archaeological charcoal collection, drawn from numerous geographically and functionally varied contexts, to develop a multi-scalar vegetation history of Marquesas Islands’ lowland forests. Our aims were to: 1) reveal historical patterns of plant biogeography, including introductions by Polynesian settlers; 2) detail the nature and timing of anthropogenic impacts on native Marquesan forests; and 3) track the emergence of economically productive arboreal landscapes. A collection of 6510 fragments identified to 59 taxa inform on a ~600-year sequence of human activities. The earliest samples indicate rich forests were encountered by human colonists, comprised of a mix of dicotyledonous hardwood species and woody monocots. These included members of two now-extinct Sapotaceae genera, Planchonella and cf. Sideroxylon, along with Allophylus, a Sapindaceae apparently extirpated from Nuku Hiva. Two important coastal trees, Calophyllum inophyllum and Thespesia populnea, also appear to be indigenous. Polynesian impacts were rapid and widespread, irrevocably altering the indigenous vegetation and disrupting native ecosystems. Samples from later occupations document on-going modifications to lowland vegetation communities. This included inter-valley variability in the timing of transformations and the development of mosaic formations, comprised of native forest interspersed with areas of cultivation and habitation. By AD 1650, low and mid-elevation vegetation was extensively remodelled, as anthropogenic forests of Artocarpus altilis (breadfruit), Inocarpus fagifer (Tahitian chestnut) and other economic species became widely established and cultivation intensified. Mimicking natural forests, these arboricultural systems helped protect the island’s fragile soils and landscapes from recurring climate extremes. Intriguingly, some translocated taxa, including Tahitian chestnut, Casuarina equisetifolia (ironwood), and Morinda citrifolia (Indian mulberry), may have been post-settlement introductions. This analysis demonstrates the potential of archaeological wood charcoal assemblages to detail Pacific Island vegetation histories, anthropogenic processes, and the evolution of arboricultural economies.
Research Interests:
Marine resources were, and continue to be, dietary mainstays of Pacific Island communities. In this article, archaeological fish-bone assemblages from twelve central-east Polynesian (CEP) islands are used to examine spatial and temporal... more
Marine resources were, and continue to be, dietary mainstays of Pacific Island communities. In this article, archaeological fish-bone assemblages from twelve central-east Polynesian (CEP) islands are used to examine spatial and temporal patterning in indigenous marine fisheries in the first millennium ad. Settled by biologically and culturally closely related peoples from western Polynesia, CEP colonists encountered a familiar but biologically impoverished fish fauna. Common cultural and faunistic origins, in combination with ecologically diverse seascapes, make CEP an ideal setting for investigating long-term social-natural interactions. Most spatial variability appears linked to natural fish abundances, but a distinctive and geographically circumscribed colonizer strategy targeting pelagic fishes is also identified. Over time, fishing declines, inshore fisheries intensify and angling is reduced while mass harvesting increases. Harvesting impacts are sometimes intimated but general...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT: A New Zealand example illustrates the potential of foraging efficiency (FE) measures to inform not only on human-prey dynamics, but also to help identify situations where mobility is constrained or stimulated. Marked declines in... more
ABSTRACT: A New Zealand example illustrates the potential of foraging efficiency (FE) measures to inform not only on human-prey dynamics, but also to help identify situations where mobility is constrained or stimulated. Marked declines in Maori molluscan FE, coupled with increased shellfish usage, are identified over a ca. 450-year period at the coastal locality of Harataonga Beach, New Zealand. The potential effects of climate change are considered using newly available southwest Pacific multi-proxy records and
temperature sensitive species, but correlations are lacking. The molluscan results signal possible restrictions on logistic and/or residential mobility in late prehistory, while evidence from the broader cultural landscape points to increasing agricultural investments and marked social competition. The Ideal Free Distribution model (IFD) is used to consider regional-scale interactions between foraging efficiency, agricultural developments, and competition, and their effects on mobility. Geographic and temporal variation in the patterning and causes of population movements is highlighted through this model, particularly differences between large game foragers in the south and populations with mixed economies in the north. In late prehistory, many northern areas including Harataonga apparently experienced reductions in the geographic scale of population movements, coupled with intensified intra-territorial mobility. The latter was an outcome of labour being widely dispatched across tribal territories, quasi-specialisation in subsistence tasks, and pooling and exchange of resources through a variety of social mechanisms which often involved population movements.
temperature sensitive species, but correlations are lacking. The molluscan results signal possible restrictions on logistic and/or residential mobility in late prehistory, while evidence from the broader cultural landscape points to increasing agricultural investments and marked social competition. The Ideal Free Distribution model (IFD) is used to consider regional-scale interactions between foraging efficiency, agricultural developments, and competition, and their effects on mobility. Geographic and temporal variation in the patterning and causes of population movements is highlighted through this model, particularly differences between large game foragers in the south and populations with mixed economies in the north. In late prehistory, many northern areas including Harataonga apparently experienced reductions in the geographic scale of population movements, coupled with intensified intra-territorial mobility. The latter was an outcome of labour being widely dispatched across tribal territories, quasi-specialisation in subsistence tasks, and pooling and exchange of resources through a variety of social mechanisms which often involved population movements.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Geography and Archaeology
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Archaeological evidence suggests that dogs were introduced to the islands of Oceania via Island Southeast Asia around 3,300 years ago, and reached the eastern islands of Polynesia by the fourteenth century AD. This dispersal is intimately... more
Archaeological evidence suggests that dogs were introduced to the islands of Oceania via Island Southeast Asia around 3,300 years ago, and reached the eastern islands of Polynesia by the fourteenth century AD. This dispersal is intimately tied to human expansion, but the involvement of dogs in Pacific migrations is not well understood. Our analyses of seven new complete ancient mitogenomes and five partial mtDNA sequences from archaeological dog specimens from Mainland and Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific suggests at least three dog dispersal events into the region, in addition to the introduction of dingoes to Australia. We see an early introduction of dogs to Island Southeast Asia, which does not appear to extend into the islands of Oceania. A shared haplogroup identified between Iron Age Taiwanese dogs, terminal-Lapita and post-Lapita dogs suggests that at least one dog lineage was introduced to Near Oceania by or as the result of interactions with Austronesian language spea...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Geography and Prehistory
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
An academic directory and search engine.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
When people first arrived in New Zealand around 700 years ago, they brought their dogs (Canis familiaris) with them. To investigate the introduction and dispersal of dogs across the country we generated twenty-three new complete, or... more
When people first arrived in New Zealand around 700 years ago, they brought their dogs (Canis familiaris) with them. To investigate the introduction and dispersal of dogs across the country we generated twenty-three new complete, or nearly complete, mitogenomes from ancient DNA from dog teeth sampled from four early archaeological sites in New Zealand and from one archaeological site in the southern Cook Islands. When considered together with fourteen previously reported mitogenomes from the New Zealand colonisation era site of Wairau Bar these sequences reveal a striking lack of mitochondrial genetic diversity in early New Zealand dogs. Our analysis shows that a group of closely-related dogs were brought to New Zealand, probably from an East Polynesian source population, and that these dogs and their offspring were widely dispersed throughout the country during the colonisation process. This pattern is consistent with the current model of rapid colonisation of New Zealand undertaken by highly mobile groups of people.
Research Interests:
Exchange activities, formal or otherwise, serve a variety of purposes and were prominent in many Pacific Island societies, both during island settlement and in late prehistory. Recent Polynesian studies highlight the role of exchange in... more
Exchange activities, formal or otherwise, serve a variety of purposes and were prominent in many Pacific Island societies, both during island settlement and in late prehistory. Recent Polynesian studies highlight the role of exchange in the region's most hierarchical polities where it contributed to wealth economies, emergent leadership, and status rivalry in late prehistory. Building on this research, we hypothesized that exchange in low hierarchy chiefdoms (kin-based polities where there are distinctions between commoners and elites but ranking within the latter is lacking, weak, or ephemeral) would differ in frequency and function from that associated with strongly hierarchical polities. We address this hypothesis through geochemical, morphological, and distributional analyses of stone tools on Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands. Non-destructive Energy-Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) and destructive Wavelength-Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (WDXRF) analyses of 278 complete and...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Geologist Bill Dickinson argued that prior to late Holocene sea level fall, in many Pacific island settings low-lying islands were awash, shallow nearshore environments were restricted and human settlement was constrained or sometimes... more
Geologist Bill Dickinson argued that prior to late Holocene sea level fall, in many Pacific island settings low-lying islands were awash, shallow nearshore environments were restricted and human settlement was constrained or sometimes impossible. Stable coastlines and islets of modern configuration only developed after the "cross-over date", when declining high-tide levels fell below mid-Holocene low-tide levels, a regionally variable process. We evaluate evidence from the almost-atoll of Aitutaki, Cook Islands against this model, providing: (1) a local late Holocene sea level reconstruction including nine U/Th-dated microatolls; (2) 22 new AMS dates on human activities, many from small, low-lying offshore islets; and (3) elevation data for C-14-dated cultural deposits on three islets. Our results include an early first millennium sea level position 0.74-0.97 m (+/- 0.126) above modern height-of-living-corals, an eighth to eleventh century AD minimum relative to the long-term trend, and a sea level rise peaking in the mid-fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. This reconstruction, combined with twelfth century AD Cocos nucifera charcoal, informs on the timing and distribution of human activities across Aitutaki's evolving land and seascapes and sea level impacts. While our findings do not contradict Dickinson's model of sea level constrained island settlement, other explanations cannot be excluded.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Abstract Zooarchaeologists make a range of analytical decisions that affect taxonomic identifications, measures of abundance, and, by extension, socio-environmental interpretations. One decision that is often not documented and/or... more
Abstract Zooarchaeologists make a range of analytical decisions that affect taxonomic identifications, measures of abundance, and, by extension, socio-environmental interpretations. One decision that is often not documented and/or justified is the question of which skeletal elements, or element fragments, should be identified. This situation is especially concerning for, but not limited to, zooarchaeological analysis of fish remains, as ichthyoarchaeologists have historically adopted varied approaches to element selection for taxonomic identification, ranging from identification of a few distinctive jaw elements to attempted identifications for all elements. Here, we argue the process of element selection should be approached more intentionally as a sampling issue, which would provide a framework for evaluating whether identified samples are representative of the recovered assemblages from which they derive, and potentially improve the efficiency of analysis. We use nestedness analysis and sampling to redundancy to illustrate the effects of element selection on taxonomic richness and relative abundances in fishbone assemblages from three cultural and biogeographic regions: the northeast Pacific, the Hawaiian Islands, and Aotearoa New Zealand. We find that both methods are effective for evaluating the representativeness of identified assemblages based on varied element sets, and our results demonstrate that, in many assemblages, identifying all elements provides redundant information about taxonomic representation (richness and relative abundance). In such cases, one could select fewer elements for identification and spend more time examining remains from additional parts of a site or carrying out specialized analyses, which would provide new insights about past environments or human-animal relationships. The proposed analytical strategy aims to help zooarchaeologists justify and make informed decisions about how many and which specific elements to include in any given analysis. Our study adds to the growing discourse on best practices in zooarchaeology.
Research Interests:
Abstract Establishing whether pre-industrial societies caused significant harvesting impacts on fish stocks is often hindered by the paucity of historic evidence. Some archaeological assemblages contain information on the sizes and/or... more
Abstract Establishing whether pre-industrial societies caused significant harvesting impacts on fish stocks is often hindered by the paucity of historic evidence. Some archaeological assemblages contain information on the sizes and/or species of individuals in the catch, but this does not provide any direct evidence on the absolute size of the catch or comparative metrics. We develop a method for using size-frequency data to infer the intensity of fishing and the size-selectivity of the fishing gear in use. The model allows quantitative estimates to be made for the depletion of snapper populations relative to the unexploited pre-human biomass. We evaluate this method using six modern and five archaeological datasets from northern New Zealand for a key commercial and artisanal species, Australasian snapper or silver seabream ( Pagrus auratus ). Our method uses two models for the size selectivity of fishing: one S-shaped, representing mobile fishing gear such as trawls or seines, and one dome-shaped, representing static fishing gear, such as hooks, longlines, or gillnets. The results show that the estimated fishing intensity is lower, and the size of fish being caught is larger, in the archaeological datasets than in the modern datasets, as might be expected. Nevertheless, some of the archaeological datasets show evidence that is consistent with substantial resource depression and depletion of the largest fish in the population, while others suggest only light exploitation. The method allows the five archaeological cases to be rank ordered in terms of exploitation pressures and the relative orderings are further assessed using independent information on site chronology, stratigraphy, and recovery procedures (i.e., screen size). Other factors that can affect size-frequency data are briefly considered, but require additional environmental and taphonomic data that are not currently available. The results provided by our new method support the hypothesis that the depletion of large fish and capture of progressively smaller ones occurred in the pre-European era, albeit in spatially localized areas and at a much less severe level than in modern times. The model results also help identify potential biases in the archaeological assemblages and directions for further research.
Research Interests:
The timing of human colonization of East Polynesia, a vast area lying between Hawai‘i, Rapa Nui, and New Zealand, is much debated and the underlying causes of this great migration have been enigmatic. Our study generates evidence for... more
The timing of human colonization of East Polynesia, a vast area lying between Hawai‘i, Rapa Nui, and New Zealand, is much debated and the underlying causes of this great migration have been enigmatic. Our study generates evidence for human dispersal into eastern Polynesia from islands to the west from around AD 900 and contemporaneous paleoclimate data from the likely source region. Lake cores from Atiu, Southern Cook Islands (SCIs) register evidence of pig and/or human occupation on a virgin landscape at this time, followed by changes in lake carbon around AD 1000 and significant anthropogenic disturbance from c. AD 1100. The broader paleoclimate context of these early voyages of exploration are derived from the Atiu lake core and complemented by additional lake cores from Samoa (directly west) and Vanuatu (southwest) and published hydroclimate proxies from the Society Islands (northeast) and Kiribati (north). Algal lipid and leaf wax biomarkers allow for comparisons of changing hy...
Research Interests:
This chapter considers the advantages of islands as analytical units and the benefits of multi-proxy approaches to diet reconstructions. An overview of some common historical trends in Pacific Island diets is provided, followed by more... more
This chapter considers the advantages of islands as analytical units and the benefits of multi-proxy approaches to diet reconstructions. An overview of some common historical trends in Pacific Island diets is provided, followed by more detailed examination of two southern Cook Island sequences (Mangaia and Aitutaki Islands) in Polynesia, localities which were settled by closely related peoples but offered different dietary opportunities given their contrastive geographies. Archaeofaunal, archaeobotanical, and stable isotope records are used to explore dietary variability on these two islands over an approximately 750-year period. The analysis emphasizes the relationships between different dietary components (terrestrial foraging, marine exploitation, and evolving agroeconomies) and the dynamic feedback relationships that can shape dietary change.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Does climate affect behaviour and social process? In this case study, powerful scientific, anthropological and archaeological arguments are deployed to show that it can. The capricious climate of the latest centuries of the Marquesas... more
Does climate affect behaviour and social process? In this case study, powerful scientific, anthropological and archaeological arguments are deployed to show that it can. The capricious climate of the latest centuries of the Marquesas Islands was instrumental in transforming a chieftain society into less hereditary and more flexible polities by the time of European contact.
Research Interests:
Hatiheu, one of Nuku Hiva’s largest and most fertile valleys, is an ideal setting for settlement but the valley’s early human history is poorly known. Its importance in late prehistory is well attested, with six major community ceremonial... more
Hatiheu, one of Nuku Hiva’s largest and most fertile valleys, is an ideal setting for settlement but the valley’s early human history is poorly known. Its importance in late prehistory is well attested, with six major community ceremonial complexes ( tohua ) and hundreds of domestic structures ( paepae ). Recent excavations and AMS dating at Pahumanoo- te-tai indicate use of the area began around the late 13th to late 14th century AD and continued into the post-contact period. Evidence from the earliest occupation suggests a structure and domestic activities, including preparation and cooking of both wild and domesticated animals, and tool maintenance and adze manufacture involving both local and exotic raw materials, as identified through pXRF analysis. A remarkable number of stone sources are represented in the relatively small sample, including the newly identified East Hatiheu Quarry (described herein), four other Nuku Hiva localities, Eiao Island and a possible southern Marquesan source. A ~600-year stratigraphic sequence of repeated burning, erosion, and colluviation informs on long-term geomorphic dynamics at this locality. Pahumano joins a number of similarly-aged sites from throughout the archipelago which, as a whole, identify the 13th to 14th centuries ad as a period of widespread established settlement.
Research Interests:
The research of Patrick Kirch, within the Hawaiian Islands and beyond, has forged understanding of Hawaiian origins and the chronology of Polynesian island settlement for more than four decades. As he outlines in his recent review of the... more
The research of Patrick Kirch, within the Hawaiian Islands and beyond, has forged understanding of Hawaiian origins and the chronology of Polynesian island settlement for more than four decades. As he outlines in his recent review of the Hawaiian sequence, improved radiocarbon chronologies, along with new archaeological and palaeoecological evidence, has led to a growing consensus that Hawai‘i was probably settled around the 11th to 13th centuries AD. Historically, archaeologists have considered the Marquesas Islands, some 3,500 km to the southeast, a likely Hawaiian homeland. This issue is revisited here, asking whether recent studies reinforce or undermine the Marquesas Islands as a source area.New sites and new chronometric data show that the Marquesas were settled as early as any other central East Polynesian archipelago (with the possible exception of the Societies) and perhaps early enough to have fostered Hawaiian colonists. Analysis of Marquesan 14C results on short-lived ma...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... Several specimens of Acerodon jubatus jubatus and Pteropus vampyrus were also collected from a colony roosting in trees about 2 km south of the lower Dikatyan River (Bios River) in Barangay Canadam. ... Pteropus vampyrus lanensis (4... more
... Several specimens of Acerodon jubatus jubatus and Pteropus vampyrus were also collected from a colony roosting in trees about 2 km south of the lower Dikatyan River (Bios River) in Barangay Canadam. ... Pteropus vampyrus lanensis (4 fluid, 1 skeleton). ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT This paper presents a new method, based on the calculation of a Cortex Ratio, capable of contributing towards measures of stone artefact transport in Polynesia. A set of ratios can be calculated by comparing the observed amount... more
ABSTRACT This paper presents a new method, based on the calculation of a Cortex Ratio, capable of contributing towards measures of stone artefact transport in Polynesia. A set of ratios can be calculated by comparing the observed amount of cortical surface area and volume in an assemblage with what is expected should all the products of reduction remain. Because raw material shape and size is controlled for using geometric equations, an estimate for the number of preforms produced from an assemblage also is possible. The method is experimentally demonstrated and applied to an archaeological early stage adze manufacturing assemblage from Moturakau Rockshelter, Aitutaki Island in the southern Cook Islands. Application of the method, in combination with geochemical and chronological analyses, shows that the number of preforms produced and transported, as well as the frequency of their transport, changed over time but the geographic scale of distribution remained the same, essentially local to Aitutaki.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Fifty years ago pioneering archaeologist Robert Suggs reported a small number of pottery sherds from the Marquesas Islands. The first such finds in East Polynesia, at the time they were considered indicative of both a Marquesan home-land... more
Fifty years ago pioneering archaeologist Robert Suggs reported a small number of pottery sherds from the Marquesas Islands. The first such finds in East Polynesia, at the time they were considered indicative of both a Marquesan home-land and local ceramic manufacture. In the intervening years, additional sherds have been recovered from three other Marquesan localities resulting in a total of 14 specimens. Prior petrographic studies demonstrate unambiguously that some derive from Fiji. Others have been interpreted historically as representative of an indigenous Marquesan ceramic industry. Here we bring together key petrographic analyses from Polynesia, recent chronological assessments of the Marquesan sequence, and insights from new field research to reassess the origins and chronology of Marquesan pot-tery. We suggest that there is little support for an indigenous Marquesan ceramic industry, and most likely all of the specimens are imports. With respect to the timing of ceramic arri...
Research Interests:
Geographic variability in Polynesian fishhook assemblages has long been recognized but largely unexplained. West Polynesian assemblages are typically small in number, relatively uniform in morphology, and often manufactured from Turbo.... more
Geographic variability in Polynesian fishhook assemblages has long been recognized but largely unexplained. West Polynesian assemblages are typically small in number, relatively uniform in morphology, and often manufactured from Turbo. Those from East Polynesia are comparatively large and morphologically varied, and Pinctada mar- garitifera is the preferred raw material. Drawing on both geographically dispersed assemblages and the temporal sequence from Aitutaki, Cook Islands, I suggest that these assemblage differences stem from both structural properties of the two shell spe- cies and their differential availability through time and across the region. I also examine two sets of selective conditions, one that initially led to an increase in the frequency of angling in East Polynesia and a second that subsequently fostered a decline in angling on Aitutaki and possibly elsewhere in the region.
Research Interests:
Palynological research in central Polynesia has largely centred on questions of the timing of human arrival. In these contexts, late Holocene records have both supported (e.g., Kennett et al. 2006; Parkes 1997) and challenged... more
Palynological research in central Polynesia has largely centred on questions of the timing of human arrival. In these contexts, late Holocene records have both supported (e.g., Kennett et al. 2006; Parkes 1997) and challenged archaeological accounts, sometimes suggesting a much longer human presence than direct archaeological evidence (e.g., Kirch and Ellison 1994 versus Anderson 1995). Considerably less attention has been directed to the post-settlement vegetation histories of these islands, and the potential of palynology to inform on changing climatic conditions and anthropogenic influences in this later period. Increased interest in climate variability over the last millennium, including discussions of Pacific expressions of the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA) and the Little Ice Age (LIA) (e.g. Cobb et al. 2003), make the latter particularly relevant.
Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. ISBN 978-1-58178-008-6.
167 pp, illustrations, maps, bibliography.
167 pp, illustrations, maps, bibliography.
Research Interests:
A site report on the archaeological excavation of several rockshelter sites in the Anahulu Valley, O'ahu Island, Hawaiian Islands.
Research Interests:
NEW ISSUE: JPS Editor Melinda Allen recommends you visit the JPS site:
http://www.thepolynesiansociety.org/jps/index.php/JPS/issue/archive
http://www.thepolynesiansociety.org/jps/index.php/JPS/issue/archive