Prehistoric Giant Swamp Taro (Cyrtosperma chamissonis) from Henderson Island, Southeast Polynesia

Subfossilleaf fragments of giant swamp taro (Cyrtosperma chamissonis) were recovered from archaeological contexts dating as early as A.D. 1451 (mean date) on Henderson Island (24 0 22' S, 1280 19' W), Pitcairn group-a raised limestone (makatea) island isolated at the extreme margin of southeastern Polynesia and the Indo-West Pacific biotic province. Comparison of subfossil specimens and modern reference material from a range of known cultigens under scanning electron microscopy confirms the identification. A period of active interarchipelago voyaging between A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1500 is known from recent summaries of the geochemical analysis of exotic finegrained basalt artifacts from archaeological sites throughout Polynesia. If not an initial colonization, it is during this time that Cyrtosperma should have been introduced prehistorically to most, if not all, of the inhabitable islands of the region, especially those island groups lying to the west of Henderson. Investigation of subfossil plant remains adds another dimension to understanding plant distributions, prehistoric crop use, and subsistence practices in the Indo-Pacific region

Windward vs. leeward: inter-site variation in marine resource exploitation on Ebon Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands

The variation in windward and leeward marine environments has been linked to distinctions in marine subsistence on large, high volcanic Pacific Islands, but these patterns have not been explored on low coral atolls. We document windward vs. leeward islet site variation in the taxonomic composition of fish bone and mollusc shell assemblages from three archaeological sites at Ebon Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands, to elucidate the relationship between local environment, archaeological site type and the taxonomic composition of marine archaeofaunal assemblages. While the representation of taxa at each site was broadly similar in terms of measures of taxonomic heterogeneity (richness, evenness and dominance), chord distance and correspondence analysis reported variation in taxonomic composition at each site. For mollusc shell assemblages, variation in taxonomic abundance indicates the influence of the marine environments adjacent to each site and the relative exposure of these coastlines to heavy surf, wind, waves and extreme weather events. Fish bone assemblages recovered from 6.4 mm screens had less inter-site variation in richness, evenness and rank order, but differences were noted in the rank order of fish taxa recovered from selective 3.2 mm screening of archaeological deposits when compared between sites. In contrast to patterns for molluscs, variation in the taxonomic composition of fish bone assemblages likely relates to site function, rather than the marine environments adjacent to each site. These trends highlight for the first time the complex range of factors that influenced the prehistoric acquisition of marine resources between leeward and windward islets, and document variation in prehistoric marine subsistence within one atoll

Provenance Studies of Polynesian Basalt Adze Material: A Review and Suggestions for Improving Regional Data Bases

Polynesian basalt adze material is the most widely distributed commodity for tracking prehistoric social interaction across space and through time. Since data bases are rapidly developing, the problems and prospects of current distributional studies need review and evaluation. Definitions common to those undertaking basalt provenance studies are provided; the roles of geological information and spatial scale to distributional studies are discussed; basalt analytic and provenance studies are reviewed; macroscopic, petrographic, and geochemical techniques are evaluated; and suggestions for improving data bases are offered. It is concluded that the nondestructive x-ray fluorescence technique is an alternative to destructive analyses. Careful attention to analytical precision, accuracy, and the use of standards will improve intra- and interlab comparison of data sets. Additional sampling of Polynesian basalt sources is urgently needed. KEYWORDS: Polynesia, adze material, provenance studies, macroscopic, petrographic, geochemical, data standardization, nondestructive x-ray fluorescence

POLYNESIAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND COLONIZATION

Polynesian archaeology is undergoing a renaissance with spirited debates on a number of fundamental issues such as dating human colonization of islands and archipelagos, determining the causes of landscape change (whether human-induced, climate affected, or some manner of both), defining the temporal and geographical limits of long-distance interaction spheres, the causes and consequences of sociopolitical change, and the nature of Ancestral Polynesian Culture. None of these topics engender a discipline-wide consensus, least of which is the date for the colonization of any Polynesian archipelago. </p

The Antiquity of Aroid Pit Agriculture and Significance of Buried a Horizons on Pacific Atolls

The cultivation of aroids (herbaceous plants with starchy corms) is the foundation of Oceanic societies, yet the study of prehistoric atoll agriculture (utilizing Cyrtosperma chamissonis) has been almost totally neglected. Aroid pit agricultural features, some measuring up to 100 m long and 20 m wide, excavated in the Marshall Islands (center ca. 8°N latitude, 170°E longitude) provide the first chronometric dates (1910 ± 70 B.P., Beta-79576) for this type of cultivation practice associated with coral atolls found throughout the Pacific. Excavations through an aroid pit cultivation pit rim identified a stratigraphic sequence beginning with the sterile subsoil, an A horizon deeply buried under pit spoil dirt, and a prehistoric midden deposit beginning below the surface A horizon. Granulometric analysis of sediments and identification of foraminifers documented the nearshore lagoon as the source for all non-cultural sediments. Anthropophilic land snails (Gastrocopta pediculus and Lamellidea pusilla) in the dated, buried A horizon is a firm basis for confirming the presence of humans near initial colonization (ca. 2000 B.P.) and anchors the culture-historical sequence for the long-term study of human impacts to low coral islands. Consequently, on-going analyses of plant opal phytoliths, starch grains, and charcoal from the buried A horizon, should document the nature of early atoll ecology prior to significant human modification. As aroid pit construction is associated, in many examples, with traditional property boundaries, detailed mapping and dating of these cultivation systems should relate to changes in land tenure and prehistoric social organization

Pacific Islands ichthyoarchaeology: implications for the development of prehistoric fishing studies and global sustainability

The Pacific Islands—consisting of culturally diverse Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia—is the ideal region to investigate the development of prehistoric fishing studies, as nowhere else on Earth is there such environmental contrasts among island types and their marine environments. We review the ichthyoarchaeological literature for the Pacific and assess developments in recovery methods, reference collections, taxonomic identifications, quantification, taphonomy and site-formation processes, ethnoarchaeology, approaches to diet and subsistence reconstructions, sustainability, and the importance of applied zooarchaeology for fisheries management and conservation. Ichthyoarchaeologists are beginning to work more closely with resource managers, fisheries biologists, policy makers, and indigenous communities to produce holistic studies of conservation management, resource sustainability, and assessments of human impacts on marine ecosystems over centuries to millennial time scales

Archaeological Survey and Test Excavations on Ebon Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands

Commissioned report. Report prepared for the Historic Preservation Office, Republic of the Marshall Island

Atolls as settlement landscapes: Ujae, Marshall Islands

Volume: 460Start Page: 1End Page: 5