Recent by Melinda S Allen
Archaeology in Oceania, 2024
This article both introduces our Special Issue on "Zooarchaeology and Human Ecodynamics in East P... more This article both introduces our Special Issue on "Zooarchaeology and Human Ecodynamics in East Polynesia" and reviews recent research from East Polynesia at large. The seven articles and discussion essay derive from a symposium at the 14th International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ) conference in Cairns, Australia (2023). To contextualize these contributions, we review recent studies (2016-2024) from the region relating to human-animal relationships, including morphological, ancient DNA, and stable isotope research. Seven areas or themes emerge from our review, representing substantive, analytical and technical domains. These include (1) geographic coverage; (2) methodological issues; (3) assessments of anthropogenic impacts; (4) studies of domestic and commensal taxa; (5) animals in social, ritual and symbolic roles; (6) engagement with historical records and traditional ecological knowledges (TEK); and (7) emerging technologies. We conclude with a brief summary of recent achievements and propose future directions for zooarchaeological studies in East Polynesia and the wider Pacific.
Journal of Archaeological Research, 2023
Niche construction theory has played a prominent role in archaeology during the last decade. Howe... 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.
Environmental Archaeology, Jun 28, 2023
PLOS ONE, 2022
Knowledge of biodiversity in the past, and the timing, nature, and drivers of human-induced ecolo... 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.
PNAS, 2020
The timing of human colonization of East Polynesia, a vast area lying between Hawai‘i, Rapa Nui, ... 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.
The Routledge Handbook of the Bioarchaeology of Climate and Environmental Change, edited by Gwen Robbins Schug, 2020, London, Routledge. , Sep 26, 2020
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2022
Globally, the place of dogs in the anthropogenic niche is varied, with dogs often tightly integra... 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.
Papers by Melinda S Allen
PLoS ONE, 2017
Exchange activities, formal or otherwise, serve a variety of purposes and were prominent in many ... 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.
It is widely recognised that Polynesian settlers developed central Pacific islands into productiv... 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.
Oxford Handbooks Online
Marine resources were, and continue to be, dietary mainstays of Pacific Island communities. In th... 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...
Asian Perspectives the Journal of Archaeology For Asia and the Pacific, 2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011
Journal of Archaeological Science 39:295-307, 2012
ABSTRACT: A New Zealand example illustrates the potential of foraging efficiency (FE) measures to... 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.
Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania, Apr 1, 1990
In 1987 we excavated 11m 2 of cultural deposit at the Ureia site (AITlO), Aitutaki, Cook Islands.... more In 1987 we excavated 11m 2 of cultural deposit at the Ureia site (AITlO), Aitutaki, Cook Islands. First discovered and excavated by Peter Bellwood in 1970, the coastal Ureia site is very rich in midden, particularly fish bone and marine molluscs. We identified 13 main stratigraphic layers at Ureia. of which Layers III. V. and VII represent the primary concentrations of cultural materials. Nine radio-carbon dates on charcoal range from 200 ± 50 yr BP (Layer III) to 1040 ± 80 yr BP (Layer VII). Our attempts to date the presumably older strata that underlie Layer VII have been unsuccessful. The Ureia site has yielded bones of two species of birds that no longer occur on Aitutaki: the Sooty Crake (Porzana tabuensis) and an extinct, undescribed species of whistling duck (cf Dendrocygna).
The 84th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2019
The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2017
Archaeology in Oceania, 2021
Journal of Archaeological Research, May 23, 2023
Niche construction theory has played a prominent role in archaeology during the last decade. Howe... 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.
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Recent by Melinda S Allen
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.
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.
Papers by Melinda S Allen
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.
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.
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.
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.
167 pp, illustrations, maps, bibliography.
http://www.thepolynesiansociety.org/jps/index.php/JPS/issue/archive