This thesis investigates the prehistoric diet of humans and two of their key commensals on Aitutaki using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. This technique gives us new insight into the diet of these three groups and results are considered in the context of the development of agricultural systems on Aitutaki, as well as in light of the wider context of cultural developments and environmental change in the Cook Islands and Polynesia as a whole. Ultimately, it allows us to more fully understand the complex interactions between humans and the two largest commensals in order to evaluate the utility of these animals as proxies for humans in dietary analyses. The results indicate that the prehistoric human diet on Aitutaki can be characterised as mixed, dominated by terrestrial plants and marine protein with lesser amounts of terrestrial protein. While the amount of protein eaten by the individuals was very similar, they varied in how much marine or terrestrial protein they ate. The pigs had a slightly more terrestrial diet, with a greater emphasis on plant foods. Their protein intake was more variable and terrestrial in nature than the humans’. Dogs had a higher trophic level, more marine-oriented, diet than either humans or pigs. Like the humans, their diet contained more variation in the source of their protein. Overall, however, the diets of all three groups were very similar. While the overall nature of the human, pig and dog diets, and their relationships to one another, remained relatively constant over time, beginning in the 14th century they show a decline in the amount of fish consumed and had a more terrestrial diet overall. This confirms trends seen in the archaeofaunal assemblages, and throws light on the relationship between environmental change and human subsistence practices in East Polynesia. The similarity of the pig and dog diets to human diet, and the fact that the relationship remained constant over time, demonstrates the usefulness of the Aitutaki commensal animals as proxies for humans in stable isotope analysis. However, the specifics of that relationship vary by species and by place. While the individual dietary variability provides us with new ways of looking at dietary change within populations, it also demonstrates the importance of obtaining as large an assemblage for analysis as possible in order to ensure that samples are representative of the population as a whole.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1992 / Pacific Islands Studies

Mr Clarke used molecular genetic techniques to determine the origins of the sweet potato (kumara) and the bottle gourd in Oceania. Both are thought to have been introduced into Oceania by Polynesian voyagers who collected them from South America about 1,000 years ago (the word kumara is used by indigenous South Americans). Using new and improved DNA techniques, Mr Clarke analysed several hundred varieties of sweet potato and about 40 varieties of bottle gourd. The results are consistent with a pre-European introduction of these crops into Polynesia from South America, and have revealed something about their dispersal patterns within Polynesia, including New Zealand.

This thesis investigates the prehistoric diet of humans and two of their key commensals on Aitutaki using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. This technique gives us new insight into the diet of these three groups and results are considered in the context of the development of agricultural systems on Aitutaki, as well as in light of the wider context of cultural developments and environmental change in the Cook Islands and Polynesia as a whole. Ultimately, it allows us to more fully understand the complex interactions between humans and the two largest commensals in order to evaluate the utility of these animals as proxies for humans in dietary analyses. The results indicate that the prehistoric human diet on Aitutaki can be characterised as mixed, dominated by terrestrial plants and marine protein with lesser amounts of terrestrial protein. While the amount of protein eaten by the individuals was very similar, they varied in how much marine or terrestrial protein they ate. The pigs had a slightly more terrestrial diet, with a greater emphasis on plant foods. Their protein intake was more variable and terrestrial in nature than the humans’. Dogs had a higher trophic level, more marine-oriented, diet than either humans or pigs. Like the humans, their diet contained more variation in the source of their protein. Overall, however, the diets of all three groups were very similar. While the overall nature of the human, pig and dog diets, and their relationships to one another, remained relatively constant over time, beginning in the 14th century they show a decline in the amount of fish consumed and had a more terrestrial diet overall. This confirms trends seen in the archaeofaunal assemblages, and throws light on the relationship between environmental change and human subsistence practices in East Polynesia. The similarity of the pig and dog diets to human diet, and the fact that the relationship remained constant over time, demonstrates the usefulness of the Aitutaki commensal animals as proxies for humans in stable isotope analysis. However, the specifics of that relationship vary by species and by place. While the individual dietary variability provides us with new ways of looking at dietary change within populations, it also demonstrates the importance of obtaining as large an assemblage for analysis as possible in order to ensure that samples are representative of the population as a whole.

This thesis investigates the prehistoric diet of humans and two of their key commensals on Aitutaki using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. This technique gives us new insight into the diet of these three groups and results are considered in the context of the development of agricultural systems on Aitutaki, as well as in light of the wider context of cultural developments and environmental change in the Cook Islands and Polynesia as a whole. Ultimately, it allows us to more fully understand the complex interactions between humans and the two largest commensals in order to evaluate the utility of these animals as proxies for humans in dietary analyses. The results indicate that the prehistoric human diet on Aitutaki can be characterised as mixed, dominated by terrestrial plants and marine protein with lesser amounts of terrestrial protein. While the amount of protein eaten by the individuals was very similar, they varied in how much marine or terrestrial protein they ate. The pigs had a slightly more terrestrial diet, with a greater emphasis on plant foods. Their protein intake was more variable and terrestrial in nature than the humans’. Dogs had a higher trophic level, more marine-oriented, diet than either humans or pigs. Like the humans, their diet contained more variation in the source of their protein. Overall, however, the diets of all three groups were very similar. While the overall nature of the human, pig and dog diets, and their relationships to one another, remained relatively constant over time, beginning in the 14th century they show a decline in the amount of fish consumed and had a more terrestrial diet overall. This confirms trends seen in the archaeofaunal assemblages, and throws light on the relationship between environmental change and human subsistence practices in East Polynesia. The similarity of the pig and dog diets to human diet, and the fact that the relationship remained constant over time, demonstrates the usefulness of the Aitutaki commensal animals as proxies for humans in stable isotope analysis. However, the specifics of that relationship vary by species and by place. While the individual dietary variability provides us with new ways of looking at dietary change within populations, it also demonstrates the importance of obtaining as large an assemblage for analysis as possible in order to ensure that samples are representative of the population as a whole.

This thesis investigates the prehistoric diet of humans and two of their key commensals on Aitutaki using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. This technique gives us new insight into the diet of these three groups and results are considered in the context of the development of agricultural systems on Aitutaki, as well as in light of the wider context of cultural developments and environmental change in the Cook Islands and Polynesia as a whole. Ultimately, it allows us to more fully understand the complex interactions between humans and the two largest commensals in order to evaluate the utility of these animals as proxies for humans in dietary analyses. The results indicate that the prehistoric human diet on Aitutaki can be characterised as mixed, dominated by terrestrial plants and marine protein with lesser amounts of terrestrial protein. While the amount of protein eaten by the individuals was very similar, they varied in how much marine or terrestrial protein they ate. The pigs had a slightly more terrestrial diet, with a greater emphasis on plant foods. Their protein intake was more variable and terrestrial in nature than the humans’. Dogs had a higher trophic level, more marine-oriented, diet than either humans or pigs. Like the humans, their diet contained more variation in the source of their protein. Overall, however, the diets of all three groups were very similar. While the overall nature of the human, pig and dog diets, and their relationships to one another, remained relatively constant over time, beginning in the 14th century they show a decline in the amount of fish consumed and had a more terrestrial diet overall. This confirms trends seen in the archaeofaunal assemblages, and throws light on the relationship between environmental change and human subsistence practices in East Polynesia. The similarity of the pig and dog diets to human diet, and the fact that the relationship remained constant over time, demonstrates the usefulness of the Aitutaki commensal animals as proxies for humans in stable isotope analysis. However, the specifics of that relationship vary by species and by place. While the individual dietary variability provides us with new ways of looking at dietary change within populations, it also demonstrates the importance of obtaining as large an assemblage for analysis as possible in order to ensure that samples are representative of the population as a whole.

Mr Clarke used molecular genetic techniques to determine the origins of the sweet potato (kumara) and the bottle gourd in Oceania. Both are thought to have been introduced into Oceania by Polynesian voyagers who collected them from South America about 1,000 years ago (the word kumara is used by indigenous South Americans). Using new and improved DNA techniques, Mr Clarke analysed several hundred varieties of sweet potato and about 40 varieties of bottle gourd. The results are consistent with a pre-European introduction of these crops into Polynesia from South America, and have revealed something about their dispersal patterns within Polynesia, including New Zealand.

Mr Clarke used molecular genetic techniques to determine the origins of the sweet potato (kumara) and the bottle gourd in Oceania. Both are thought to have been introduced into Oceania by Polynesian voyagers who collected them from South America about 1,000 years ago (the word kumara is used by indigenous South Americans). Using new and improved DNA techniques, Mr Clarke analysed several hundred varieties of sweet potato and about 40 varieties of bottle gourd. The results are consistent with a pre-European introduction of these crops into Polynesia from South America, and have revealed something about their dispersal patterns within Polynesia, including New Zealand.

Solomon Islands along with other Pacific Islands nations is adopting legislation designed to protect traditional knowledge and expressions of culture from misappropriation, attrition and loss of economic opportunity for owners. These developments require the state to engage across a highly pluralistic customary and social landscape. Ethnographic studies have shown that owing to such plurality unintended consequences may arise from attempts to rationalise indigenous conceptualisations such as customary laws to render them accessible to outside interests. The preservation of intangible cultural heritage requires understanding of the communicative processes that maintain its significance and value and which are involved in its continuation, transformation and transmission. This study approaches this challenge from the perspective of social knowledge; the common-sense and empirical reality experienced by the owners of a representative aspect of the culture. The case chosen for this research is the ritual taukuka tattooing practice of the Bellonese people of Solomon Islands. Social representations theory is used to show that the field of representation of this cultural practice is heterogeneous with consensual and non-consensual features. Whilst revival of the taukuka is unlikely due to prerequisite religious ontology, its preservation as significant heritage where ownership remains with the lineages and families may best be assured through cultural education and artistic representations.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how discussions in archaeology and genetics influence the consensus on human origins and migrations in the South Pacific. By analyzing the genetic research on chicken- and sweet potato-DNA, I present a general overview of how genetics and archaeology shape the understanding of how humans have colonized the Pacific. By deconstructing a review on how the Pacific was settled based on aDNA, I analyze a geneticist’s perspective on archaeological problems. Through this analysis I suggest how archaeology should be approached on a theoretical level in order to be relevant in understanding human migrations in the Pacific. I propose that archaeology’s strength lie in interpreting material culture through an agency perspective in order to reach a dimension not obtainable by biological perspectives / Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur diskussioner i arkeologi och genetik påverkar hur vi ser på mänskliga migrationer i Oceanien. Genom att analysera den genetiska forskning som gjorts på kyckling och sötpotatis ges en övergripande bild av hur genetik och arkeologi formar den förståelse som finns för hur människan koloniserat Söderhavet. Genom att dekonstruera en sammanställning av den genetiska forskning som gjorts på mänskligt DNA i Oceanien analyseras en genetikers synsätt på arkeologiska problemställningar. Genom analysen i denna uppsats föreslår jag hur arkeologi borde arbeta på ett teoretiskt plan för att vara relevant i hur vi förstår Oceaniens migrationsmönster. Jag föreslår att arkeologins styrka ligger i att tolka den materiella kulturen genom ett agency-perspektiv för att komma åt en dimension av migrationsproblematiken som inte går att nås genom biologiska perspektiv.