Date: Thursday July 5th 

Conveners: Frederique Valentin and Hallie Buckley

CNRS UMR 7041 Paris 1, Paris 10, Nanterre, France

and University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

Reconstruction of food patterns in Lapita societies and their subsequent transformations generally rely on zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical evidences as well as analyses of surface features and paleoenvironmental changes. Such studies provide reconstructions of food production systems. Yet this sort of research remains only an indirect approach to past food consumption patterns. By contrast, analyses of human dental and skeletal remains offer a line of direct evidence concerning prehistoric diet. Bioarchaeological studies of the mouth area and dental health and of dietary deficiencies on skeletal elements are suggestive of dietary trends. In addition, the biogeochemical composition of bone and teeth is a direct function of diet, reflecting its marine vs. terrestrial nature. This session will explore current evidence and models of Lapita subsistence strategies with the aim of better defining and understanding the regional variability that is becoming apparent in the archaeological record.

 

 

Papers

2:00pm

"Lapita Subsistence: An Introduction to the Issues"

Janet Davidson

 

Questions about Lapita subsistence have been around since Les Groube first proposed his Strandlooper hypothesis in 1971. The ability to feed a community on a small island was obviously critical to successful colonisation. But what kind of subsistence systems would have provided an adequate diet for new arrivals on hitherto pristine islands? Did the colonists arrive for something close to the historic systems of their descendants already in place, or was there a gradual introduction of plants and domestic animals? This paper provides a brief overview of the debate so far, as an introduction to some new ways of tackling some old questions.

 

2:30pm

"Subsistence strategies in a Lapita community: Teouma site (Vanuatu) insights from stable isotope data"

Frédérique Valentin (1), Estelle Herrscher(2), Hallie Buckley (3), Stuart Bedford (4), Matthew Spriggs (4), Ken Neal (5)

(1) UMR 7041, CNRS-Paris 1, Paris 10, France (2)UMR 6578, CNRS-Marseille, France

(3) Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

(4) Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

(5) Iso-Trace, Centre of Innovation, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

 

The nature of the subsistence strategies of Lapita settlers remains an issue under debate. Some argue transient hunter-gatherers while others maintain the view of a horticultural component in the economy. Dating to c. 3000 BP, the Lapita cemetery, from Teouma (Efate, Central Vanuatu), provides an opportunity to identify the dietary practices of a Lapita community using isotopic indicators. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of collagen record information on protein consumption evaluating the environment from which individuals draw their resources as well as their status along the trophic web. Stable isotopes were performed on bone collagen from 20 human and 7 faunal remains (6 terrestrial and 1 marine species) excavated from the Teouma cemetery in 2004 and 2005. The data show that rats, pigs and flying-foxes consumed exclusively terrestrial food (δ13C = -20.1 to -19.8 ‰; δ15N = 4.5 to 10.4 ‰), whereas humans have probably consumed a mixed diet based on terrestrial and marine food (δ13C = -16.4 to -14.3 ‰; δ15N = 10.6 to 16.1 ‰). These results exclude the exclusive exploitation of marine resources. They lend support to the possibility of a horticultural component in the Lapita subsistence strategies in Vanuatu which is indicated by new botanical data. In addition, 15-Nitrogen values display a wide variability at Teouma (5.5 ‰) indicating an isotopic diversity of food in the population. This variability may suggest a greater importance of protein consumption of some individuals. This might be influenced by factors such as different geographical origin of certain individuals and/or social distinctions (tabou food items). Specific physiological context (sex, age, infectious disease) may also be implicated.

 

3:00pm

"Getting starch from sherds: residue analysis of Lapita and post-Lapita potsherds"

 Alison Crowther

School of Social Science, University of Queensland 

The analysis of starch granules and other microscopically distinctive use-residues preserved on the surfaces of archaeological artefacts, including pottery, has potential to illuminate aspects of past tool use and subsistence practices. The potential for this application to reveal aspects of prehistoric pottery use in the western Pacific, where starchy foods form a major component of the diet, has yet to be thoroughly assessed. This paper presents the results of a microscopic residue study of Lapita and post-Lapita potsherds from the Mussau and Reef Islands, and New Caledonia. The results of the study and experimental data indicate that this application has only limited potential owing to a number of pre- and post-depositional processes that affect residue survival. Directions for future application of this analytical tool to Pacific pottery are suggested.

3:30pm

"Metacarpal Radiogrammetry in Pacific Island Human Skeletal Samples – Investigation of Stressors on Cortical Bone"

Kasey Robb and Hallie Buckley

Anatomy Deparment, University of Otago

  

Cortical bone thickness is used as an osteological indicator of stress in both adult and subadult skeletal remains.  The relationship between age and cortical bone maintenance has been well investigated in many European archaeological samples.  It has also been suggested that poor childhood nutrition and intensity of physical activity affect the rate of deposition and resorption of cortical bone.

Methods used to investigate cortical bone include non-destructive metacarpal radiogrammetry.

The aims of this research are to investigate evidence of adaptive stressors in relation to the island environment, through time and between sexes and age groups to provide comparisons and identify trends between the populations with particular reference to the Lapita associated remains from Teouma, Vanuatu. 

The current research applies metacarpal radiogrammetry to Pacific skeletal remains.  Preliminary results will be presented.

 

4:00pm

Afternoon Tea 

 

4:30pm

"Dental pathology in the Teouma skeletal sample. Can we assess Lapita diet using this parameter?" 

Hallie Buckley

Department of Anatomy, University of Otago 

 

5:00pm

"Pigs and dogs and rats and chickens?: Origin, distribution and definition of the Lapita larder"

Lisa Matisoo-Smith, Judith Robins, Melanie Hingston and Alice Storey, Auckland University

 

The current Archaeological and genetic data available for the origins and distributions of the animals associated with the Lapita cultural complex will be presented.

 

5:30pm

Migration(s) Most Fowl: Origins and Affinities of Prehistoric Pacific Chickens

Alice Storey, Auckland University

 

Over the past two and a half years an intensive molecular study of the origins and affinities of prehistoric chicken in Oceania has been undertaken.  Preliminary results suggest two distinct introductions of chickens to the Pacific.  These populations likely originated in geographically distinct domestication centres in Southeast Asia; one being China and the other the Thailand/ Philippine region.  I will trace these two groups of chickens as they crossed the Pacific and discuss their utility not only in examining dispersal events in Oceania but also prehistoric introductions to South America.