No abstract

a b s t r a c tArchaeologists have long debated the origins and mode of dispersal of the immediate predecessors of all Polynesians and many populations in Island Melanesia. Such debates are inextricably linked to a chronological framework provided, in part, by radiocarbon dates. Human remains have the greatest potential for providing answers to many questions pertinent to these debates. Unfortunately, bone is one of the most complicated materials to date reliably because of bone degradation, sample pre-treatment and diet. This is of particular concern in the Pacific where humidity contributes to the rapid decay of bone protein, and a combination of marine, reef, C 4 , C 3 and freshwater foods complicate the interpretation of 14 C determinations. Independent advances in bone pre-treatment, isotope multivariate modelling and radiocarbon calibration techniques provide us, for the first time, with the tools to obtain reliable calibrated ages for Pacific burials. Here we present research that combines these techniques, enabling us to re-evaluate the age of burials from key archaeological sites in the Pacific.

Archaeological collections of fish bones from previously excavated sites in New Zealand are being re-examined and selected bones measured in order to estimate original fish size, reconstruct prehistoric fish catches and assess human impact on the fishery over the course of about 800 years of New Zealand prehistory. Several problems hamper this research, such as small sample sizes, lack of significant stratigraphy at many sites, inconsistent field collection strategies and failure to retain all of the material after initial analysis.Although some common fish species show a significant decline in mean size between pre-European and early historic samples on the one hand, and modern populations on the other, we have found little support for the common belief that there was a decline in mean fish size during the pre-European period. We have observed increases over time in the mean size of snapper (Pagrus auratus), blue cod (Parapercis colias) and undifferentiated species of Labridae from several sites scattered throughout New Zealand. Distinguishing between changes in fish population structures owing to natural processes, such as surface sea water changes, and those which are the result of human over-fishing is not simple, because both processes can operate simultaneously. We draw on modern fish quota management models to separate these processes. Important factors for each species are inshore biomass and the recruitment rate at different temperature regimes. In the case of blue cod, we find that there are signs in the catch diagrams of changes in fishing technology, and that 30 -80% of catches are undersized fish in terms of modern management criteria.

No abstract

No abstract