Māori settlement of New Zealand: The Anthropocene as a process

Abstract

The lateness and prominence of Polynesian colonisation of New Zealand make it an ideal place to investigate the Anthropocene. We review the Anthropocene as a process and the information needed to understand the consequences of ongoing human-environmental interaction. Elsewhere in the world, a lengthy history complicates the ability to differentiate between the impact of people on the environment and the consequences of engagement. In New Zealand, engagement is not only of short duration but the landmass has a long coastline, with numerous offshore islands. These characteristics provide the scope to study the impact of engagement where it is particularly discernible. We introduce one such island, Ahuahu (Great Mercury Island). Upon arrival, Polynesian colonists found a temperate, geologically complex land covered in forest, populated by a diverse endemic flora and fauna. They knew how to produce crops and exploit wild food sources but had to rapidly adapt to new conditions marginal to production and new technological possibilities. The New Zealand case study allows consideration of whether the processes involved in creating the phenomena described by the Anthropocene are global, directional and inevitable, or are due to local, small-scale changes related to particular forms of production by Māori, and their capacity to construct environmental change. RÉSUMÉ Le retard et la proéminence de la colonisation Polynésienne de la Nouvelle-Zélande en font un lieu idéal pourétudier l'Anthropocène. Nous examinons l'Anthropocène en tant que processus et les informations nécessaires pour comprendre les conséquences d'une interactioncontinue avec l'environnement humain. Ailleurs dans le monde, une longue histoire complique la capacitéà différencier l'impact des personnes sur l'environnement et les conséquences de l'engagement. En Nouvelle-Zélande, l'engagement est non seulement de courte durée, mais la masse terrestre a un long littoral avec de nombreusesîles au large des côtes. Ces caractéristiques permettent d'étudier l'impact de l'engagement là où il est particulièrement discernable. Nous présentons une de cesîles, Ahuahu (Great Mercury Island). À leur arrivée, les colons Polynésiens ont trouvé une terre tempérée et géologiquement complexe recouverte de forêts peuplées d'une faune et d'une flore endémiques diverses. Ils savaient produire des récoltes et exploiter des sources alimentaires sauvages, mais devaient s'adapter rapidementà de nouvelles conditions marginalesà la production età de nouvelles possibilités technologiques. L'étude de cas Néo-Zélandaise permet de déterminer si les processus impliqués dans la création des phénomènes décrits par l'Anthropocène sont mondiaux, directionnels et inévitables, ou sont dusà des changements locauxà petiteéchelle liésà des formes particulières de production des Maoris età leur capacitéà construire des changements environnementaux. Mots-clés l'Anthropocène, Nouvelle-Zélande, Maori, Ahuahu TUHINGA WHAKARĀPOPOTÓ Ki te aro atu ki te ao whānui, he nohonga hou a Aotearoa. Nā tēnā, he when...

Early tropical crop production in marginal subtropical and temperate Polynesia

“…1), where the earliest 14 C dates fall at 1215–1350 CE ( SI Appendix , Table S2), as well as the shared oral traditions and material culture, suggests a similar colonization time (30, 31). The earliest archaeological sites on Ahuahu provide ages comparable to the earliest ICP sites identified on mainland New Zealand at 1280–1350 CE ( SI Appendix , Table S3) (17, 32). Studies of an abandoned irrigated taro pond field and raised-bed garden complex on Rapa shows that taro production commenced in the ICP (22), and is expanded here.…”

“…At Tukou, the center of the marsh, 60 m from the lagoon edge, was cored to a depth of 4 m below the surface (TUKOU2). At Waitetoke, a 2-m core (EA200) was retrieved before reaching compacted clay and sand, but this site was also excavated to that same depth in a 1 × 1 m pit, recovering archaeological fire-cracked stones, obsidian flakes, and wood charcoal at a depth of 90 cm to 100 cm (32). At Tamewhera, an open sedge- and grass-covered section of the mire, was cored until a compacted sand layer was reached at a depth of 2.94 m below the surface (EA204).…”

“…Studies of an abandoned irrigated taro pond field and raised-bed garden complex on Rapa shows that taro production commenced in the ICP (22), and is expanded here. The presence of abundant surface garden features such as stone walls, storage pits, or ceremonial sites (ahu or marae) and fortifications (pā or pāre) on each island may relate to increasing population pressure and investment in crop production systems (30, 32). However, complex stratigraphy and site formation processes, with most deposits dated to after 1500 CE ( SI Appendix , Table S3), limit the accurate dating of these features.…”

“…No contiguous CHAR was recorded in the prehuman zone from any site. Extremely high macCHARs in the early garden sediments of Waitetoke are associated with a buried hearth feature (32). Modified with permission from ref.…”

Anthropocene Dynamics in the Prehistoric Pacific

“…My goal here is to explore whether the archaeological record of islands contains information germane to modeling social processes as we progress further into a world dominated by Anthropocene dynamics, not to contribute to the debate over where or if the start of the "Anthropocene" can be situated (cf. Holdaway et al 2018). Perspectives on this are largely informed by the particular anthropogenic processes in question.…”