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Zinger W, Valentin F, Spriggs M, Bedford S, Flexner JL, Willie E, Kuautonga T, Détroit F. "Feeling at home in Vanuatu": Integration of newcomers from the East during the last millennium. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0290465. [PMID: 38295041 PMCID: PMC10830024 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Several localities across the Vanuatu archipelago (Melanesia), so-called 'Polynesian Outliers', are inhabited by communities that display Polynesian linguistic and cultural features although being located outside the Polynesian Triangle. Several introductions of Polynesian genetic components to Central and Southern Vanuatu during the last millenium have resulted in the cultural distinctiveness observed among the Polynesian Outliers in Vanuatu. However, social, political or economic process surrounding the exchange of genes between Polynesian and local individuals remain unidentified. Recent bioanthropological studies suggest the existence of female mobilities from neighboring regions to Vanuatu but also to the Polynesian Outliers of Taumako (Solomon Islands) within patrilocal societies. We aim to examine the hypothesis that Polynesian biological affinities observed in ancient individuals from Vanuatu are gendered or sex-specific, and that some of the Polynesian migrations during the last millennium may have involved practices of exogamy. By reconstructing phenotypes and biological identities from 13 archaeologically-recovered human skulls (400-300 years ago) from "Polynesian-related" regions of Vanuatu, we provide new insights to better contextualize the settlement patterns of Polynesian individuals. Eastern-Pacific associated phenotype are observable in 4 women from the Eretok burial complex (Efate region) and the Polynesian Outlier of Futuna, who were buried in close proximity to individuals with Western-Pacific associated phenotype. We suggest that close integration of individuals from the East into the local Vanuatu society, as well as the practice of exogamy, might have been key processes contributing to the preservation of Polynesian cultural features in Vanuatu over the past millennium. Our finding are cross-referenced with oral records from these two areas, as well as the known genetic makeup of the Vanuatu Polynesian Outliers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wanda Zinger
- Archaeo- and Palaeogenetics Group, Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Tübingen University, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Frédérique Valentin
- UMR 8068 TEMPS/CNRS/ Université Paris1 Panthéon Sorbonne/ Université Paris Nanterre/ Ministère de la Culture, MSH Mondes, Nanterre, France
| | - Matthew Spriggs
- School of Archaeology and Anthropology, College of Arts and Social Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Stuart Bedford
- School of Culture, History & Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Leipzig, Germany
| | - James L. Flexner
- Department of Archaeology, School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Edson Willie
- Vanuatu Cultural Centre Port Vila, Port Vila, Vanuatu
| | | | - Florent Détroit
- Archaeo- and Palaeogenetics Group, Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Tübingen University, Tübingen, Germany
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Hermann A, Gutiérrez P, Chauvel C, Maury R, Liorzou C, Willie E, Phillip I, Forkel R, Rzymski C, Bedford S. Artifact geochemistry demonstrates long-distance voyaging in the Polynesian Outliers. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadf4487. [PMID: 37083531 PMCID: PMC10121159 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adf4487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Although the peopling of Remote Oceania is well-documented as a general process of eastward migrations from Island Southeast Asia and Near Oceania toward the archipelagos of Remote Oceania, the origin and the development of Polynesian societies in the Western Pacific (Polynesian Outliers), far away from the Polynesian triangle, remain unclear. Here, we present a large-scale geochemical sourcing study of stone artifacts excavated from archeological sites in central Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and the Caroline Islands and provide unambiguous evidence of multiple long-distance voyages, with exotic stone materials being transported up to 2500 kilometers from their source. Our results emphasize high mobility in the Western Pacific during the last millennium CE and offer insights on the scale and timing of contacts between the Polynesian Outliers, their neighbors in the Western Pacific, and societies of Western Polynesia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aymeric Hermann
- UMR 8068 Temps, CNRS, F-92023 Nanterre, France
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, MPI-EVA, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Corresponding author.
| | - Pamela Gutiérrez
- Université Paris Cité, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, CNRS, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - Catherine Chauvel
- Université Paris Cité, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, CNRS, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - René Maury
- Université de Brest, UMR6538 Géosciences Océan, Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, CNRS, F-29280 Plouzané, France
| | - Céline Liorzou
- Université de Brest, UMR6538 Géosciences Océan, Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, CNRS, F-29280 Plouzané, France
| | - Edson Willie
- Vanuatu National Museum, Vanuatu Cultural Centre, P.O. Box 184, Port-Vila, Vanuatu
| | - Iarawai Phillip
- Vanuatu National Museum, Vanuatu Cultural Centre, P.O. Box 184, Port-Vila, Vanuatu
| | - Robert Forkel
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, MPI-EVA, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Christoph Rzymski
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, MPI-EVA, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Stuart Bedford
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, MPI-EVA, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Vanuatu National Museum, Vanuatu Cultural Centre, P.O. Box 184, Port-Vila, Vanuatu
- Department of Archaeology and Natural History, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
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Hermann A, Forkel R, McAlister A, Cruickshank A, Golitko M, Kneebone B, McCoy M, Reepmeyer C, Sheppard P, Sinton J, Weisler M. Pofatu, a curated and open-access database for geochemical sourcing of archaeological materials. Sci Data 2020; 7:141. [PMID: 32393758 PMCID: PMC7214434 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-020-0485-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Compositional analyses have long been used to determine the geological sources of artefacts. Geochemical "fingerprinting" of artefacts and sources is the most effective way to reconstruct strategies of raw material and artefact procurement, exchange or interaction systems, and mobility patterns during prehistory. The efficacy and popularity of geochemical sourcing has led to many projects using various analytical techniques to produce independent datasets. In order to facilitate access to this growing body of data and to promote comparability and reproducibility in provenance studies, we designed Pofatu, the first online and open-access database to present geochemical compositions and contextual information for archaeological sources and artefacts in a form that can be readily accessed by the scientific community. This relational database currently contains 7759 individual samples from archaeological sites and geological sources across the Pacific Islands. Each sample is comprehensively documented and includes elemental and isotopic compositions, detailed archaeological provenance, and supporting analytical metadata, such as sampling processes, analytical procedures, and quality control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aymeric Hermann
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745, Jena, Thüringen, Germany.
- CNRS, UMR 7041 ArScAn, Equipe Ethnologie Préhistorique, Maison de l'Archéologie et de l'Ethnologie, CNRS, UMR 7041, 92023, Nanterre, France.
| | - Robert Forkel
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745, Jena, Thüringen, Germany.
| | - Andrew McAlister
- Department of Anthropology, School of Social Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand
| | | | - Mark Golitko
- Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556, USA
| | | | - Mark McCoy
- Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, 75205, USA
| | - Christian Reepmeyer
- College of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, 4878, Australia
| | - Peter Sheppard
- Department of Anthropology, School of Social Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand
| | - John Sinton
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Hawai'i, 96822, USA
| | - Marshall Weisler
- School of Social Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia
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Olivares G, Peña-Ahumada B, Peñailillo J, Payacán C, Moncada X, Saldarriaga-Córdoba M, Matisoo-Smith E, Chung KF, Seelenfreund D, Seelenfreund A. Human mediated translocation of Pacific paper mulberry [Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) L'Hér. ex Vent. (Moraceae)]: Genetic evidence of dispersal routes in Remote Oceania. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0217107. [PMID: 31216291 PMCID: PMC6583976 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2019] [Accepted: 05/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Paper mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) L’Hér. ex Vent. (Moraceae), a dioecious species, was transported by humans from Taiwan to the islands of Remote Oceania. Its introduction and cultivation in Remote Oceania was intentional due to its cultural importance as a fiber source for barkcloth textiles. The aim of this study was to explore the genetic diversity and structure of paper mulberry populations within Remote Oceania in order to infer dispersal patterns that may reflect past human interaction among island groups. We present the integrated analysis of 380 samples (313 contemporary and 67 herbarium specimens) collected in Near and Remote Oceania. Genetic characterization was based on a set of ten microsatellites developed for B. papyrifera and complemented with the analysis of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer ITS-1 sequence, a sex marker and the chloroplast ndhF–rpl32 intergenic spacer. Microsatellite data identify a total of 64 genotypes, despite this being a clonally propagated crop, and show three major dispersal hubs within Remote Oceania, centered on the islands of Fiji, Tonga, and Pitcairn. Of 64 genotypes identified, 55 correspond to genotypes associated to female-sexed plants that probably descend from plants introduced by the prehistoric Austronesian-speaking voyagers. The ratio of accessions to genotypes between herbarium and contemporary samples, suggests recent loss of genetic diversity. In addition to the chloroplast haplotypes described previously, we detected two new haplotypes within Remote Oceania both originating in Taiwan. This is the first study of a commensal species to show genetic structuring within Remote Oceania. In spite of the genetic bottleneck, the presence of only one sex, a timespan of less than 5000 years, and asexual propagation of this crop in Remote Oceania, we detect genetic diversity and regional structuring. These observations suggest specific migration routes between island groups within Remote Oceania.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela Olivares
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Bárbara Peña-Ahumada
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Johany Peñailillo
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Claudia Payacán
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Ximena Moncada
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Mónica Saldarriaga-Córdoba
- Centro de Investigación en Recursos Naturales y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Bernardo O’Higgins, Santiago, Chile
| | | | - Kuo-Fang Chung
- Research Museum and Herbarium (HAST), Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Daniela Seelenfreund
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- * E-mail: (DS); (AS)
| | - Andrea Seelenfreund
- Escuela de Antropología, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano, Santiago, Chile
- * E-mail: (DS); (AS)
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Quintus S, Clark JT. Ritualizing Hierarchy: Power Strategies and Pigeon Catching in Ancient Samoa. JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2019. [DOI: 10.1086/701272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Matisoo-Smith E, Gosling AL. Walking backwards into the future: the need for a holistic evolutionary approach in Pacific health research. Ann Hum Biol 2018; 45:175-187. [PMID: 29877149 DOI: 10.1080/03014460.2018.1448889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
CONTEXT The Pacific region has had a complex human history. It has been subject to multiple major human dispersal and colonisation events, including some of the earliest Out-of-Africa migrations, the so-called Austronesian expansion of people out of Island Southeast Asia, and the more recent arrival of Europeans. Despite models of island isolation, evidence suggests significant levels of interconnectedness that vary in direction and frequency over time. The Pacific Ocean covers a vast area and its islands provide an array of different physical environments with variable pathogen loads and subsistence opportunities. These diverse environments likely caused Pacific peoples to adapt (both genetically and culturally) in unique ways. Differences in genetic background, in combination with adaptation, likely affect their susceptibility to non-communicable diseases. OBJECTIVES Here we provide an overview of some of the key issues in the natural and human history of the Pacific region which are likely to impact human health. We argue that understanding the evolutionary and cultural history of Pacific peoples is essential for the generation of testable hypotheses surrounding potential causes of elevated disease susceptibility among Pacific peoples.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Anna L Gosling
- a Department of Anatomy , University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand.,b Department of Biochemistry , University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand
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McAlister A, Allen MS. Basalt geochemistry reveals high frequency of prehistoric tool exchange in low hierarchy Marquesas Islands (Polynesia). PLoS One 2017; 12:e0188207. [PMID: 29281652 PMCID: PMC5744946 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2017] [Accepted: 11/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
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 chiefdoms (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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew McAlister
- Anthropology, School of Social Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- * E-mail:
| | - Melinda S. Allen
- Anthropology, School of Social Sciences, Te Pūnaha Matatini, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
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8
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Dispersal, Isolation, and Interaction in the Islands of Polynesia: A Critical Review of Archaeological and Genetic Evidence. DIVERSITY 2017. [DOI: 10.3390/d9030037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Cook Island artifact geochemistry demonstrates spatial and temporal extent of pre-European interarchipelago voyaging in East Polynesia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016; 113:8150-5. [PMID: 27382159 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1608130113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The Cook Islands are considered the "gateway" for human colonization of East Polynesia, the final chapter of Oceanic settlement and the last major region occupied on Earth. Indeed, East Polynesia witnessed the culmination of the greatest maritime migration in human history. Perennial debates have critiqued whether Oceanic settlement was purposeful or accidental, the timing and pathways of colonization, and the nature and extent of postcolonization voyaging-essential for small founding groups securing a lifeline between parent and daughter communities. Centering on the well-dated Tangatatau rockshelter, Mangaia, Southern Cook Islands, we charted the temporal duration and geographic spread of exotic stone adze materials-essential woodworking tools found throughout Polynesia- imported for more than 300 y beginning in the early AD 1300s. Using a technique requiring only 200 mg of sample for the geochemical analysis of trace elements and isotopes of fine-grained basalt adzes, we assigned all artifacts to an island or archipelago of origin. Adze material was identified from the chiefly complex on the Austral Islands, from the major adze quarry complex on Tutuila (Samoa), and from the Marquesas Islands more than 2,400 km distant. This interaction is the only dated example of down-the-line exchange in central East Polynesia where intermediate groups transferred commodities attesting to the interconnectedness and complexity of social relations fostered during postsettlement voyaging. For the Cook Islands, this exchange may have lasted into the 1600s, at least a century later than other East Polynesian archipelagos, suggesting that interarchipelago interaction contributed to the later development of social hierarchies.
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Flexner JL. Archaeology and Ethnographic Collections. MUSEUM WORLDS 2016. [DOI: 10.3167/armw.2016.040113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
ABSTRACTThe archaeological value of museum collections is not limited to collections labelled “archaeology.” “Ethnology” or “ethnography” collections can provide useful information for evaluating broadly relevant theoretical and methodological discussions in the discipline. The concepts of provenience (where something was found), provenance (where the materials for an object originated), and context (the ways an object is and was interpreted and used within a cultural milieu) are central to much archaeo-logical interpretation. Archaeologists have often looked to living societies as analogues for better understanding these issues. Museum ethnographic collections from Vanuatu provide a case study offering a complementary approach, in which assemblages of ethnographic objects and associated information allow us to reconstruct complex networks of movement, exchange, and entanglement.
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Stantis C, Kinaston RL, Richards MP, Davidson JM, Buckley HR. Assessing human diet and movement in the Tongan maritime chiefdom using isotopic analyses. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0123156. [PMID: 25822619 PMCID: PMC4378966 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0123156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2014] [Accepted: 02/25/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The rise of stratified societies fundamentally influences the interactions between status, movement, and food. Using isotopic analyses, we assess differences in diet and mobility of individuals excavated from two burial mounds located at the `Atele burial site on Tongatapu, the main island of the Kingdom of Tonga (c. 500 - 150 BP). The first burial mound (To-At-1) was classified by some archaeologists as a commoner's mound while the second burial mound (To-At-2) was possibly used for interment of the chiefly class. In this study, stable isotope analyses of diet (δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S; n = 41) are used to asses paleodiet and 87Sr/86Sr ratios (n = 30) are analyzed to investigate individual mobility to test whether sex and social status affected these aspects of life. Our results show significant differences in diet between burial mounds and sexes. Those interred in To-At-2 displayed lower δ13C values, indicating they ate relatively more terrestrial plants (likely starchy vegetable staples) compared with To-At-1 individuals. Females displayed significantly lower δ15N values compared with males within the entire assemblage. No differences in δ34S values were observed between sexes or burial mound but it is possible that sea spray or volcanism may have affected these values. One individual displayed the strontium isotopic composition representative of a nonlocal immigrant (outside 2SD of the mean). This suggests the hegemonic control over interisland travel, may have prevented long-term access to the island by non-Tongans exemplifying the political and spiritual importance of the island of Tongatapu in the maritime chiefdom.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Stantis
- Department of Anatomy, Division of Health Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Rebecca L. Kinaston
- Department of Anatomy, Division of Health Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Michael P. Richards
- Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Hallie R. Buckley
- Department of Anatomy, Division of Health Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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