A reassessment of settlement patterns and subsistence at Point Durham, Chatham Island

Abstract

Orthodox reconstructions of subsistence and settlement patterns on Chatham Island proposed that throughout the pre-contact period, Moriori lived within small home ranges and relied for food predominantly on fur seals, with plant foods being of little importance. Reassessment of the Point Durham sites on which these reconstructions were based demonstrates that they were not contemporary, which undermines the orthodox model. Chronological evidence indicates two phases of pre-contact occupation and that the largest fur seal midden probably derives from the early historical period. During both pre-contact phases, settlement patterns involved residential mobility between sites of different function along with the transporting of resources over wider territories than the orthodox model allowed. Subsistence evidence shows a shift from initial reliance on fur seals to a broader spectrum of smaller marine animals. Furthermore, new palaeobotanical data indicate that plants, in particular kōpi (Corynocarpus laevigatus), were an important component of diet.

Human‐mediated extirpation of the unique Chatham Islands sea lion and implications for the conservation management of remaining New Zealand sea lion populations

“…The recovery of Phocarctos mtDNA from several Chatham Island archaeological specimens (Fig. ) confirms that this endemic Chatham Island lineage was harvested by humans (Sutton ; McFadgen ; Maxwell ; Maxwell & Smith ) during the early prehistoric period (1450–1650 AD). This archaeological material includes a broad ontogenetic range of specimens, suggesting sea lion hunting was not targeted to any particular size class (or presumably sex).…”

“…All but one of the 27 Phocarctos sequences clustered together in a unique Chatham Islands haplogroup (0.94 Posterior Probability; PP) containing nine haplotypes, sister to Phocarctos hookeri ‘subantarctic’ (1.00 PP; three haplotypes) and extinct mainland ‘ P. hookeri NZ’ (0.77 PP; 14 haplotypes) sister lineages (Figs and S1, Supporting information). The remaining Chathams Phocarctos sequence, from a historic (1791–1834 AD) whole skeleton (PhoCHI1) assumed to be a recent ‘subantarctic’ vagrant (as no resident Phocarctos have been historically recorded on the Chatham Islands; Maxwell ; Maxwell & Smith ), clustered with P. hookeri ‘subantarctic’ (haplotype SA2; Fig. S1, Supporting information).…”

“…Cape Pattisson, Tupuangi Beach; Fig. 1 ;McFadgen 1989;Maxwell 2014;Maxwell & Smith 2015). While these latter archaeological sites can be classified as 'early prehistoric', they may also contain prehuman remains up to 6000 years old (e.g.…”

“…Pinnipeds, including sea lions and fur seals, are abundant in prehuman (<1450 AD) and early prehistoric (ca. 1450–1650 AD) Chatham Islands deposits, but are rare or absent in later sites (>1650 AD; McFadgen ; Maxwell ; Maxwell & Smith ; Fig. ).…”

“…50% of the diet), until these food sources apparently declined and/or went extinct (Maxwell ). The local diet then transitioned to one of mixed marine and terrestrial based resources (Maxwell ; Maxwell & Smith ). This timeline and transition closely parallel a prehistoric faunal transition inferred for mainland NZ (Smith ; Rawlence et al .…”