Lapita subsistence strategies and food consumption patterns in the community of Teouma (Efate, Vanuatu)

Multi-isotopic analysis of first Polynesian diet (Talasiu, Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga)

“…No correlation between carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios and yield, %C, %N and C:N ratios were found for the 16 other samples indicating that preservation indicator values do not appear to result from taphonomic processes. Talasiu human collagen δ Richards et al, 2009;Allen and Craig, 2009;Jones and Quinn, 2009;Valentin et al, 2010;. When compared to the two pigs values, the Talasiu human values are more positive for both carbon (+4.0‰) and nitrogen (+2.9‰).…”

“…Different geographical origins have been identified in the raw material of obsidian (north Tonga) and stone artifacts (south and central Tonga and east Fiji) (Reepmeyer et al, 2012;Clark et al, 2014). (Tables 4 and 5, for individual data see SD2): Vanuatu (Valentin et al, 2010, Bismarck Islands (Petchey and Green, 2005;Kinaston et al, 2015), and Fiji (Nunn et al, 2007; show an overlap of the collagen values, except for the female (Sk3.1), highlighting again her different dietary regime (Fig. 5).…”

“…These expected human diet values are consistent with the consumption of a mixed diet involving at least three dietary components. The stable carbon isotope ratios demonstrate the complementary contribution of terrestrial resources, including C 3 -plants and animal Data from: Fry et al, 1983;Collier and Hobson, 1987;Keegan and DeNiro, 1988;Leach et al, 1996;Ambrose et al, 1997;Yoneda et al, 2004;Valentin et al, 2006;Beavan Athfield et al, 2008;Field et al, 2009;Allen and Craig, 2009;Jones and Quinn, 2009;Richards et al, 2009;White et al, 2010;Valentin et al, 2010;Storey et al, 2010; Only 1 archaeological specimen from Valentin et al, 2010. b All data from Yoneda et al, 2004, on 81 bone collagen samples. c Only 2 archaeological specimens from Kinaston et al, 2014. d All specimens are archaeological except 10 moderns from Ambrose et al, 1997, Valentin et al, 2006, Beavan Athfield et al, 2008 e All samples are modern ones.…”

“…Stable isotope studies, applied to skeletal remains of early Pacific populations, have shown a trend toward a horticultural diet with temporal variation in response to local environmental conditions (Field et al, 2009;Kinaston and Buckley, 2013;Valentin et al, 2010Valentin et al, , 2014Kinaston et al, , 2015Kinaston et al, , 2016. As a consequence, human groups associated with the late-Lapita/immediately post-Lapita period are expected to have stable isotope ratios indicating that fewer marine resources were consumed compared with the first Lapita colonizers.…”

Terrestrial engagements by terminal Lapita maritime specialists on the southern Papuan coast

“…Whatever the case, it is clear that in the Caution Bay region a complex and diverse subsistence pattern existed for terminal-Lapita pottery-using peoples, whereby the ratio of terrestrial to marine foods in diets varied depending on context and site location. In this sense, Caution Bay Lapita sites have considerable potential to inform current debates on the degree of marine-protein specialisation by Lapita peoples of the Western Pacific and factors influencing the incorporation of wild and domesticated terrestrial animal foods (Field et al 2009;Valentin et al 2010). At this juncture, whether cultivated plant foods contributed significantly to Lapita diets at Caution Bay remains hypothetical, but it is plausible that plant food was cultivated given the likelihood of Lapita agriculture across the Western Pacific (Kirch 1997;Spriggs 1997;Kennett et al 2006;Horrocks and Nunn 2007;Fall 2010;see also Fairbairn 2005:495) and major erosion and sedimentation at Edubu 1 (see below).…”