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- Title
POLYNESIAN EARTH OVENS AND THEIR FUELS: WOOD CHARCOAL REMAINS FROM ANAHO VALLEY, NUKU HIVA, MARQUESAS ISLANDS.
- Authors
HUEBERT, JENNIFER M.; ALLEN, MELINDA S.; WALLACE, ROD T.
- Abstract
Earth ovens are a key component of many traditional Polynesian societies, used by both households and larger community groups for daily and specialised cooking, now and in the past. As repositories of wood charcoal, they potentially offer an opportunity to date prehistoric activities, study cultural practices, and reconstruct the flora of past landscapes. In this study, over 800 fragments of wood charcoal from Anaho Valley, Nuku Hiva Island in the Marquesas Islands were analysed for information on fuel sources, cultural usage patterns, and the prehistoric lowland vegetation. The materials come from seven ovens distributed across the valley and date to two broad time periods: AD 1450-1650 and post-1640. Several methodological issues relevant to wood charcoal analysis are discussed and considered in relation to these assemblages prior to interpretation of the results. Examination of a single functional class of fire features (ovens) allows formation processes to be held relatively constant across the set of samples. Varied quantitative issues are explored, including measures of abundance and variability in sample size. Thespesia populnea (Pacific rosewood, mi'o) and Sapindus saponaria (soapberry, koku'u), two native hardwoods, are identified as dominants in this assemblage. This is perhaps not unexpected given that oven stones are heated to high temperatures, and good quality fuel is desirable for this purpose. As a corollary, charcoal derived from oven features is likely to offer an incomplete view of past vegetation, although it may reflect the dominant local vegetation. Finally, joint consideration of ethnohistoric and archaeological evidence suggests the possibility that anthropogenic impacts led to declines in an important economic species, Thespesia populnea.
- Subjects
NUKA Hiva (French Polynesia); FRENCH Polynesia; CHARCOAL; POLYNESIAN cooking; THESPESIA populnea; ARCHAEOLOGY; ANTIQUITIES
- Publication
Journal of the Polynesian Society, 2010, Vol 119, Issue 1, p61
- ISSN
0032-4000
- Publication type
Article