Fiji (Viti) Pt 2

Question 1

Arguments about ceramic change

Answer 1

1. Incised designs at 2800 BP are markedly different
   1.1 New people arrive from Vanuatu/New Caledonia?
   1.2 Internal social development? (Clues true by shape of houses in Fiji like ones that are conical in New Caledonia)

Question 2

Archaeological Evidence for Internal Change

Answer 2

1. Fortifications ca. 1500 BP Pottery is increasingly localized
2. Cannibalism evident 1000 BP
   2.1 Burnt human skeletons with cut marks on joints/bones (chopped up bodies) (Problem because could be mortuary ritual where they break apart body to bury)
   2.2 Know cannibalism because can tell by feces with human meat in them
3. 2 pieces of obsidian (originally Vanuatu, now Tonga)
   3.1 Sharp tools
4. Investment in intensive agriculture
   4.1 Erosion
   4.2 Large complexes of terraces (undated)

Question 3

Her Dissertation: Basics

Answer 3

1. Sigatoka Valley
   1.1 SW side
2. Analyses of food production
   2.1 Not enough farm land so fortifications where can guard land
3. 500 page dissertation
   3.1 1.5 years to write

Question 4

Her Dissertation: Fortifications of valley on map

Answer 4

1. Agricultural Features
   1.1 Terraces for growing taro
   1.2 Patties for taro growing
2. Archaeological features
   2.1 Mound with ditching and house outpost
   2.2 Whole village with surrounding ditch
3. She redid the maps of the area

Question 5

Her Dissertation: Go to villages with member of Fiji association asking to see fortifications to excavate

Answer 5

1. Most said yes
2. Most fortifications had to walk (or use horse)
   2.1 Sketchy roads
3. People only know places through oral history so interested in how old they are
4. Found pottery and charcoal
5. 2000 years old and people shocked

Question 6

Modeling Ancient Fiji at Colonization

Answer 6

1. Topographic model of Viti Levu
2. Native palm
   2.1 Less eroded cause more trees
   2.2 More forested and rocky and transitioned into more open garden space
3. River transport, Fiji
4. Inside the Lagoon

Question 7

The Logistics of Farming in the Pacific Islands

Answer 7

1. Kapauku Papuan Economy (Pospisol 1963)
   1.1 Labor investments in cultivation activities
   1.2 Yields (for different crops and cultivations types) (Does time spent gardening correlate to where fortifications are)
2. Extensive vs. Intensive Shifting Cultivation of space

Question 8

Components of GIS-based model (modern data)

Answer 8

1. Drainage and slope
2. Limestone outcrops and springs
3. Forest
4. Seasonal precipitation
5. Soils
6. Topography

Question 9

Analysis of parch-based GIS-model of Ancient Fiji

Answer 9

1. So much information hard to find driver of variables
2. Intersecting polygons
3. Patches encoded with kcal per house value
4. Time slices

Question 10

Time Slice 1: Choosing to Farm? Where to Go?

Answer 10

1. Qaraqara upriver
2. Caluse near the coast
3. Four study sites
   3.1 Tuwalu, Caqasi and two above
4. Think earliest signature by earliest Lapita sites but wrong

Question 11

Testing the Model: Paleoenvironmental Analyses

Answer 11

1. Frequency of biomass burning
2. Deposition
3. Vegetation canopy
4. Microfossils
5. Extracted sediment core
   5.1 Analyses of cores to see how all of above developed (Took 10 years because meticulous slow analyses to get through cores)

Question 12

Flip in data: Means some sort of change in thing studying

Answer 12

1. This case palm in swamp deposits
   1.1 Biomass burning (5330-5640 cal BP) (Some sort of natural event like volcano)
   1.2 Lapita period when people arrive switch in what’s happening (Biomass burning 1590-1730 cal BP) (Shift to C4 dominated, open Savannah 2790-2950 BP (People lit it on fire and burnt area) (Grass comes back first))
   1.3 Biomass burning (1420-930 BP), old solid washing down (eroded palm phytolith) (Open grassland C4 dominated 1560 cal BP to present)

Question 13

Chronology of Fire and Forest Cover

Answer 13

1. Qaraqara (upriver)
   1.1 Charcoal lots of peaks
   1.2 Carbon slow switch to grassland
2. Caluwe (near coast)
   2.1 Slow then quick peaks charcoal
   2.2 Slow switch to grassland carbon (?)
3. Both have same processes happening

Question 14

Testing the Model: Archaeological Investigation of Qaraqara

Answer 14

1. Spring-fed drainage
2. Biomass burning at 3000, 2000 BP

Question 15

Evidence for Cultivation ca. 2300-1700 cal BP

Answer 15

1. Found food particles
   1.1 Paddle impressed ceramics with carbonized residue, 1700-1648 cal BP
2. Iron oxyhydroxide root casts in situ
3. Iron oxyhydrozide root casts
4. Farming focus: irrigated Colocasia esculenta, year-round production, high yield
   4.1 Near spring so always have water and have constant even pace/steady flow (to grow taro) (Rivers flood greatly when it rains)

Question 16

Additional Analyses: Microfossils, Ceramics, and Isotopic Food Web

Answer 16

1. Fauna collection
2. Flora collection
3. Breadfruit, Taro, Banana, Fiji asparagus phytolis found
   3.1 Banana most exciting because found low in sediment so around long time (Put banana in and grow quickly over year and keep going)

Question 17

When to Farm, rather than Forage?

Answer 17

1. Right away!
   1.1 Early focus on spring-fed cultivation (low initial investment)
   1.2 Later expansion of farming, biomass burning
2. Shoreline gleaning
3. Spring fed taro
4. Burning for garden expansion