Tangatatau Rockshelter
The Evolution of an Eastern Polynesian Socio-Ecosystem
Published on 31. December 2017
348 pages
978-1-938770-60-9 (ISBN)
Description
Tangatatau Rockshelter on Mangaia Island in the Southern Cook Islands, excavated by a multidisciplinary team in 1989-1991, produced one of the richest stratigraphic sequences of artifacts, faunal assemblages, and archaeobotanical materials in Eastern Polynesia. More than seventy radiocarbon dates provide a tight chronology from AD 1000 to European contact in about 1800. The faunal assemblage provides compelling evidence for dramatic reductions in indigenous bird life following Polynesian colonization, one of the best documented cases for human-induced impacts on island biota. Tangatatau is unique among Polynesian archaeological sites in the extent to which fishing was dominated by freshwater fishes and eels. The site also yielded an extensive suite of carbonized plant materials, including sweet potato tubers, demonstrating that this South American domesticate had reached Eastern Polynesia by AD 1400. Mangaia illustrates the often far-reaching consequences of human land use and resource exploitation on small and vulnerable islands.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Los Angeles
United States
File size
85,67 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-938770-60-9 (9781938770609)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
04/2017
Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA
€102.50
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Content
- Intro
- Half Title
- Fronticepiece
- Title
- Copyright
- Recent Publications
- Table of Contents
- Table of Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Contributors
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: The Mangaia Socio-Ecosystem: Environmental and Ethnohistoric Perspectives
- Chapter 3: Overview of Mangaian Archaeology
- Chapter 4: Excavations at Tangatatau Rockshelter
- Chapter 5: Radiocarbon Dating and Bayesian Modeling of the Chronology of Tangatatau Rockshelter
- Chapter 6: Vertebrate Fauna from Tangatatau Rockshelter: Mammals, Birds, and Reptiles
- Chapter 7: Fish Remains from Tangatatau Rockshelter
- Chapter 8: Invertebrate Faunal Remains from Tangatatau Rockshelter
- Chapter 9: Archaeobotanical Assemblages from Tangatatau Rockshelter
- Chapter 10: Material Culture and Technological Change at Tangatatau Rockshelter
- Chapter 11: Tangatatau Fishhook Assemblage
- Chapter 12: Lithic Assemblages of Tangatatau Rockshelter: Reduction Strategies and the Organization of Lithic Technology
- Chapter 13: Archaeological Investigations at Other Sites
- Chapter 14: Synthesis: Evolution of the Mangaia Socio-Ecosystem
- Glossary
- References
- Appendix
- Index
- Back Cover
- Blank Page
