Hallie Buckely

In April 2018 archaeological excavations were undertaken at both the 'old' and 'new' cemeteries of the historic goldfields town of Lawrence in Central Otago, New Zealand. The aim of the excavations was to examine the remains of 1860s goldminers, and in particular Chinese goldminers, in order to determine how they adapted to life on the goldfields frontier. This preliminary paper presents a description of what was found and some preliminary observations.

In December 2016 an Otago University team undertook an archaeological and bioarchaeological research excavation on the old St. Johns Cemetery near Milton in South Otago, New Zealand. The aim of the project is to study the early European settlers of the region to build up a picture of early life in colonial New Zealand, and determine whether immigration to New Zealand was beneficial. This paper is a preliminary report on the excavation.

Direct evidence of the environmental impact of human colonization and subsequent human adaptational responses to new environments is extremely rare anywhere in the world. New Zealand was the last Polynesian island group to be settled by
humans, who arrived around the end of the 13th century AD. Little is known about the nature of human adaptation and
mobility during the initial phase of colonization. We report the results of the isotopic analysis (carbon, nitrogen and strontium) of the oldest prehistoric skeletons discovered in New Zealand to assess diet and migration patterns. The isotope data show that the culturally distinctive burials, Group 1, had similar diets and childhood origins, supporting the assertion that this group was distinct from Group 2/3 and may have been part of the initial colonizing population at the site. The Group 2/3 individuals displayed highly variable diets and likely lived in different regions of the country before their burial at Wairau Bar, supporting the archaeological evidence that people were highly mobile in New Zealand since the initial phase of human settlement.

The Reber-Rakival site on Watom Island is of particular significance, as it is the first place where what is now known as Lapita pottery was found, by a German missionary in 1909. It is also significant as a Lapita-era burial site, although there has been much debate about the exact relationship between the burials and the Lapita occupation. In 2008 and 2009 an Otago University/Otago Museum/Papua New Guinea National Museum expedition carried out new excavations at the SAC locality in Rakival Village, in order to increase the sample size of both burials and ceramics, and to address some of the ongoing debates. The expedition found more burials, Lapita ceramics and associated artefactual material, and while it confirmed the relationship between the burials and the Lapita occupation, it also found that previous excavations had not reached the base of the site, and evidence of human occuption was found up to 0.8m deeper than previously known. Based on this work, a refined stratigraphic sequence is presented, with 7 layers replacing the old 4 zone model that has been used to date. This paper presents the description and interpretation of the SAC locality at Watom, and provides a basis for other more specialist papers that are in preparation.

ABSTRACT Stable isotopes (d13C, d15N, and d34S) are used to characterize the diet of the adult individuals (n 5 99) interred in the Namu burial ground located on the Polynesian outlier of Taumako (􏰃300–750 BP). Polyne- sian outliers are islands on the fringe of Remote Oceania that were inhabited by a back migration of populations from Polynesia during prehistory. As a result of admix- ture with nearby island communities, little is known about the social structure and social diversity of the pre- historic inhabitants of Taumako. The distribution of pres- tige grave goods within the Namu cemetery has been used as evidence to support the premise that Taumakoan social structure was stratified like Polynesian societies. Here we test the hypothesis that “wealthy” individuals and males will display isotopic ratios indicative of theconsumption of “high status” foods in the Pacific islands such as pork, chicken, sea turtle, and pelagic fish. The isotope results suggest the d34S values were diageneti- cally altered, possibly an effect of volcanism. The carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios indicate that the diet of all the individuals included a mixture of C3 terrestrial plant foods (likely starchy staples such as yam, taro, and breadfruit, in addition to nuts) and a variety of marine resources, including reef and pelagic fish. The stable iso- tope results indicate that wealthy individuals and males were eating more foods from higher trophic levels, interpreted as being high status animal foods. The socially differentiated food consumption patterns are discussed within a Pacific island context. Am J Phys Anthropol 151:589–603, 2013.

Stable isotope ratios (d13C and d15N) were analyzed from the bone collagen of individuals (n=58) from a Lapita burial ground (ca. 2800–2350 BP) on Watom Island, located off northeast New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago. The aim of this study was to
assess the diet and subsistence strategies of humans
that lived during the later Lapita period in Near Oceania.
To aid in the interpretation of the human diet we
analyzed the stable isotope ratios of faunal material
from the site (n527). We also aim to assess methods of
animal husbandry at the site over time from an analysis
of the stable isotope ratios (d13C and d15N) of pig bones
(n522) from different temporal periods (Lapita, post-
Lapita, and late prehistoric). The protein diet of the
humans consisted of marine organisms from the inshore
environment and some deep-water species, most likely
marine turtle, in addition to higher trophic level terrestrial
foods, likely pig and native animals (e.g., fruit bat,
Cuscus and bandicoot). Although the sample sizes were
small, females (n54) displayed more variable d13C and
d15N values compared with males (n54), which may be
associated with the movement of adult females to the
island. The stable isotope analysis of the pig bones indicated
that there were few differences between the diets
of the pigs from the Lapita and post-Lapita layers, suggesting
that the method of pig husbandry was similar
between these two periods and was likely relatively freerange.

Vanuatu was first settled ca. 3000 years ago by populations associated with the Lapita culture. Models of diet, subsistence
practices, and human interaction for the Lapita and subsequent occupation periods have been developed mainly using the
available archaeological and paleoenvironmental data. We test these models using stable (carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur) and
radiogenic (strontium) isotopes to assess the diet and childhood residency of past communities that lived on the small (,
1 km2) island of Uripiv, located off the northeast coast of Malakula, Vanuatu. The burials are from the initial Lapita
occupation of the island (ca. 2800–2600 BP), the subsequent later Lapita (LL, ca. 2600–2500 BP) and post-Lapita (PL, ca.
2500–2000 BP) occupations, in addition to a late prehistoric/historic (LPH, ca. 300–150 BP) occupation period. The human
stable isotope results indicate a progressively more terrestrial diet over time, which supports the archaeological model of an
intensification of horticultural and arboricultural systems as local resources were depleted, populations grew, and cultural
situations changed. Pig diets were similar and included marine foods during the Lapita and PL periods but were highly
terrestrial during the LPH period. This dietary pattern indicates that there was little variation in animal husbandry methods
during the first 800 years of prehistory; however, there was a subsequent change as animal diets became more controlled in
the LPH period. After comparison with the local bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr baseline, all of the Lapita and LPH individuals
appeared to be ‘local’, but three of the PL individuals were identified as ‘‘non-local.’’ We suggest that these ‘‘non-locals’’
moved to the island after infancy or childhood from one of the larger islands, supporting the model of a high level of
regional interaction during the post-Lapita period.

Direct evidence of the environmental impact of human colonization and subsequent human adaptational responses to new environments is extremely rare anywhere in the world. New Zealand was the last Polynesian island group to be settled by humans, who arrived around the end of the 13th century AD. Little is known about the nature of human adaptation and mobility during the initial phase of colonization. We report the results of the isotopic analysis (carbon, nitrogen and strontium) of the oldest prehistoric skeletons discovered in New Zealand to assess diet and migration patterns. The isotope data show that the culturally distinctive burials, Group 1, had similar diets and childhood origins, supporting the assertion that this group was distinct from Group 2/3 and may have been part of the initial colonizing population at the site. The Group 2/3 individuals displayed highly variable diets and likely lived in different regions of the country before their burial at Wairau Bar, supporting the archaeological evidence that people were highly mobile in New Zealand since the initial phase of human settlement.

Here we report on microfossil analysis of human dental calculus from Lapita (3000–2600 yr BP) and post-Lapita (2300–2000 yr BP) burials from Vao and Uripiv, Vanuatu. Phytoliths of introduced Musa and indigenous Heliconia in the calculus suggest the use of these taxa as food wrappings. Phytoliths and most other material in the calculus, namely sponge spicules, calcium oxalate crystals, xylem and charcoal, are unequivocal identifications. Another type of material, comprising degraded objects with a general morphology suggesting starch grains, is uncertain, however, as the unequivocal starch indicator, the Maltese cross, was not observed. We used a new method for calculus analysis, Fourier Transform InfraRed spectroscopy (FTIR), comparing the suspected starch with modern reference starch of prehistoric Pacific crops. Although the ancient FTIR analysis was limited to a small number of suspected starch grains, the results provide another line of evidence for starch. The calculus data are consistent with previous microfossil studies of Lapita deposits at the sites, and demonstrate the efficacy of this technique in contributing to the definition of the history of plant use and diet of early Pacific Island populations.

The rise of stratified societies fundamentally influences the interactions between status, movement, and food. Using isotopic analyses, we assess differences in diet and mobility of
individuals excavated from two burial mounds located at the `Atele burial site on Tongatapu, the main island of the Kingdom of Tonga (c. 500 - 150 BP). The first burial mound (To-At-1)
was classified by some archaeologists as a commoner’s mound while the second burial mound (To-At-2) was possibly used for interment of the chiefly class. In this study, stable isotope analyses of diet (δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S; n = 41) are used to asses paleodiet and 87Sr/86Sr ratios (n = 30) are analyzed to investigate individual mobility to test whether sex and social status affected these aspects of life. Our results show significant differences in diet between burial mounds and sexes. Those interred in To-At-2 displayed lower δ13C values, indicating they ate relatively more terrestrial plants (likely starchy vegetable staples) compared with To-At-1 individuals. Females displayed significantly lower δ15N values compared with males within the entire assemblage. No differences in δ34S values were observed between sexes or burial mound but it is possible that sea spray or volcanism may have affected these values. One individual displayed the strontium isotopic composition
representative of a nonlocal immigrant (outside 2SD of the mean). This suggests the hegemonic control over interisland travel, may have prevented long-term access to the island by
non-Tongans exemplifying the political and spiritual importance of the island of Tongatapu in the maritime chiefdom.