People of the Sea, or of the Soil? How the Balance of Marine and Terrestrial Resource Availability Informs Maximum Population on Four Polynesian Islands

Bibliographic Data

ID21080945
AuthorsCedric O Puleston (University of California, Davis, corresponding author), J G Kahn (0000-0001-6687-3806, William & Mary), Oliver A Chadwick (0000-0002-4964-6203, University of California, Santa Barbara), Nick Belluzzo (William & Mary), P V Kirch (0000-0003-4264-6689, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa)
Year2024
Volume52
Issue4
Pages713-729
Publication date2024-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Ecology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0300-7839 • E-ISSN: 1572-9915
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s10745-024-00530-4
OpenAlexW4403426343
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited28

Most studies of the food resource potential of early Polynesian populations focus exclusively on agricultural potential, and specifically starchy staples, despite the importance of marine resources to the Polynesians. To more accurately estimate total precontact food resource availability, we characterized the terrestrial and near-shore marine environments of four Polynesian islands: Moʻorea, Maupiti, Mangareva and Taravai. We estimate the agricultural potential of each island after a consideration of the ecological factors related to productivity. We also estimate the productivity of the near-shore marine environment as a function of surface area. Using a range of fish yield scenarios from Pacific subsistence systems we scale relative measures of faunal food biomass derived from local archaeological excavations to generate absolute biomass estimates. We convert our estimates of agricultural and fished/foraged food potential into a maximum population size based on calorie availability. Moʻorea’s fertile valleys and wetlands would potentially generate sufficient food energy, mostly from starchy staples, to support a considerable population, many times larger than the other islands. In the most likely fish yield scenario Moʻorea gets only 0.4% of its calories from marine sources, while the others range from 7–18%. These relative inputs reflect the vast superiority in productivity (in terms of calories per km 2 ) of agricultural vs near-shore marine zones. We also find that population size on islands with smaller fringing reefs, such as Moʻorea, may have been limited by a lack of fish protein. Moʻorea’s maximum population is approximately halved when diet breadth is considered

Biology · Geography · Population · Sociology · Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration · Demography · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies