Prehistoric introduction and extinction of animals in Mangareva, Southeast Polynesia

Abstract

AbstractDespite images of paradise, eastern Polynesian islands were devoid of most economically‐useful animals and cultigens when colonised by humans about 1500 years ago; other views on chronology are more conservative. We analyse the faunal material from the 1959 excavations by Green in Mangareva, southeast Polynesia where 13,598 bones (NISP) were identified to nearest taxon. We discuss the significance of the purposely introduced chicken or Pacific Jungle Fowl (Gallus gallus), dog (Canis familiaris) and pig (Sus scrofa) not known from the historic records of that island group as well as the Pacific rat (Rattus exulans) and human dental and skeletal material. The dog remains now represent the most eastern limit of this species known prehistorically for Oceania. Many of the pig remains were associated with a marae (religious edifice) confirming the importance of this animal in its ceremonies. The majority of fractured human bones and teeth were recovered from midden contexts, thus alluding to the possibility of cannibalism as reported in late prehistoric oral traditions. We suggest that rats, and not human predation, were responsible for the early local extinction of the chicken in the prehistoric sequence for Mangareva.