Abstract
Spatial patterns of seasonal crop production suggest coordination within and across dryland agricultural systems of Hawaiʻi Island
Highlights
IntroductionHawaiian traditional agriculture is often categorized into wetland (flooded, irrigated) and dryland (rain-fed) systems of production
Hawaiian traditional agriculture is often categorized into wetland and dryland systems of production
When we imposed temperature and moisture criteria to visualize seasonal cultivation envelopes defined for sweet potato (Ipomea batatas), we found strong spatial patterns associated with the onset and length of the growing season, and these suggest seasonal complementarity in crop production within and between field systems
Summary
Hawaiian traditional agriculture is often categorized into wetland (flooded, irrigated) and dryland (rain-fed) systems of production. During the 18th and 19th century in Hawaii, in the decades immediately prior to and after European arrival, polities from the leeward regions of Hawaii Island and Maui expanded to unify individual islands and eventually the archipelago That these predatory polities developed out of the geologically young rainfed regions rather than the more productive irrigated valleys of Oahu or Kauai has been recognized for decades and has been the subject of intensive archaeological inquiry (e.g., Rosendahl 1972, Schilt 1984, Ladefoged et al 1996, Allen 2001, Ladefoged et al 2003). Several researchers focused on the increased volatility inherent in cultivated rain-fed systems as opposed to irrigated systems suggest that variation in those systems’ annual yield may have led to aggression during times of below-average harvest (Kirch 2010, Hommon 2013). Most researchers agree, and modelling suggests, that production variation between the wet and the dry areas of islands and within individual field systems was a key component of increased coordination, whether through coercion or cooperation, apparent after AD 1600 in the archipelago (Allen 2004, Ladefoged and Graves 2008, Ladefoged et al 2008, DiNapoli and Morrison 2017)
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