Asian Perspectives, 1993 - Volume 32, Number 2 (Fall)
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Asian Perspectives is the leading peer-reviewed archaeological journal devoted to the prehistory of Asia and the Pacific region. In addition to archaeology, it features articles and book reviews on ethnoarchaeology, palaeoanthropology, physical anthropology, and ethnography of interest and use to the prehistorian. International specialists contribute regional reports summarizing current research and fieldwork, and present topical reports of significant sites. Occasional special issues focus on single topics.
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Center for South Asian Studies
University of Hawai'i, Manoa
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ItemBooks Received(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1993)
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ItemReview of International Symposium on Ancient Ceramics 1992: A Review(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1993)
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ItemA Reappraisal of Evidence for Subsitence Change at the Hane Dune Site, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1993)The faunal assemblage from the Hane Dune site in the Marquesas Islands serves as one of the best-documented cases of Prehistoric subsistence change in Polynesia. Reanalysis of the data using more reliable quantitative techniques indicates that there is insufficient evidence to identify a qualitative shift from a marine-oriented to a terrestrially focused economy. With the exception of the loss of birds over time, the Hane faunal assemblage is dominated by marine taxa over time. Stability rather than dramatic change appears to be the subsistence trend at Hane. This suggests that archaeologists may want to reconsider their analyses and interpretations of subsistence patterns in Polynesia. KEYWORDS: faunal analysis, subsistence change, quantitative methods, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
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ItemEnvironmental Change and Prehistoric Polynesian Settlement in Hawai'i(University of Hawai'i Press (Honolulu), 1993)Prehistoric environmental change in Hawai'i is evaluated through the analysis of sediment and pollen samples from dated cores and excavation profiles in the coastal lowlands of O'ahu. It is suggested that a lowland Pritchardia palm forest and associated species underwent rapid decline starting between about A.D. 1000 to 1200. This decline seems to have occurred earlier in coastal areas than in inland areas. By the time of Western contact in A.D. 1778 the native palm forest community had all but disappeared. Though prehistoric Polynesians are implicated in the decline, the actual mechanism remains to be demonstrated. The question of coastal infilling and progradation is also considered. Sea level change appears to be the overwhelming controlling variable. It is concluded that prehistoric Polynesians had little if anything to do with large-scale geomorphological alteration of the landscape, which has been a continuing process throughout the Holocene. KEYWORDS: paleoenvironment, Hawai'i, prehistory, impacts, vegetation, geomorphology, Holocene.