New Zealand Journal of Botany abstracts
Polynesian plant subsistence in prehistoric New Zealand: a summary of
the microfossil evidence
M. Horrocks
Microfossil Research Ltd
31 Mont Le Grand Rd
Mt Eden
Auckland, New Zealand
and
School of Geography and Environmental Science
University of Auckland
Private Bag 92 019
Auckland, New Zealand
Abstract Plant microfossils from New Zealand provide
direct evidence of prehistoric Polynesian cultivation and gathering of a
variety of plants in different depositional settings. The microfossils include
pollen, phytoliths, and starch residues of introduced Lagenaria siceraria
(bottle gourd), Broussonetia papyrifera (paper mulberry), Ipomoea
batatas (sweet potato, kumara), and Colocasia esculenta (taro).
The settings span 600 km and include sediment cores, archaeological structures,
and coprolites. In addition, the presence of wetland microfossils (e.g.,
diatoms and algal spores) in dryland deposits suggests other agricultural
practices such as irrigation, and putative truffle (hypogeous Ascomycotina)
spores in coprolites suggest foraging for wild plants. Variable production
and preservation of different types of plant microremains suggest the value
for analysis of pollen, biogenic silica, and starch residues as a combined
method for identifying prehistoric plant subsistence at archaeological sites.
Keywords pollen; biogenic silica; starch residues; Polynesian
plant subsistence; New Zealand
B03033; Received 3 September 2003; accepted 10 February 2004; Online publication
date 3 June 2004
New Zealand Journal of Botany, 2004, Vol. 42: 321-334
0028-825X/04/4202-0321 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2004
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