Prey Ranking and Targeting in the Early Colonization of Pacific Islands:: A Fijian Case Study

Julie Field

doi:10.70460/jpa.v16i2.402

Authors

Julie Field Department of Anthropology, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4342-2871

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.70460/jpa.v16i2.402

Keywords:

Fiji, Lapita, prey choice, terrestrial foraging

Abstract

Archaeological research in the western Pacific has documented a range of terrestrial fauna that may have been the target of Lapita-era foraging. How can our knowledge of extinct and extant fauna aid in understanding prey ranking and targeting by foragers in the early years of island colonization? This study employs the Prey Choice model and biological data related to foraging (i.e., ease of mass capture, locomotor skills, hazards, processing requirements, and caloric yield) to identify the ranking of potential foraging targets in Lapita-era Fiji. Using GIS-based analyses of vegetation and topography, the geographic distribution of different prey are predicted for the island of Viti Levu. Tortoises, ground-dwelling forest birds, colonial roosting fruit bats, and colonial nesting seabirds are identified as the highest-ranked prey. Large but hazardous crocodiles and small, highly mobile skinks are identified as low-ranked prey. These organisms would have occupied distinctly different habitats and may have supported distinct and regional hunting/foraging practices in the centuries following Lapita colonization.

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