Human-Environment Interactions
Stephens, L., D. Fuller, N. Boivin, T. Rick, N. Gauthier, N. Kay.……J.G. Kahn (120 authors total) 2019. Archaeological Assessment Reveals Earth’s Early Transformation through Land Use. Science 365(6456): 897–902.
An empirical global assessment of land use from 10,000 years before the present to 1850 CE reveals a planet largely transformed by hunter-gatherers, farmers, and pastoralists by 3000 years ago, considerably earlier than the dates in the land-use reconstructions commonly used by Earth scientists. Archaeological reconstruction of global land-use history illuminates the deep roots of Earth’s transformation and challenges the emerging Anthropocene paradigm that large-scale anthropogenic global environmental change is mostly a recent phenomenon.
Kahn, J.G., C. Nickelsen, J. Stephenson, N. Porch, E. Dotte, C.C. Christensen, J.S. Athens, L. May, and P.V. Kirch 2015. Mid- to Late Holocene Landscape Change and Anthropogenic Transformation on Mo‘orea, Society Islands: A Multi-Proxy Approach. The Holocene 25(2): 333–347.
Using a multi-proxy approach combining archaeological data with palaeoenvironmental indicators, we outline millennial timescales of lowland landscape evolution in the Society Islands. Geomorphic and cultural histories for four coastal zones on Mo‘orea are reconstructed based on stratigraphic records, sedimentology, pollen analysis, and radiocarbon determinations from mid- to late Holocene contexts. We document significant transformation of littoral and lowland zones which obscured earlier human activities and created significant changes in vegetation and other biota. Beginning as early as 440 BP (1416–1490 cal.AD), a major phase of sedimentary deposition commenced which can only be attributed to anthropogenic effects. This phase correlates with the period of major inland expansion of Polynesian occupation and intensive agriculture on the island, indicated by the presence of charcoal throughout the sediments, including wood charcoal from several economically important tree species.
Kahn, J.G., E. Dotte-Sarout, G. Molle, and E. Conte 2014. Landscape Change, Settlement Histories, and Agricultural Practices on Maupiti Island, Society Island Archipelago. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 10(3): 363–391.
We report on excavations and dating results from Maupiti Island, the smallest high island in the Leeward group of the Society Islands. The first goal was to outline the settlement history of Maupiti, including aspects of coastal and inland habitation and subsistence. Utilizing data from auger transects, test excavations, AMS radiocarbon dating of short- lived species, and archaeo-botanical samples, we outline shifts in mid- to late prehistoric settlement and subsistence patterns. Wood charcoal and macro-botanical analyses provide evidence for human-induced landscape change and the first records of pre-contact vegetation on Maupiti. Excavations at two inland agricultural sites document the timing of agricultural intensification. Finally, utilizing data from the analysis of fish, marine shell, and terrestrial faunal remains in addition to the anthracology results, we discuss how vulnerable Maupiti was as a socio-ecosystem.
Lepofsky, D. and J.G. Kahn 2011. Cultivating an Ecological and Social Balance: Elite Demands and Commoner Knowledge in Ancient Ma‘ohi Agriculture, Society Islands. American Anthropologist 113(2): 319–335.
This article, published in the flagship journal for American Anthropology, focuses on long-term debates concerning peoples’ roles in shaping and interacting with Pacific island ecosystems. Utilizing data from our work in the ‘Opunohu Valley, we explore the social and ecological context of ancient Society Island agricultural systems, focusing on the “bottom up” perspective of the Ma‘ohi commoner farmer rather than an elite based “top down” approach. We suggest there was a dialectic between the Ma‘ohi farmers who had the knowledge and incentive to create sustainable and productive agro-ecosystems, and the heavy social and economic demands of the elites. Our fine-scale look at three agricultural systems in the ‘Opunohu Valley indicates that this dialectic played out differently depending on the social-spatial proximity of the farmers to the elites. We end with a nuanced “middle ground” approach detailing a holistic understanding of the full range of ancient Ma‘ohi environmental and social interactions.