Abstract
The social histories and cultural identities of Near Oceania (Australia, New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, and the Solomon Islands) are entwined in people’s relationships with their animals and environments and are fluid over time and space. However, meaningful understanding of Near Oceania’s dynamic prehistory is limited by a patchy zooarchaeological record and sampling issues, resulting in broad brushstroke narratives developed upon a handful of sites and middens. In the absence of new excavations of sites, legacy collections and new (or refined) analytical techniques become important sources of information.
Three case studies are presented to address several key archaeological research questions. These include the investigation of the prehistoric use of terrestrial resources in the Bismarck Archipelago; the timing of faunal translocations across Near Oceania; an evaluation of changes in the exploitation of forest resources in the New Guinea Highlands; and the determination of the geographic origins of commensal Rattus exulans (Pacific rat, Polynesian rat) populations in Australia and the Solomon Islands, and how they might reflect past human mobility and inter-island interactions. Each study engaged with legacy collections and applied one of two emerging genetic methods: DNA metabarcoding (bulk bone metabarcoding) and complete mitochondrial genome phylogenetics.
This re-examination of Near Oceania’s zooarchaeology reaffirms the complexity and multiplicity of people’s behaviours and interactions in the past. For instance, the genetic identification of postcranial faunal materials from Kiowa (New Guinea Highlands) provides insight to the sustainable hunting practices in the Highlands during the mid- to late-Holocene. Significantly, the genetic identification of pig (Sus sp.) in pre-Lapita contexts calls for a reassessment to the prevailing model regarding their introductions into the region. Further, the phylogenetic study of R. exulans, from locations that have not been associated with Lapita or their descendant populations, presents new opportunities in how researchers can use this species as a proxy for the cultural affiliations of people transporting commensals across Near Oceania.
Collectively, these three case studies are also examples of how relevant archaeological research questions cannot be investigated solely through genetic techniques. The DNA preservation assay of pre-Lapita zooarchaeological materials from the Bismarck Archipelago demonstrated poor biomolecular preservation and incomplete comparative samples reduce our ability to produce informative interpretations of genetic results. Innovative genetic studies of prehistoric faunal remains from Near Oceania, as undertaken in this thesis, provide unique insight to prehistoric human behaviours and the relationships between people and their environments.