June 1 - 3 , 1978 - University of Hawaii at Manoa

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THE IMPACT OF THE SWEET POTATO ON PREHISTORIC HAWAIIAN CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT Michael W. Kaschko and Melinda S. Allen Department of Anthropology University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, Hawaii 96822 ABSTRACT Recent research in Hawaiian archaeology suggests that commencing about 1000-1100 A.D. substantial change and development occurred in various aspects of prehistoric Hawaiian culture, and this trend continued in at least some respects to European contact. It is clear that the sweet potato was of increasing importance to Hawaiian agriculture during this time. The New World origin of the sweet potato, as opposed to the Asiatic nature of the other Oceanic cultigens, further presents the possibility of a separate and post-initial settlement introduction of this crucial crop into the prehistoric Hawaiian agricultural complex. The possible temporal alternatives for the arrival of the sweet potato in Hawai'i are considered. The pre- dictable effects of sweet potato introduction at various points in the prehistoric sequence are examined in relation to the actual evidence for major cultural developments: agricultural expansion-intensification, population growth, increasing social complexity, etc. Specific methods are suggested for incorporation into future archaeological research to provide data relevant to the role of the sweet potato in the prehistoric Hawaiian adaptation. Early Western explorers, beginning with Captain James Cook in 1778, commented repeatedly on the extent, intensity, and quality of native Hawaiian sweet potato (I omoea batatas [L.] Lam.) production, particularly in contrast ---ii to ot er areas of Polynesia (Yen 1974: 311-317). As late as 1823 the Reverend William Ellis described extensive agricultural field systems on the island of Hawai'i where sweet potato was the primary crop (Newman 1970: 112-120). These early accounts clearly attest to the importance of sweet potato in the Hawaiian economy at European contact. Late prehistoric Hawaiian culture was characterized by a complex ranked society, high population density, and an economy primarily reliant upon well-developed agricultural systems. The possible role of the sweet potato in the development of these cultural features is our concern.
The sweet potato is unique in that it is the only Polynesian cultigen of American origin (Brand 1971; Yen 1971, 1974). All other Polynesian cul tigens are of Asian derivation. Although taro is characterized as the preferred food of the Hawaiians, as a crop sweet potato has several advantages (Handy & Handy 1972: 124-128) : 1) It can be grown in less favorable locations with respect to sunlight and soil. 2) The tubers mature in three to six months as opposed to the nine to 18 months required for taro. 3) It requires less labor in planting and less care in cultivation. 4) The tubers w i l l keep in the ground without rotting for several months after maturing. 5) The sweet potato is not seasonally restricted. Present evidence indicates that the sweet potato was introduced to Eastern Polynesia from South America sometime after initial settlement, about the first to third century A.D., but prior to the colonization of New Zealand which occurred before 1000 A.D. (Green 1975: 604-624). Carbonized sweet potato frag- ments have been recovered from archaeological sites in New Zea- land (Leach 1976: 145), Easter Island (Rosendahl & Yen 1971: 379), and Hawai'i (Rosendahl & Yen 1971: 383) with dates of 1650- 1850 A.D.; 1526+100 A.D.; and 1425-1725 A.D., respectively. In these areas sweet potato was of major agronomic importance. In contrast, sweet potato was a minor crop and dietary element in central East Polynesia at contact where it was used primarily for pig feed (Yen 1974). Studies at Palliser Bay provide the earliest indirect evidence for sweet potato cultivation in New Zealand (Leach 1976). Intensive examination of environmental conditions past and present, in conjunction with archaeological excavations, showed sweet potato to be the only possible crop for that particular area. These field systems date to the 12th century A.D., and it is assumed that the arrival and dispersal of the sweet potato predates the systems by a hundred years or more. For Easter Island it has been suggested that the sweet potato arrived with the initial colonizers (Yen 1974: 294) in the fifth century A.D. (McCoy 1976: 10). In Hawai'i evidence for swidden agriculture has been substantiated early in the temporal sequence (Kirch 1975; Green, in press). However, in these Hawaiian sites the specific cultigen has not been identified. Until more direct evidence is available, the possibility of sweet potato introduction subsequent to initial settlement but prior to the establishment of the major dryland field systems remains viable. The necessary agronomic techniques were already an integral part of the Hawaiian's cultural knowledge, but if a more adaptable plant was introduced it could have allowed for intensive exploitation of previously unused land.
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COOPERATIVE NATIONAL PARK RESOURCES
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PREFACE TABLE OF CONTENTS Apple, Ru
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Gon, Samuel M., 111 ALTITUDINAL EFF
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Stemmermann, Lani HALEAKALA NATIONA
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ROOF RAT DEPREDATIONS ON HIBISCADEL
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Feeding upon seed pods Immature see
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NENE REINTRODUCTION PROGRAM AND RES
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R. C. L. Perkins (1903) also believ
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Although Nene in HAVO pens are expo
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irds have been forced to mate with
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TABLE 1. Individual results of 6nl
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TABLE 2. Combined results of NEnS b
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therefore be of interest to review
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wasp was found to parasitize the la
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In line with this thinking, immedia
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aIal 5 ." U) 0 a, U u C 0 4 w rlw r
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BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF WILDLAND WEED
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15 species of introduced insects es
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HALEAKALA NATIONAL PARK CRATER DIST
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areas include the planthoppers (Del
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HAWAII IBP SYNTHESIS : 5. SHORT-TER
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We in the Forest Service are excite
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shrubby Dubautia and numerous hybri
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TABLE 1. Dubautia and Argyroxiphium
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SOME ASPECTS OF A SHELL DISEASE IN
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Induction of Lesions To induce lesi
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lesions. Or they may be part of the
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LITERATURE CITED Akin, D. E., and H
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TABLE 3. Isolation of chitinoclasti
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FOREST BIRD POPULATIONS ON O'AHU Ma
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LEK BEHAVIOR AND ECOLOGY OF TWO HOM
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either species) after an encounter
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HAWAII IBP SYNTHESIS : 3. THE KILAU
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Fifteen exot
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One exotic bird not found but previ
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TABLE 1. A list of the birds in the
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TABLE 2. Densities (birds/4O ha) of
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FIGURE 1. A map showing the locatio
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FIGURE 3. A map showinq native fore
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Several patterns in avian distribut
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LITERATURE CITED Eden, J. T. 1971.
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TABLE 1--Continued . Scientific Nam
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The objective of this paper is to a
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Selective field hybridizations yiel
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Corn, C. A. 1979. Variation in Hawa
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POLY MORPHA ---- NO SEED - SEED PRO
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THE RARE AND THREATENED PLANTS IN T
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open ideas for consideration and to
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Presence-absence trait analysis fur
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small clearings of soil-humus depos
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LITERATURE CITED Barrau, J. 1961. S
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WIDTH OF LARGEST WALL (cm) TOTAL AR
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ESTABLISHMENT OF SOME RECENT IMMIGR
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An egg parasite*, Trissolcus sp., w
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caterpillars were found on young nu
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'IRBLE 1. Sunnnq of sm recent imniq
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can be expected to provide will be
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Dombois 1977). Of course the trees
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We see from the two figures that in
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Ole HEALTHY, h FIGURE 1. Probabilit
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EVALUATION OF A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR H
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in the vial cap and was immersed in
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usually requiring only a few minute
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FACTORS CONTROLLING THE DISTRIBUTIO
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With respect to the distribution of
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native rain forest. However, the se
Page 133 and 134: mites are parasitic forms which hav
Page 135 and 136: LITERATURE CITED Atyeo, W. T., and
Page 137 and 138: TABLE 2. Feather mites recovered £
Page 140 and 141: Hirstionyssidae Rhinonyssidae (Rode
Page 142 and 143: STUDY SITE The ahupua'a of Manuka,
Page 144 and 145: DISCUSSION The trend of increasing
Page 146 and 147: litter habitats at lower and higher
Page 148 and 149: plant species diversity. The more d
Page 150 and 151: vegetational situation, and habitat
Page 152 and 153: TABLE 1. mmber of families encounte
Page 154 and 155: KEY: Nmhr of families colleded fran
Page 157 and 158: HALEAKALA NATIONAL PARK CRATER DIST
Page 159 and 160: Isopterygium Plagiothecium cavifoli
Page 161 and 162: TABLE 1. Phytogeographic relationsh
Page 163 and 164: In Hawai'i rain water percolates ra
Page 165 and 166: Most continental troglobites are co
Page 167 and 168: (5) Caves are fragile ecosystems an
Page 169 and 170: the current onslaught. It is true t
Page 171 and 172: Maciolek, J. A., and R. E. Brock. 1
Page 173 and 174: In the fallowing paper, a quick sum
Page 175 and 176: have been identified which include,
Page 177 and 178: LLTERATURE CITED Htmda, N., and J.
Page 179 and 180: TABLE 2. Cmpnents for the tree laye
Page 181 and 182: TABLE 4. Example of a vegetation ty
Page 183: ETGLTRE 2. Location of the U. S. Fi
Page 187 and 188: tempting to suggest that the introd
Page 189 and 190: LITERATURE CITED Brand, D. D. 1971.
Page 191 and 192: DEDICATION ADDRESS FOR HAWAII FIELD
Page 193 and 194: I want to say that I strongly disag
Page 195 and 196: We will see how far these ideas get
Page 197 and 198: While the $28,000 would not even bu
Page 199 and 200: By no means, however, do I imply th
Page 201 and 202: Due primarily to lack of personnel
Page 203 and 204: National Park Service. 1969. Dark-r
Page 205 and 206: HAWAII IBP SYNTHESIS : 7. IMPACT OF
Page 207 and 208: Management Techniques The first clu
Page 209 and 210: !IWLE 1. Summary of production at 6
Page 211 and 212: PART A: Shipnan Strain Geese (14 Ge
Page 213 and 214: WLE 4. Gn5 restoration project reco
Page 215 and 216: HUMAN PERCEPTION OF THE HAWAIIAN EN
Page 217 and 218: public opinion concerning the issue
Page 219 and 220: (Question) Variables No Bsponse TAB
Page 221 and 222: (Question) Variables 10 11 12 13 14
Page 223 and 224: This is a survey to find out how th
Page 225 and 226: THE SEPTEMBER 1977 ERUPTION OF KILA
Page 227: General Conclusions 1. Zonal (or co
Page 230 and 231: - )RIGIN - TeC - TeL - TrP - 11.000
Page 232 and 233: A SOIL FUNGUS SET I B C ZONES SET2
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The high tree species diversity of
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It is probable that ecological gene
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THE ROLE OF THE HAWAIIAN TWO-LINED
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HABITAT UTILIZATION AND NICHE COMPO
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Hawaii Field Research Center. The p
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It is understandable that there is
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To accomplish the objectives of the
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FIGURE 1. Map of the island of Hawa
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METHODS Old mamane seed pods were c
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Seedling survival Seedling survival
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TABLE 1. Comparisons of percent see
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254 Figure 2--Cumulative number of
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COMMUNICATIONS TECHNIQUES AND THE S
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In a ten-minute paper like today's,
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ut are now growing in a normal upri
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Table 1--Grafting trials of Acacia
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Table 3--Treatments applied to Acac
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Table 5--Clonal variation in rootin
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with the major distribution being i
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as size classes (height and diamete
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there were more available microhabi
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CONCLUSIONS The Devastation Study A
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TABLE 1. Habitat 5. Structure and v
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VBLC 3. Witat 5. Wantitative charac
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HABITAT PROFILE - NOS. 1.2,4,5,6 OF
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HALEAKALA NATIONAL PARKCRATER DISTR
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LITERATURE CITED Bryan, W. A. 1915.
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climates experience alternating per
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correlated with the amount and phys
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HALEAKALA NATIONAL PARK CRATER DIST
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LITERATURE CITED Degener, 0. 1930.
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TABLE 2. Potentially aggressive wee
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- Rubus rosaefolius Sn. 2 !l%e thim
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Land availability is necessary to a
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Conf irmatlon of existing informati
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A NECROPSY PROCEDURE FOR SAMPLING D
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Division, P. 0. Bos 243, Cockeysvil
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Instructions RESULTS The following
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I. External Analysis (Examine bird
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PART I1 (1) Face, legs, or feet: le
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(14) Feather, follicle, or skin par
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Examine a wet smear of intestinal c
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SUMMARY More work needs to be done
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TABLE 1. Summary of diseases in avi
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TABIE l--Continued '. Disease Patho
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TABLE 1--Continued '. Disease Patho
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' Information not our own is £ran
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the bare-root system have failed. K
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Results of the efforts on the first
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Areas for these vegetation communit
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FIGURE 1. Courses of the topographi
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2500 mm ---+ MEAN ANNUAL PRECIPITAT
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FOREST BIRD POPULATION VARIATION AS
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SPP . r Pelea sp., and Vaccinium ca
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PREHISTORIC HAWAIIAN BIRDS * Alan C
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List of Participants (Continued) De
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List of Participants (Continued) Ca
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June 1 - 3 , 1978 - University of Hawaii at Manoa

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