The Evolution of an Island Socio-Ecosystem: 1989-91 Excavations at the Tangatatau Rockshelter, Mangaia Island, Central Polynesia
Dr. Patrick Kirch
A talk at the Archaeological Research Facility on the occasion of Professor Kirch's retirement from the UC Berkeley Anthropology Department.
Abstract: Excavations undertaken in 1989 and 1991 at a large rockshelter site on Mangaia Island in the southern Cook Islands revealed a well-stratified sequence spanning the period from just
after initial Polynesian colonization ca. A.D. 1100 up through European contact in the late 18th century. Tangatatau Rockshelter yielded extraordinarily rich assemblages of vertebrate and invertebrate faunal remains and of macrobotanical plant materials, providing evidence for transformation of the island's ecosystem over the period of Polynesian occupation. In addition, many thousands of portable artifacts revealed a sequence of technological change and
adaptation. Following Kent Flannery's famous dictum that "I will publish no site before its time", Prof. Kirch after 25 years has finally completed a definitive monograph on the Tangatatau excavations. A precis of the main results will be presented in this talk.

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