Feast or famine? Predictability, drought, density, and irrigation: The archaeology of agriculture in Marquesas Islands valleys

This work examines the archaeology of pondfield cultivation of taro ( Colocasia esculenta) on Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands within an evolutionary ecology framework. Rainfall patterns on Nuku Hiva are found to be variable in both time and space. They are temporally unpredictable, but spatially predictable. Drought is a common occurrence. Hydrology on Nuku Hiva is variable, with some places having streams that maintain flow in spite of drought.; Traditional Marquesan agriculture relied heavily on breadfruit ( Artocarpus altilis) probably grown in vertically stratified gardens (agroforests) interspersed with shorter cultigens. Irrigated taro ( Colocasia esculenta)---grown in irrigated pondfield terraces---was also important. Swidden gardens had an undetermined role.; The pondfields in 'Atikea are examined. Some 200 pondfields were mapped at 'Atikea and cover 8.66% of the survey area. House foundations were found near all pondfields. Evolutionary explanations for the distribution of pondfields on Nuku Hiva are offered. They are seen as having conferred selective advantage on those that ate from them by increasing reliability of adequate caloric intake during drought-induced famine. Pondfields are presented as having been the focus of territorial behavior and their defense would have been an adaptive behavior in the traditional Marquesan social-environmental context.; Archaeological surface remains were mapped in a 13 ha area of one valley ('Atikea section of Hatihe'u). Some 400 features were recorded. Settlement pattern was dispersed with all kinds of features occurring from the shore to far inland. Some platforms were aggregated into small household clusters. Pondfields always had house platforms next to them.; Pondfield abundance and environmental variables are correlated for 7 valleys on Nuku Hiva. Three groups are identified; valleys with reliable water resources and abundant pondfields; valleys with less reliable water resources and few pondfields; and intermediate valleys. To survive drought, an agricultural production strategy based on a different mix of agricultural subsystems would have been necessary for each valley.; Irrigation was likely practiced from the initial settlement of the Marquesas. Vertically stratified arboricultural gardens would have developed soon after colonization. Swidden gardening was probably a late development.; Appendices provide information on Marquesan rainfall; surface archaeological features in the 'Atikea Survey Area; excavations in pondfields at the 'Atikea Survey Area; and historic detailed accounts of traditional Marquesan architecture, settlement pattern, and agriculture.