Melinda S. Allen

University of Auckland

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Papers

Citation

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i-10 index

Research Field

Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds [Book Review]

Journal of the Polynesian Society (2007)

Melinda S. Allen

Review(s) of: Steadman, David W, Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds, University of Chicago Press, 2006. xiv + 594 pp., appendix, bib., figs, index, maps, photos, tables. Price: US$110.00, 69.50 (cloth); US$45.00, 28.50 (paper).

Extinction (optical mineralogy)

Insular biogeography

Source

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Citations (0)

New Evidence from the East Polynesian Gateway: Substantive and Methodological Results from Aitutaki, Southern Cook Islands

Radiocarbon (2007)

Melinda S. Allen Rod Wallace

East Polynesia was the geographic terminus of prehistoric human expansion across the globe and the southern Cook Islands, the first archipelago west of Samoa, a gateway to this region. Fourteen new radiocarbon dates from one of the oldest human settlements in this archipelago, the Ureia site (AIT-10) on Aitutaki Island, now indicate occupation from cal AD 1225–1430 (1σ), nearly 300 yr later than previously suggested. Although now among the most securely dated central East Polynesian sites, the new age estimate for Ureia places it outside the settlement period of either the long or short chronology models. The new dates have, however, led to a comfortable fit with the Ureia biological evidence, which suggests not a virgin landscape, but a highly a modified fauna and flora. The results also provide the first systematic demonstration of inbuilt age in tropical Pacific trees, a finding that may explain widely divergent 14 C results from several early East Polynesian sites and has implications for the dating of both island colonization and subsequent intra-island dispersals.

Archipelago

Chronology

Human settlement

10.1017/s0033822200043095

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Citations (75)

Human settlement of East Polynesia earlier, incremental, and coincident with prolonged South Pacific drought

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2020)

David Sear Melinda S. Allen Jonathan Hassall Ashley E. Maloney Peter G. Langdon

Significance We combine indicators from lake sediments with archaeological records that identify an earlier and incremental arrival of humans in East Polynesia than indicated by current models. We use lake sediments to reconstruct a quantitative, multiproxy hydroclimate sequences from Vanuatu, Samoa, and the Southern Cook Islands and combine these with published data to show that the timing of human migration into East Polynesia coincided with a prolonged drought. We postulate this regional drought was a significant contributory factor in eastward exploration and subsequent colonization of the Southern Cook Islands and beyond. The return of wetter conditions in East Polynesia after c. AD 1150 supported subsequent colonization of other central islands and, eventually, migration into far eastern and South Polynesia.

Settlement (finance)

American samoa

10.1073/pnas.1920975117

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Citations (78)

Inferring fishing intensity from contemporary and archaeological size-frequency data

Journal of Archaeological Science (2018)

Michael J. Plank Melinda S. Allen Reno Nims Thegn N. Ladefoged

Pagrus

10.1016/j.jas.2018.01.011

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Citations (10)

Short-Lived Plant Materials, Long-Lived Trees, and Polynesian ¹⁴C Dating: Considerations for ¹⁴C Sample Selection and Documentation

Radiocarbon (2014)

Melinda S. Allen Jennifer Huebert

For over 2 decades, there have been calls for Polynesian archaeologists to identify radiocarbon samples to taxon and material type, and preferentially date short-lived materials. This stems from recognition that even modest amounts of inbuilt age are problematic in this oceanic region where human settlement dates to the last 3 millennia or less. Despite programmatic statements to this effect, and empirical demonstrations of value, uptake of these practices has been slow. This article suggests that short-lived materials be defined as those with lifespans of 10 yr or less, recognizing that reducing the distance between target event and the dated material is an ongoing aim for archaeology. We identify both short-lived materials that are suitable for dating and long-lived species (>75 yr) that should be avoided given their potential for inbuilt age. Additionally, we suggest that given the destructive nature of 14 C dating there is value to (1) obtain high-resolution photographs of samples prior to analysis, (2) split samples and archive residuals when possible, and (3) routinely report the tools and expertise used in identification. Past and recent dating analyses at a Polynesian site in the southern Cook Islands are used to illustrate how the suggested protocols might enhance current and future studies. We also establish that mature Calophyllum inophyllum, a common coastal tree and valued timber species, has been in the southern Cook Islands for at least the last 700 yr and is likely to be indigenous and long-lived.

Absolute dating

10.2458/56.16784

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Citations (46)

New pollen, sedimentary, and radiocarbon records from the Marquesas Islands, East Polynesia: Implications for archaeological and palaeoclimate studies

The Holocene (2011)

Melinda S. Allen Kevin Butler J. R. Flenley Mark Horrocks

Three sediment cores, from one upland and two lowland sites on Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands, provide a c. 750-year record of palaeo-environmental change on the island. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating of pollen concentrates from the base of each core indicates that the three widely separated marshes developed c. AD 1200 and 1350, after the known period of human colonisation and establishment. Detailed analyses (pollen, sediments, and charcoal) and additional dating of the upland core from Tōvi’i Plateau (810 m) allow for identification of four chronozones. The core sediment data and age-depth curve suggest an alternation of wet-dry-wet conditions over the c. 750-year period. The pollen spectra, in contrast, are fairly stable, with ferns dominating but arborescent species also present. The micro-charcoal evidence points to regional burning and long-distance transport until c. AD 1640, after which localised burning may be indicated. Among the more notable changes is a major increase in pollen and spore deposition after c. AD 1640, a trend most evident in the pollen concentration diagram. Overall, the data suggest rapid sedimentation in the fourteenth century AD, followed by drier and/or more settled conditions until the mid-seventeenth century, and finally wetter conditions after c. AD 1640. The latter in particular is consistent with emerging regional evidence for warm-wet conditions in the central eastern Pacific during the seventeenth century, the height of the Northern Hemisphere ‘Little Ice Age’. The charcoal record also provides insights into human activities on the island, suggesting burning in the lowlands from the fourteenth century AD, probably in conjunction with forest clearance preparatory to tree and root crop cultivation.

Charcoal

Deposition

10.1177/0959683610385726

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Citations (14)

Stability in the South Pacific surface marine 14C reservoir over the last 750years. Evidence from American Samoa, the southern Cook Islands and the Marquesas

Journal of Archaeological Science (2009)

Fiona Petchey Melinda S. Allen David J. Addison Atholl Anderson

American samoa

10.1016/j.jas.2009.06.008

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Citations (37)

The Chronology of Coastal Morphogenesis and Human Settlement on Aitutaki, Southern Cook Islands, Polynesia

Radiocarbon (1994)

Melinda S. Allen

Twenty-seven 14 C determinations from Aitutaki, southern Cook Islands inform on human settlement and Holocene coastal processes. I examine sedimentary, radiometric and archaeological data from Aitutaki with reference to regional evidence for a minor Holocene sea-level regression, which are in general agreement. Related processes of shoreline progradation and aggradation created near-shore environments conducive to human habitation, directly evidenced by ca. AD 900–1200. Nevertheless, biotic materials associated with this early cultural stratum suggest human colonization prior to this time. Archaeological preservation and recovery also may have been affected by changing sea level and related sedimentary processes.

Aggradation

Progradation

Chronology

10.1017/s0033822200014338

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Citations (19)

Modelling site formation dynamics: geoarchaeological, chronometric and statistical approaches to a stratified rockshelter sequence, Polynesia

Journal of Archaeological Science (2013)

Melinda S. Allen Alex Morrison

Sequence (biology)

Geoarchaeology

10.1016/j.jas.2013.06.008