four centuries of community interaction and trade in cook strait, new zealand

Mankintl, I 1 (1978). pp. 391-405

Four Centuries of Community Interaction and Trade in Cook Strait, New Zealand

B. F. LEACH

Depurtment of Anthropologj?, University of Otugo, P.O. Box 56, Dirnedin, New Zeulund

Introdiretion When Captain Cook first made contact with Maori people in Palliser Bay in Cook Strait on 9 February 1770, he had been sailing about the North Island for just on eighteen weeks. Previous contact with Maoris was confined to several points on the east coast, and extended only as far south as Cape Kid- nappers, which is 270 km north of Palliser Bay. He had sailed down the west coast of the North Island without contact, and after a brief encounter in Queen Charlotte Sound in the South Island headed through Cook Strait to complete his circumnavigation of the North Island. Imagine his surprise when the5e Palliser Bay Maoris asked him for nails!

It appear’d from the behaver of these people that they had heard of our being on the coast, for they came along side and some of them on board the Ship without shewing the least signs of fear: they were no sooner on board than they asked for nails: but when nails were given them they asked Tupaia [Cook’s Tahitian in- terpreter] what they were which was plain that they had never seen any before, yet they not only knowed how to ask for them but knowed what to apply them to . . . These people asking so readily for nails proves their connections must extend as far North as Cape Kid- nappers . . . for that was the southermst place on this side of the coast we had any traffick with the natives, and it is most probable that the Inhabitants of Queen Charlottes Sound got little knowlidge they seem’d to have of Iron by the connections they may have with the Tevawhetteans [on the northwest shores of Cook Strait] bordering upon them, for we have no reason to think that the inhabitants of any part of this land had the least knowlidge of Iron before we came among them. (Cook, [ 19681 : 250)

Discounting previous contact from a lost caravel, this entry in Cook’s journal documents a most effective communications network linking different parts of the east coast of the North Island, and extending across Cook Strait to the south. Examination of prehistoric sites has consistently revealed quantities of foreign raw materials in prac- tically every context, and this suggests an exchange network of some kind, and testifies to the importance of prehistoric communication in New Zealand. What is not known is how and by what routes the many and varied products were transported from place to place, or what social meaning may be attributed to these exchanges. In the case of particular raw materials, such as a certain type of obsidian, the actual movement could involve anything from direct transport by a single group of itinerant traders, to a network of exchanges operating on a neighbour to neighbour basis, or any combination of such possibilities. It would be unwise not to expect considerable complexity in prehistoric trading systems, particularly since their character will reflect prevailing, and changing, terri- torial factors between different communities.

In addition, it must be borne in mind that the movement of raw materials is not wholly for utilitarian purposes. It may well be the case that an exchange network may be functioning at a particular time so that the material expression, such as the obsidian or food, is simply the vehicle for the transfer of some more abstract entity such as social status (e.g. Young, 1971). Indeed, writing of Maori gift exchange in particular, Mauss referred to this spiritual transfer as one of the Zeitmotifs of Maori custom (Mauss, 1966 : 9) , and suggested that to keep the concrete expression of the gift might be positively

MANKIND VOL. 11 N o . 3

dangerous. Seen in this way, a gift provides a strong motivating force for ever further cir- culation of property and status (see Wright, 1974:8). Furthermore, the human contact associated with material exchange may have promoted genetic contact of considerable importance €or the maintenance of a viable gene pool amongst the relatively small endogamous units which characterized traditional Maori society. Discontinuities in the distribution of genetic abnormalities such as supernumerary teeth amongst the Poly- nesian dog in New Zealand ( A h , 1971) suggests that this gene flow associated with gift exchange may not have been confined to humans (B. F. Leach, 1976; Leach and Anderson, n.d.).

The labyrinthine ramifications of protohistoric gift exchange in the hinterland of Palliser Bay are described in detail by Mair (1972:209 ff.). In one case, Te Wereta, a chief of Whanu-rangi, sent off a present of fish in return for four bags of peaches from trees planted at Ngaipu. The fish were passed to another group, who returned the gift with the carcass of a cow and some freshwater fish. Te Wereta finally received a present of some birds caught in the Wainuioru Valley and a wild cow and some pigs. Whatever happened to the peaches is not recorded, but the culminating point of this series of exchanges was a feast or kaiharikai to which many of the Wairarapa hapid were invited (Mair, 1972 : 21 3-14).

The geographical extent of such exchanges is especially well illustrated by Shortland who comments on ‘trade’ between people in Otago and Cook Strait, a distance of more than 600 km.

This, the “titi”[Pufinus gr i~eur] , the pounamri [nephrite], the feathers of the Kotuku, a white crane [Egretta alba]. and a strong scented oil, procured by holding the branches of the tarnmen [Aciphylla squarro~a] over the fire till it exudes, have always been articles of barter with the Natives of Cook’s Strait, and the Ngatikahunu, for which, preserved kunzara, mats and canoes are received in return. (Short- land, 1844: 125)

The ethnographic information on gift recip- rocity is a clarion, warning archaeologists against drawing simple utilitarian conclu4ons about the movement of raw materials from prehistoric evidence. I t is difficult enough to

fathom the social realities of exchange networks with modern information; and while there is unlimited scope for interesting specu- lation from archaeological evidence, attempts to document anything remotely approaching the actual social circumstances of prehistoric ‘trade’ is sheer folly.

This map smack of an indictment of the archaeological method; on the contrary, it draws attention to another dimension which has been largely ignored, and to which Cap- tain Cook with his customary insight drew attention in 1770. The key commodity in the ‘connections’ he spoke of was information, and as Wright has gone to some length to point out (1974:3) ‘trade, itself, is an agent in communication’. The archaeological situation is similar to a black box experiment, in which the functions and character of the box must be reconstructed and understood by analysis of the relationships between input and output. Inasmuch as our understanding of the functions of a television channel solely through the analysis of pictures of cartoon characters (with or without the sound) would be extremely limited, so too our analysis of a communication network involving the movement of titi, ptnrnarnri, kotrrkrr, information, status, and peaches will be equally impoverished, unless we attempt to describe the structure and channels of that communication, in addition to the content which passes through it. There is nothing wrong with a narrative account of what comes out of the black box (‘there were four slate knives, one of which was broken, and another . . .’), but it does become repetitive after a time. This distinction between the channel and the rnessuge which passes through it is one of the key conceptual separations in cybernetics, and may have relevance here. In the study of modern communications systems the distinction between the potential informution of a channel and the actual information transmitted is rigor- ously maintained, as the following quotation makes clear:

The distinction between “information” in the realm of ideas and “information” as an abbreviation for “potential information- content” or “information capacity” is important because the former is not amenable to objective quantitative measurement, yet plays a considerable part in practical systems of communication. Lovers may fill trunk telephone

VOL. 11 No .3 MANKIND

calls with sweet nothings which would rank very low on any scale of information, yet even an engineer would not suggest that a pre-coded signal . . . would be an adequate replacement. (Bell, 1953:Z)

Similarly, the information which flowed along the paths of prehistoric exchange networks involving obsidian may have been equally ethereal at times, and even incorrect messages will have resulted in significant human responses, and corresponding effects on sub- sequent history. The implications of this are fully understood by Mair in describing Maori gift exchange in the Wairarapa.

This method of communication did not always result in the accurate transmission of information. The distortions which occurred could spread alarm among the people on the outer limits of the communication chain. The con- fusion which reigned in the Wairarapa Valley upon the reception of the news that raiders from Waikato were on the move is an example of distorted news transmission . . . (Mair,

In fact, stories of the possible invasion by Waikato warriors were greatly exaggerated (Mair, 1972: 153).

Since a plethora of combinations of good and bad ideas, correct and incorrect information, high and low status, valuable and common raw materials, heirlooms and fakes could pass in both directions simultaneously along the channels of prehistoric conimuni- cation, the view is presented here that in udclition to describing the items which flowed backwards and forwards, we should attempt to understand the communication system itself. There is a highly developed body of communication theory which might aid such studies, and although it may be novel to con- sider an archaeological site as a ‘black box’, or a ‘white noise generator’, or a ‘heat sink for increasing entropy’, these concepts may prove to be of some value.

In what follows, the lithic material from an archaeological site in Palliser Bay is described. Many of the items appear to have been transported through an exchange network, and some aspects of this exchange are discussed. Finally, the information is viewed with the aid of some simple analytical methods derivcd from cybernetics to try and describe the prehistoric communication channel.

1972 121 5-16)

The Washpool Occirpution Site ( N 168 122) This site is on the northern shores of Cook Strait in Palliser Bay at the mouth of the Makotukutuku River. About 70 m2 was ex- cavated in 1969-70 revealing human burials, midden refuse, and various structures con- nected with food processing such as cooking sheds. The occupation history has been grouped into three levels centred on about AD 1180, AD 1345, and AD 1538 respec- tively (B. F. Leach, 1976: 137 ff.). Habita- tion of the area was permanent (Leach, n.d.a), and the site formed part of a complex of components in the adjacent valley system.

The Washpool site produced approxi- mately 11,000 worked stone artefacts. Their sourcing was the subject of intensive research by K. Prickett (1975), and her findings are used extensively here. The numerical counts used below were extracted from her tables (Prickett, n.d.). All figures, including percentages, relate to numbers of individual pieces rather than weights. The choice of either relative weights or numbers for such analysis has its shortcomings. H. Leach has argued (1976:Ch. 6) that in some cases the size of stone flakes decreases away from their source, and this feature may tend to inflate the apparent importance of imported materials above that which would be suggested based on weights. However, this factor will not mask any changing patterns of exploitation of different sources. On the contrary, stone material increases in value with distance from its source (see Harding 1967:42), and figures based on numerical counts may therefore be more appropriate.

In what follows, changing frequencies of stone types are for the most part discussed in terms of percentages or proportions, a prac- tice which has its pitfalls. The ‘percentage’, as Kerrich and Clarke ( 1 967) have pointed out, is a most dangerous statistic, for while it is generally used for outward comparisons, it is essentially an inward-looking statistic. This problem is well realized, nevertheless the percentage has real value as a vehicle for comparisons and its use is unlikely to be cur- tailed. What is important is that conclusions drawn from comparisons of percentages should be accompanied by a suitable significance test. Rosen baum’s nomographic chart is satisfactory for most purposes (1959), although exact probabilities may need to be

[393]

MANKIND JOL. I 1 No.3

calculated when a more powerful test is required (such as B. F. Leach, 1976:468). Two frequency distributions may be compared using an adapted Chi-square test for independent samples (Reyment, 1971 : 53).

Among the stone remains from the Wash- pool site are adzes, grinders, files, abraders, drills, sinkers, minnow lures, flake tools, and general industrial debris. More than 80 per cent of these items were made of imported stone.

Imported lithic materiuls Of the twenty-three different types of rock used by the occupants of this site, ten were imported, accounting for 80.7 per cent of the total number of items; the remaining thirteen rock types were classed as local (deriving from within a radius of 3 km from the site), and account for the remaining 19.3 per cent of the stone tools (TABLE 1). Clearly, the importation of stone was a very significant factor in the economy of these people. Rocks came from as far north as Huruiki (835 km), and as far south as Central Otago (700 km).

,fc4 kitlo

Nelson Tora White Rock

Washpool

. / ISLAND

Oturehua

9

0 100 200 300 400 500km --I-,

Fic;. 1 Sourccs oE Washpool stone

v

Rock types

FIG. 2 Proportions of dilferent rock types ( n = 10.984).

This is a large catchment for prehistoric people (see FIG. 1).

The most numerous rock type in the site was obsidian, closely followed by chert (see FIG. 2). A comparable numerical relationship was encountered in most other sites ex- cavated in Palliser Bay. The obsidian and chert were used for a fairly similar range of small flake scrapers and knives. These do not fit easily into any formal shape categories (paralleling the findings of Shawcross (1964) for other New Zealand assemblages), with the exception of drill points made from chert, which were in fact fairly common.

A random sample of 210 pieces of obsidian (most of which was from this site) was sub- jected to trace element analysis by XRF (Leach and Anderson, n.d.), and this showed the obsidian to have come from seven different North Island sources. Three of these are in the Bay of Plenty-Coromandel area (Mayor Island, Cooks Bay, and Purangi), three are in the central North Island are:+ (Rotorua, Taupo and Ongaroto), and one in the Northland area (Huruiki). The proportions established in this trace element study were used to estimate the number of pieces in the assemblage from each source

VOL. 11 No. 3 MANKIND

TABLE 1 THE DIFFERENT LlrHlC MATERIALS FROM THE WASHPOOL SITE

Rock type Source Level 1 Level I1 Level I11 Total

Mayor Island Cooks Bay Huruiki Taupo Rotorua Purangi Ongaroto D'Urville Island White Rock Akilio Nelson Kaimanawa Arahura Nelson Nelson Oturehua Tora

1016 141 1 316 282

81 -

68 15 -

2495 Obsidian* Obsidian Obsidian Obsidian Obsidian Obsidian Obsidian Meta-argillite Limestone Limestone Schist Schistose-grey Wackc Ncphrite Serpentine Talc Silcrete Chert Total imported

673 81

121 115 20

~~

121 75 40

20

-

- 20

601 906 38 40 3 1 41 6 24

16 19 3 2 4

1

-

-

-

20 82

2 2 1

1589 80 80 31 35 4 7

I 1

1 5

3504 2

1392 3

1964 -

148

320 3564 4911 886 1

Grcywacke Sandstone Pumice U;i ba ked argilli te Slaty argillite Volcanic argillite Spillitic lava Calcite Kokowai (ochre) Concretions Coral Quartz crystal Fossil bivalves

Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local

920 30 53

718 104 45

15 I

1713 135 99 78 23 18 23

5 14 8 2 1 4

41 1 5

36 21 13 17 6

2 2 -

3 1 1 8 - -

4

2 1

Total locally derived 1063 1040 20 2123

Grand totals 4627 6017 340 I 0984

* Obsidian figures are extrapolated from analysis of a random sample of 159 (see text).

given in TAt3L.E 1. The quantity of obsidian in Level I11 in the site was very small, and a random sample from a nearby stone wall garden site, also dated to this period, was used to estimate the proportion of different sources at this time.

The chert in the site is probably all from one district in the southeast coastal Wairarapa area near Tora. Pilot studies of the trace element character of New Zealand cherts have shown significant differences between sources (Walls, 197 1 ; Leach, 1977) ; however, this research is insufficiently ad- vanced for reliable application to archaeological material, and the sourcing of cherts from Washpool was based on hand specimen characteristics. It is possible that other sources are involved apart from Tora, such

as those at Pahaoa for example (Sutherland, 1947; Keyes, 1970, 1972), or near the Ure River (Waima River) in Marlborough (Walls, 1971).

Metasoniatized argillite occurs in the assemblage about half as frequently as obsidian or chert. This is believed to be of D'Urville Island origin, most of it being the fairly characteristic unveined dark and medium grey material from Mt Ears, and veined light grey type, more certainly from Ohana. Sourcing relies on hand identifications by K. Prickett. The principal artefact made from argillite is the stone adze, although quite a few drill points were also found made from broken down argillite adzes. What is more interesting is that of the remaining 1,446 argillite flakes found on the site, 38 per

[ 3 951

MANKIND VOL. 11 No. 3

cent showed signs of polished planes and/or hammer dressing, indicating their removal from finished or partly finished adzes. The additional flakes are strongly suspected to have come from finished adzes, particularly as only one argillite core was found. In short, while a great deal of industrial activity went on at this site, the manufacture of adze blanks using high quality stone was not part of this industry.

The next most numerous category of imported stone is a type of siliceous limestone. There are a few drill points, polished flakes, and adzes of this material, and they may not all derive from the same source. Siliceous limestone occurs fairly widely about Cook Strait. Much of it comes from the Amuri formation which outcrops from just south of Kaikoura to Cape Campbell, and the Manurewa formation and Kaiwhata and Mungaroa limestones which outcrop from north of Cape Palliser to just north of Flat Point. This material is washed up on Cook Strait beaches (Keyes, 1969), and some of it is quite suitable for adze making. Most pieces, however, are riddled with shearing lines which rule out conchoidal fracture and limit its value. In addition, there are no known quarries where good quality limestone was being manufactured into adzes from these sources, although working floors are plentiful where flake tools were being made. On the other hand, an adze industry, based on limestone, is known from New Zealand, and the Napier Museum has many examples of archaic adzes made from such material. Many are part of the large Simcox collection, and derive from just south of Cape Turn- again in the vicinity of the Akitio and Aohanga Rivers. In hand specimen the material is very similar to the limestone used for adzes at Washpool, particularly in terms of patination. A pilot study of New Zealand siliceous limestones using XRF has proven that at least one of the Washpool adzes de- rives from Akitio, and several small flakes come from White Rock (Leach, 1977); in the absence of more definitive results, the material from Washpool is attributed equally to these two sources.

About equal quantities of schist and a variety of schistose-greywacke were found in the Washpool site. The latter was being used for stone minnow lure shanks, but the principal use of both materials was for making

small abrasive files. The schist is believed to derive from the Nelson district, and the schistose-greywacke from the Kaimanawa ranges south of Taupo.

A few pieces of nephrite were found in the site, and these are thought to have been obtained from the large Arahura River source, although there is a closer nephrite source near Nelson and another on D’Urville Island. A study of nephrite densities (Ritchie, 1976) suggests but does not prove that Arahura was the source of the Wairarapa material. The few pieces of serpentine and talc in the Wash- pool site are judged to be from the mineral belt in the Nelson area.

The last imported stone material is silcrete (orthoquartzite) of which only five pieces were found. This highly cemented sandstone is only found in Central Otago, and in hand specimen the pieces are very similar to the source at Oturehua. In view of the distance involved (715 km) this was an unexpected occurrence.

Locul lithic materials The principal local stone was greywacke, which is the main rock type found in the southern Wairarapa geological landscape. Greywacke is twelve times as numerous as any other local stone in the site. Even so, it is only half as common as either obsidian or chert. A specially shaped tool with use marks consistent with sawing was commonly found in Palliser sites and this was almost invariably made from a spa11 of greywacke. In addition to these ‘cutters’, greywacke was found in the site as hammerstones and polished adze chips.

Pumice is another ‘local’ material that was utilized. Though of sea-borne origin it occurs on beach ridges in quite large pieces, and was apparently used for its abrasive properties. Most of the pieces found featured smooth hollows where an area had been used for grinding. Pumice was also used for net floats as is evidenced by finds at the Pararaki River Mouth (Anderson et al., n.d.). Next in importance to pumice are various local argillites. These include unbaked argillite used for files and minnow lures, and both a volcanic argillite and a shale-like or slaty argillite used in a similar fashion to the greywacke cutters.

Other local rocks collected and used by the occupants of the site were spillitic lava, cal-

[396]


cite, k o h o w i (red ochre), various concretions, coral, quartz crystal, and fossil bivalves. Most of these were merely sinall pieces or flakes and were not used for any particular purpose. One or two rounded pebbles were found with kokowui stains in- dicative of the manufacture of red pig- ment. The fossil bivalves were Cmrllueu (Lutriurcu) humptoni, Glj.cyiiieris (Manuiu) hurirpien~is and Dosiniu (Mureiu) cf greyi; it is very likely that these derive from the Hurupi formation, an upper Miocene fossiliferous blue mudstone which occurs in a sniall isolated outcrop 1.3 kni north of Wash-

Changing patterns of coininitnicution With such a large assemblage of stone material and so many imported rocks, it might be expected that any changes in the pattern of communication of these pcople with communities outside Palliser Bay would be reflected in a numerical way in the stone material. The assemblage can be divided into three temporal units (Levels I, I1 and 111), and there are a number of significant trends which stand out. First is the overall change in the proportions of imported to local stone between the three levels (see FIG. 3). At about AD 1180 just over 77 per cent was imported, and 23 per cent local; by circa AD 1538 the amount imported was as high as 94 per cent. Other dated assemblages in Palliser Bay fit reasonably well with the trend shown in FIG. 3 (B. F. Leach, 1976:168. The significance of this trend was assessed using Rosenbaum's nomographic chart ( 1959: 47) . The proportion of local stone falls significantly through time ( p < 0.01).

pool.

Level I1 r?=6Cl I ' / 1 7 3 8 2 7

<' .. , r 77 0 Level I n: 1627

FIG. 3 Proportions of local and imported stone.

As FIG. 3 shows, local rocks are never especially important, but were about four times as frequent in the early period as later. This may suggest that when the Palliser people first came to this area there was initial experimentation with local materials, but as time went by the exchange network became increasingly important, although not neces- sarily more reliable. Eventually, these people were virtually dependent on imported raw materials.

It should not be thought that the increasing reliance on external resources involved each rock type to the same extent. Of the ten imported rocks, obsidian, chert, and meta- argillite account for more than 97 per cent in each level at Washpool. The ditferent proportions of these through time are shown in FIG. 4, from which i t is evident that there is a fall off through time in the quantity of obsidian, and a rise in both chert and meta- argillite. The amount of all other imported rocks remains fairly constant, and at a very low percentage. This shift away from the importation of obsidian is dramatic after circu AD 1345. When the figures for Levels I1 and I11 are compared, the trends are significant ( p < 0.01) for obsidian, chert, and meta- argillite. On the other hand, the slight shifts observed between Levels I and 11, while in the same direction, are not significant ( p > 0.05) for any of the three main rock types.

Both the meta-argillite and the chert were obtained in the Cook Strait area, while the obsidian was obtained only in the northern half of the North Island. From these figures it could be argued that over a period of time, ties were strengthened in the Cook Strait area at the expense of communications further north. Conversely, they could be used to argue that in the earliest period, contact was stronger with the northern area. It is suggested elsewhere (B. F. Leach, 1976:326), that the Palliser Bay people originated further north, and this dominance of northern rocks in the early period strengthens this interpreta- tion. The main impact of the change in allegiances apparently took place some time between about AD 1345 and AD 1538.

At least seven different sources of obsidian were represented in the Washpool site, and all are represented in Level 11. Although they cannot be shown to have been used in the other two levels, the sample sizes analysed

[397]


META ARGlLLlTE CHERT OBSIDIAN

Level ll n -4977

Level I n = 3564 16 9

by XRF were much smaller for these levels, and the absence of some sources could be a product of sampling bias. The sample consisted of twenty artefacts randomly drawn from each layer in the site. These layers were later grouped into cultural levels, and most stratigraphic units belonged to the earliest phase of occupation. In all, 159 pieces of obsidian from the site were analysed for trace elements, and although this information is very useful to determine the actual sources used, much larger samples than this are needed to draw statistically significant conclusions about any trends in utilization of minor sources (Leach, 1977). In the present instance it seemed wiser to group the obsidian into that from Mayor Island (the dominant type) and that from ‘other’ sources, since this division has long been seen as an important one in oihar New Zealand archaeological sites. For instance, Green ( 1964 : 139) argued strongly that Mayor Island obsidian was the dominant type in early North Island sites, and that later this obsidian declined in popularity among people some distance from the Mayor Island source. Some may have thought that this conclusion holds throughout New Zealand, but the figures from Palliser Bay do not support this notion, and a careful re- appraisal of the whole situation is clearly required. This has recently been attempted using figures from sixty-five New Zealand sites (Leach, n.d.b). From this study it is evident that while a definite overall trend away from the utilization of Mayor Island obsidian can be seen in New Zealand sites, there is wide variation about this trend at all

FIG. 4 Proportions of imported rocks.

I3981

times in the prehistoric period, and this argues for some complexity in the supply lines, and the need for intensive regional studies.

When the figures for Washpool are plotted (FIG. 5) , there is a clear trend towards greater use of the Mayor Island obsidian through time. Establishing the statistical significance, if any, of this trend is a complicated problem, and a positive case is argued by Leach and Anderson (n.d ).

OTHER SOURCES MAYOR ISLAND

Level Il n = 9 P

- R h t 714 t 3 ( 1 8 69 2 Level I n= 3 3

FIG. 5 Proportions of ditferent obsidians.

The results show that while a general trend in favour of non-Mayor Island obsidian may be observed for New Zealand as a whole, the pattern of supply to a particular area may be quite different from the cumulative trend. At the Washpool site, the occupants relied increasingly on Mayor Island as a source, and results from other archaeological sites in Palliser Bay fit reasonably well with this trend, although smaller sample sizes hamper positive assessment. A different pattern might well be encountered in sites around


Wellington or the eastern Wairarapa coast. Unlil other regions are studied more in- tensively, relative dating from the proportion of Mayor Island obsidian should be applied with great caution, except where very local use patterns have been established.

There are unfortunately very few comparable figures for other New Zealand sites relating to the precise obsidian sources used. One recent study is of the Motutapu ‘undefended’ site (N38/37) and the results are published by Davidson (1974) and Ward (1974). The assemblage consisted of 132 pieces, and sources were represented in the following proportions :

21.2 per cent probably Mayor Island (green coloured) .

55.8 per cent Te Ahumata on Great Barrier Island.

13.1 per cent Awana on Great Barrier Island.

9.9 per cent Huruiki in Northland. These sourccs extend as far as 165 km from Motutapu (inadvertently stated as 75 km by Ward, 1974:13). This site on Motutapu is dated to the mid-eighteenth century and is very late by comparison with Washpool. The figures given here show that even late in the prehistoric sequence considerable investments were still being made into raw materials from far afield. The same picture is shown at Washpool.

Archaeologists attempting to understand the economics of raw material transfer in trading systems commonly employ the dual concepts of degree of interaction with a source (abundance in a site), and transportation cost (the source distance). From studies of one of these variables against the other it has even been suggested that a ‘Law of Monotonic Decrement’ applies: that raw materials become increasingly scarce as one moves away from their source (Renfrew cited by Earle and Ericson, 1977:7). How- ever, whether this law applies in individual circumstances depends primarily on the nature of the communication link between any pair of participants in the network. For example, direct long-distance transfer (as distinct from neighbour to neighbour exchange) can cause major discontinuities. The concept of social distance is probably more important than physical distance.

Nevertheless, the concepts of interaction

and cost are most useful in analysis, and the Washpool data are reorganized in TAHLL 2 with this in mind. The degree of communication (interaction) between the transmitter and receiver (supplier and recipient) is desig- nated as the number of signals (items of stone), and the length of the transmission line (transportation cost) is assessed as the shortest channel length which links all the points of supply to the receiver. The communication network at the different psriods is shown in FIG. 6. This model is not on an ‘isocost surface’ (Haggett, 1967: 620), but simply the minimum interpoint network (ibid.:768). The actual pathway between points in this network is likely to have been quite different than that proposed in FIG. 6, or that which could be suggested on an isocost surface taking into account variation in such factors as forest and topography. Attempts to construct such surfaces are at the mercy of highly significant factors like the possible ‘cost’ of transporting obsidian through an enemy’s backyard (the closest distance) instead of via a more neutral terri- tory such as the sea (possibly much further). The networks suggested in FIG. 6 and TABLE 2 are merely a starting point for analysis. Because there are two lines of supply to Washpool (one from the north and the other from the south) it is necessary to split the local rocks into two equal groups. These are referred to as Radii A and B in TABLt 2.

The first feature which is evident from these data is that incoming signals are far more numerous from the northern part of the network than the south (FIG. 7), and that two main transmission zones appear to be involved (FIG. 8) : a distant one based on the Coromandel-Bay of Plenty area, and a closer one based on Cook Strait. Moreover, there are a number of significant changes through time which may be detected. When the incoming signals from the North and South Islands are separated out for the different periods (TABLE. 3) it is clear that the signal density from the North Island declines in favour of a rise in messages from the South. Using the figures in TABLE 3, the question: ‘how busy is the South Island Channel?’ could be answered by considering:

% of the signals received on that line proportion of the total length of the Signal density = transmission line being used.


TABLE 2

COMMUNICATION LINKS W I T H WASHPOOL. A : No. of ‘signals’; B : Peicentagc o f incoming ‘signals‘; C: Transmission length (closest interlink distances i n km)

Supply zone Level I Level II Level 111 Total

Huruiki Purangi Cooks Bay Mayor Island Rotorua Ongaroto Taupo Kairnanawa Akitio Tora White Rock Local (radius A) WASHPOOL Local (radius B) DUrville Island Nelson Arahura Oturehua

81 I .3 0.3 4.7 23.5

197 2.4 71 I00

81 20 673

0.7 0.2 6.1

I97 2.4 71

- -

8.1 22.0 1.6 - - 0.3 0.8 30.1 0.8 11.5 I00 11.5 13.0 0.2 0.1 0.04

B

-.

20 282 141 1

-

376 1016 75 - -

- 15 68 - -

- 4.4 20.0 - -

-

71 369 - -

71 I00 126

2495 22.7 1 .0 0.2 1.1 0.3 0.7 31.9 0.7 9.7 100 9.7 14.5 0.4 0.04 0.05

100 48 21 83 152 128 8

40 20

0.7 0.3

48 27

115 20 121 35

~

121 19 41 1964

2.0 0.3 0.7 32.6

83 152 I28

16 37 1392

152 128

- 2 148

- 0.6 43.5 0.6

-

128 8

80 3504 80

8 17 3

3 130 55 226 302

i1.a.

8 17 3

40 0.7 8.6 1 00 8.6 15.1 0.5

0.05 -

2 10 340 10

17 3 n.a. 3 130

17 3

38 532 4627 531 60 1 8 3 2

A

5 20 6017 5 20 906

~~

2.9 1 00 2.9

1062 10984 1061

n.a. 3 130

n.a. 3 130 55

82 24.1 0.6 0.3 -

1589 39 4 5

29

3 -

55

503 -

2 1

55 226 -

226 302

C A B C A B C A B C

TABLE 3 ZONES OF COMMUNICATION WITH WASHPML. A : No. of ‘signals’ (local excluded); B: Percentage of

incoming ‘signals’; C: Total length of transmission line (km) ~~

Zone Level 1 Level 11 Level I11

North Island 2950 82.8 605 4039 81.2 836 235 73.4 596 South Island 614 17.2 716 938 18.9 691 85 26.6 414

Total 3564 100 1321 4977 100 1527 320 100 1010

A B C A B C A B C

Sigrzal Density

Level I Level I 1 Level I11

North Island 85.08 South Island 14.92

78.04 21.96

65.72 34.28

Total 100 100 100

The figure for the South Island for Level I would be 17.2/(716/1321) = 31.7. This is a pure number (no units), and expresses the fact that 17.2 per cent of all incoming signals are received from 54.2 per cent of the total communication network. The North Island figure for the same period is 180.8, and shows that signal density is far higher in the northern part of the system (this may also be seen in FIG. 7) . It may be noticed that there is no theoretical upper limit to the value of total signal density, although there is bound

to be a practical one. The fact that the total is fairly constant for the different periods in this site (212.5, 189.9, 189.3) suggests that the band width of the communication system is constrained by technological factors (such as canoe transport of the signals). To facilitate comparison, total signal density at any period is scaled to an arbitrary figure of 100. The scaled values for the South Island steadily rise through time as follows:

14.9 22.0 34.3

VOL. 1 1 No. 3

LEVEL I 0

LEVEL III Huruikio

MANKIND

LEVELII

0

Kaimanawao

~Otu rehua

FIG. 6 Communication channels with Washpool (based on TABLE 2 ) .

TABLE 4

ZONES OF COMMUNICATION WITH WASHPOOL. A : No. of ‘signals’ (local excluded); B : Percentage of

Zone Level I Level I1 Level I11

incoming ‘signals’; C: Total length of transmission line (km)

Northland - - - 1.6 836 - - - 81 Coromandel-BOP 1392 39.1 605 1713 34.4 639 83 25.9 596 Central North Is. 91 2.6 434 200 4.0 466 Cook Strait 2016 S8.3 344 2980 59.9 344 236 73.8 344 Far South Is. 5 0.1 716 3 0.1 691 I 0.3 414

- - -

Totals 3564 100 2099 4911 100 2916 320 100 1354

A B C A B C A B C

Level I Lcvel 11 Level I11 Northland -

Coromandel-BOP 26.91 Central North Is. 2.45 Cook Strait 70.56 Far South Is. 0.08

0.82 22.58

3.62 12.95 0.04

~~

- 16.83

82.88 0.29

-

Total 100 100 I00

MANKIND

Huruiki

Purangi Cooks Bay

Mayor Island

Rotorua Ongaroto Taupo

Kairnanawa

Akitio

Arahura

FIG. 7 Accumulation of signals to Washpool (based on TABLE 2) .

This shows that the flow of communication is increasingly common from this source.

There are other ways in which this data may be examined. For instance, the different signal sources may be grouped as follows :

Far North (Huruiki) Coromandel-Bay of Plenty (Purangi,

Central North Island (Rotorua, Onga- Cooks Bay, Mayor Is.)

roto, Taupo, Kaimanawa)

VOL. 1 1 No.3

1 200 400 600 800 Distance from Washpool (krn)

FIG. 8 Origin of signals to Washpool (based on TABLE 2) .

Cook Strait (Akitio, White Rock,

Far South (Arahura, Oturehua) DUrville, Nelson)

A table of signal density may be again con- structed (TABLE 4), and as might be expected, this shows that communication steadily declined with the Coromandel-Bay of Plenty area in favour of the Cook Strait channels.

One of the most important concepts in communication theory is that of the ‘entropy’ of a system. This concept, which is borrowed from thermodynamics, expresses the state of order, pattern, or discrimination. If two bodies of hot and cold water are mixed to form a single lukewarm body there is an increase in entropy associated with the loss of this pattern or discrimination between parts. The formation of an archaeological site can be viewed as rather similar to breaking up the lead type of Hamlet; both processes are associated with reduction to a groundstate of disorder or randomness; both destroy information, and increase entropy. Neverthe- less, the groundstate is not completely attained, and the analysis of residual patterns can reveal some of the original messages in Hamlet. The capacity of a partly broken up body of lead type to reveal such messages can be measured, and is a statement of the improbability of any patterns which may be detected. This capacity may be thought of as the potential information value; and in the analysis of communication systems is most commonly measured using various versions of Shannon’s H statistic:

9

i - I H r - V Pi .log Pi

VOL. 11 No .3 MANKIND

where q is the number of symbols, species, letters in the alphabet etc., Pi is the relative frequency of the ith symbol. The base of the logarithms is variously e, 10, or 2, depending on what units one employs. Base 2 gives information value in hinary digits( bits), and this convention is used here. The maximum entropy of a system of symbols (when there is no internal information) is simply

and the relative entropy (the internal information per symbol)

Shannon’s H statistic has found wide application in problems of classification and pattern recognition (see for example Watanabe, 1972 : 562) , and in ecological studies where species diversity is measured against environmental stress. It has even been used as an index of environmental quality (and lack of it) in areas of pollution, such as American estuaries (Haedrich, 1974). When biomass units are employed instead of numbers the index has been used to measure the complexity of energy pathways in communities (Wilhm, 1968). The statistic has equally diverse applications in archaeology, particularly in studying the effects of human predation on resources. In the present instance it may be used as a measure of the information flow in this system of communication of people at Washpool with places and people elsewhere in New Zealand. Using the figures in TABLE 2, the following values are obtained :

M = -log2 q (bits)

R - H - M

Level 1 Level I 1 Level 111

Alphabet (4) 12 15 9 Actual entropy 2.43 2.54 2.08

(H hits)

( M hits)

( R bits)

Maximum entropy 3.58 3.91 3.17

Relative entropy ---1.15 -1.37 - 1.09

These figures show a rise in the flow of information in the middle of the prehistoric sequence, and a sharp fall off towards the end. These results are a very useful expression of the diversity of incoming information, and shadow the intuitive im- pression gained from TAHLE 2 and FIG. 6, that communications were most developed in

the middle period, and were followed by a shrinkage of the overall size of the network, and the diversity of incoming material. It has been shown that there was a consistent rise in the dependence on imported material (FIG. 3 ) , and this feature coupled with the decline in relative entropy sounds like an unstable combination. This dependence may have been a contributing factor in the decision by these people to resettle elsewhere. It has been shown on other grounds that their economic system ultimately placed such pressure on the local environment that continued habitation was no longer possible (B. F. Leach, 1976).

Conch sions The dominance of external rocks in the Washpool assemblages suggests that the earliest people came into this geologically impoverished environment secure in the knowledge that they were backed up by a flourishing exchange network which could provide them with essential raw materials from much farther afield. It is a pattern which is repeatedly found in nearly all the sup- posedly ‘early’ sites known from New Zealand, suggesting that none are of initial settlement age.

From the point of view of communications, the figures presented argue that the earliest people at Washpool were strongly reliant on the Coromandel-Bay of Plenty resources, if not in close direct contact with groups of people in that area. Moreover, people from the same area were also supply- ing Houhora and the Manukau Heads with stone materials (Best, 1975). Over a period of time, however, contact with the resources and communities in the coastal areas of Cook Strait became more important, and probably more reliable. There was also a significant communication link with the resources of the central North Island, and this was especially strong in the middle of the prehistoric sequence. This channel apparently dried up some time before the sixteenth century. Because the contact with the Coromandel- Bay of Plenty continued with only minor reduction at this time, it would appear that material from this more northern area was not coming down through the centre of the North Island on an overland route. A sea- ward or coastal passage seems more likely. Thus, this community in Palliser Bay

[403]


appears to have been involved with at least two distinct exchange pathways in the North Island alone, and a case might be made that the strongest of these was maritime based. Ultimately, a similar type of system strengthened ties closer to home in the Cook Strait area itself. Small quantities of other South Island rocks from much further afield (such as silcrete) became incorporated into this traffic. Implicit in this suggestion is the notion that maritime technology was highly developed by about A D 1 180.

A similar maritime system has been proposed involving the Northland and Coro- mandel areas, in which Tahanga basalt was a principal commodity (Best, 1975). Bay of Plenty obsidian and Coromandel sinters were also involved in the transfers. The fact that neither Tahanga basalt nor the sinter accompanied the Coromandel obsidian to Palliser Bay argues for some complexity in the overall exchange system, perhaps involving middle men specializing in particular materials. Far more information is needed in the actual source areas themselves to eluci- date this problem.

The conclusions which have been drawn about the exchange network involving this Palliser Bay community have followed from a novel approach to analysing lithic assemblages. I t was argued that it is futile for archaeologists to try to reconstruct the social circumstances of prehistoric trade in anything like the terms of ethnographic literature. If communications concepts are employed such as entropy, network size. signal density and so on, a measure of objectivity may be introduced into the study of foreign materials in archaeological sites.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ALLO. J. 1971. The dentition of the Maori dog of

New Zealand. Records of the Auckltrtid Institute

ANDERSON. A. J . . PRICKETT. N. J . . and PRICKETT. K. E. n.d. Pararaki Sali,agc Report. Unpub- lished manuscript, University of Otago.

BELL, D. A. 1953. Information Theory. Pitman. London.

BEST. S. B. 1975. Adzes, Rocks and Mcn. Re- search Essay. University of Auckland.

CQDK. J. [1968]. T h e Journals of James Cook. Vol. 1, T h e Voyage of the Endeavour 176X-3771. J. C. Beaglehole (ed.) , Cambridge University Press.

DAVID~ON, J. M. 1974. Further identifications of sources of obsidian flakes from N38/37 on Motutapu Island. New Zealand. Records of the Aucklarid Institute and Muscum, 1 I , 1 1 - 1 2.

atid M I I S ~ U I W . 8, 29-45.

EARLE, T. K. and ERICSON, J . E. 1977. Exchange systems in archaeological perspective. In T. K . Earlc and J . E. Ericson (eds), Exchange Systems i i i Prehistory. Academic Press, New York. pp.

GREEN, R. C. 1964. Sources, ages and exploitation of New Zealand obsidian: an interim report. New Zealand Archucological Association News-

3- 12.

letter, 7, 134-43. HAEDRICII. R. L. 1975. Diversitv and overlap as

mcasurcs or environmental . quality. Wtrter Rcseurch, 9. 945-52.

HAr;c;ETr. P. 1967. Network models in geography. I n R. J . Choi-ley and P. J . Haggett (eds). M o d d s in Geography. Methuen, London. pp. 609-68.

HARDING. T. G. 1967. Voyagers o f the Vitiaz Strair. University of Washington Press.

KERKICI-I. J . E. and CLARKE, D. L. 1967. Notes on the possible misuse and errors of cumulative percentnee frequency graphs for the comparison of prehistoric artefact assemblages. Proceedings of / he Prehistoric Society, 33, 57-69.

KEYES. I . W. 1969. Maori utilisation or drifted limestone from the south Wellington coastline. Nen, Zcaland Archaeologicnl Association News- letter. 12, 103-7.

. 1970. Wairarapa chert sources in New Zealand prehistory. Ne,r, Zcalarid Archsreologicai Associtrtion Newslettcr, 13. 128-34.

. 1972. A Further Source of Chert in the Wairarapa. New Zcalarid Archaeological Association Newsletter, 15. 57-8.

LEACH. B. F. 1976. Prehistoric Conimunitic~s ir Palliser Bay, Nciii Zealand. Unpublished PhI3 thesis. University of Otago.

. 1977. A rapid method of sourcing New Zealand lithic material using a low power X R F analyser. Oceanic Prehistory Records, 3.

, n.d.a. Fish and crayfish from the Wash- pool midden site. New Zealand: their use in determining season of occupation and prehistoric fishing methods. Journal o f Archacologi- ctil Scicncc. In press.

. n.d.b. T h e Changing Proportions of Mrryor Islarid Obsidian in New Zealand Archaeological Sites. Unpublishcd manuscript.

LEACH, B. F. and ANDERSON, A. J. n.d. The prehistoric sources of Palliser Bay obsidian. Journal of Archtreologicnl Science. In press.

LEACI-I. H. M . 1976. Horticulture i i i Prchistoric Netit Zealand. Unpublished P h D thesis. Univer- sity of Otago.

MAIR. G. M. 1972. T h e Protohistoric Period of Wairrrrapa Culture History. Unpublished MA thesis. University of Otago.

MAWS. M. 1966. The Gi f t . Cohen and West. London.

PRICKETT. K. E. 1975. T h e Prehistoric Exploitu- tion and Knowledge of Gcological Resources in Southern Wairarapa. Unpublished MA thesis, University of Otago.

n.d. Tables o f Lithic Materials f rom Prchistoric Sites in Palliser Bay. Unpublished manuscript, University of Otago.

REYMENT, R. A. 1971. Introduction to Quantittr- titir Paleoecology. Elsevier. Amsterdam.

RITCHIE. N. A. 1976. A Contribution towards the Churacterizrrtion of New Zealand Greeri-

VOL. 11 No.3 MANKIND

stone Sources. Unpublished MA thesis, Univer- sity of Otago.

R~OSENBAUM. S. 1959. A significance chart for percentages. Applied Sfatistics, 8, 45-52.

SHAWCROSS, W. 1964. Stone flake industries in New Zealand. Journal of thre Polynesian Society,

SHORTLAND, E. 1844. General condition of the natives of the Middle Island. In A. Mackay, A Coniprndium of 0f)icial Documents Relative t o NatiLie Aflairs, Vol. 2. Luckie and Collins, Nelson 1872, pp. 123-6.

SUTHERLAND. A. 1947. The Suthcrlands of Ngaipu. A. H. and A. W. Reed, Wellington.

WALLS, K. E. 1971. Cherfs and N e w Zcaland Archaeology. Unpublished Research Report,

73. 7-25.

University of Otago. WARD. G . K. 1974. Smource of obsidians from the

MotutaDu undefended site N38137. Records of thc Auckland Institute and Mu.si,um. 1 1 , 13-14..

WATANARE. S. 1972. Pattern recognition as information compression. I n s. Watanabe (ed.), Fronticrs of Putfern Recognition. Academic Prcss. New York. pp, 561-7.

W I L H M . J . L. 1968. Use of biomass units in Shannon's formula. Ecology, 49, 153-6.

WRIGHT. G . A. 1974. Archaeology and trade. Addison- Weslev Modulc in Anthropology, 49.

YOUNG. M . W. 1971. Fighring With Food. Leader- ship. Va1uc.s and Sociril Control in a Massim Soc-icty. Cambridge Llniversity Prcss.