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Cultivating an Ecological and Social Balance: Elite Demands and Commoner Knowledge in Ancient Ma‘ohi Agriculture, Society Islands
Author(s) -
Lepofsky Dana,
Kahn Jennifer
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1111/j.1548-1433.2011.01333.x
Subject(s) - commoner , elite , agriculture , ethnography , balance of nature , agricultural productivity , productivity , ecology , sociology , geography , social science , archaeology , economic growth , political science , politics , biology , economics , law
Anthropological views of past human–environmental interactions are influenced by the data sets used and the subjects of study. In this article, we seek a balanced view of ancient human–environmental interactions in the Society Islands. We explore the social and ecological contexts of agricultural production by incorporating archaeological and ethnographic data as well as the motivations and actions of Ma‘ohi elites and commoners. Both elites and commoners contributed to long‐term agricultural productivity. The elite did so through periodic restrictions on harvesting; the farmers contributed ecological knowledge acquired through generations of on‐the‐ground experience. Our fine‐scale examination of the archaeological remains of three agricultural systems in the ‘Opunohu Valley indicates that the roles of elite and commoner played out differently depending on their social‐spatial proximity. By refocusing our analyses on all players in the production system, a more nuanced understanding of the range of ancient environmental and social interactions emerges.