Four thousand years of western Torres Strait fishing in the Pacific-wide context

JASREP-00081; No of Pages 11 Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2015) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports journal homepage: http://ees.elsevier.com/jasrep

Four thousand years of western Torres Strait fishing in the Pacific-wide context Marshall I. Weisler a,⁎, Ian J. McNiven b a b

School of Social Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia Qld 4072 Australia Monash Indigenous Centre, Monash University, Clayton Victoria 3800 Australia

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history: Received 19 March 2015 Received in revised form 30 April 2015 Accepted 15 May 2015 Available online xxxx Keywords: Prehistoric fishing Faunal analysis Marine subsistence Torres Strait Pacific islands

a b s t r a c t Situated just north of Cape York Peninsula, Australia, the western Torres Strait islands reveals the earliest archaeological evidence for human occupation of Torres Strait at 9000 years ago on Badu. The first evidence for marine resource use of fish and turtle dates to ~ 7200 cal BP. We describe the salient information on marine exploitation from the ethnographic record, summarise the evidence for shark/ray and finfish exploitation from faunal assemblages excavated at six sites (dating to the past 4000 years) using similar standardised techniques, then compare the archaeological data for fishing to other sites across the tropical Pacific Islands. Using the number of identified specimens (NISP) for all six western Torres Strait assemblages (n = 1927), sharks and rays (taxa including Elasmobranchii, Myliobatidiformes or stingrays, four shark familes, and the porcupine ray or Urogymnus asperrimus) accounted for 59.9% of all identified elements. The most abundant finfish were wrasses (Labridae, mostly Bodianus sp.) at 21.3%, parrotfish (Scaridae) 6.3% and groupers (Serranidae) at 2.5%. Seven families provided the remaining ~10%. Fish size was estimated by measuring the diameter of finfish and shark/ray vertebrae, length of emperor otoliths and widths of pharyngeal grinding clusters of parrotfish and wrasses. Live length was commonly b10 cm for finfish and ~ 1 m for sharks. This small size of the fish represented in sites throughout western Torres Strait reflects a forager capture strategy probably undertaken primarily by women and children walking along the reef flat at low tide gleaning fish stranded in tide pools and shallow water channels. Ethnographically, small fish are targeted due to their superior ‘sweeter’ taste compared to larger fish. Complementary ethnographic and archaeological information indicates that the bulk of marine protein came from socially prestigious dugongs and especially turtles hunted by men. Small sharks may have been targeted when attracted to shoreline dugong/turtle butchering events. No archaeological evidence for fishing technology such as shell fishhooks has been recovered from archaeological excavations. The western Torres Strait islands are unique within the greater tropical Pacific islands region because of: 1) low fish species richness of the assemblages; 2) dominance of sharks and rays in the combined assemblages accounting for ~60% NISP; and 3) small reconstructed length of captured finfish and shark/rays; and, as a consequence, the lack of evidence for an intensive fishery. Further studies of fish bone assemblages from across the 150 km of Torres Strait may demonstrate that this is a common pattern for the region but, if not, documenting the variability of the fishery will be an important task. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction The tropical Pacific islands and their varied marine habitats provide a unique opportunity to compare and contrast human adaptations, subsistence regimes and impacts to nearshore ecosystems beginning from the late Pleistocene when the earliest evidence of fishing technology from this region has been reported (O'Connor et al., 2011; O'Connor and Veth, 2005). Encompassing ~ 150 million km2 and containing roughly 25,000 islands, the Pacific islands can be grouped into: island-arc or continental islands which are found primarily in the western Pacific and are amongst the largest and oldest landforms; volcanic islands of oceanic ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M.I. Weisler), [email protected] (I.J. McNiven).

basalt origin that are scattered across most of the northern and eastern Pacific; low coral atolls built of unconsolidated sand and gravel atop reef platforms surrounding a lagoon; and makatea or raised limestone islands that typically have narrow reefs due to their uplift history. Fish species diversity is at its highest in the western Pacific (Froese and Pauly, 2014) where 1660 species have been inventoried for Papua New Guinea, then declining markedly with only 106 species at Easter Island at the extreme eastern margin of Oceania. Ironically, the greatest florescence and archaeoloigical evidence for fishing technology is in eastern Polynesia (Beasley, 1928)— the lowest region for species richness. After several decades of fish faunal studies in the tropical Pacific (reviewed in Lambrides and Weisler, ms), we are beginning to understand the variation of marine subsistence practices across the region and the chronology and effects of human predation on marine ecosystems. Some have suggested that certain island classes, such as makatea

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.05.016 2352-409X/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article as: Weisler, M.I., McNiven, I.J., Four thousand years of western Torres Strait fishing in the Pacific-wide context, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.05.016

2

M.I. Weisler, I.J. McNiven / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2015) xxx–xxx

or atolls, may have faunal assemblages indicative of the kind of island and its unique marine habitats (Walter and Anderson, 2002:129; Weisler et al., 2010:140–141). However, there have been few studies that have compared one region of the tropical Pacific to another. We do this here by taking an in-depth examination of western Torres Strait where six studies (Crouch et al., 2007; David and Weisler, 2006; David et al., 2008; McNiven et al., 2006, 2008, in press) have yielded remarkably similar assemblages in terms of fish bone size, species diversity and species richness that, together, contrasts with other tropical Pacific sites (Fig. 1). Archaeological excavations in western Torres Strait have recovered few artefacts associated with fishing, yet this is not sufficient evidence to infer that fishing was not very important in the overall marine subsistence regime since it is also true that fishhooks and sinkers are rare at sites in the western Pacific where fishing was clearly important (Butler, 1994). In this paper we present the salient features of the ethnographies related to marine exploitation, review the archaeological evidence for fishing in western Torres Strait islands, then offer explanations as to why fishing there provided a unique archaeological ‘signature’ quite unlike that of the rest of the tropical Pacific.

2. Torres Strait study area Torres Strait is an archipelago of 50,000 km2 stretching for 150 km between mainland Australia in the south and New Guinea in the north (Fig. 1). It features shallow seas (mostly b20 m) with 1300 coral reefs and more than 270 islands (Haywood et al., 2007:38). It is home to Torres Strait Islanders, Indigenous marine specialists spread across numerous island communities with expansive territorial seascapes (e.g., Barham, 2000; Fuary, 2009; Haddon, 1935; Johannes and MacFarlane, 1991a, 1991b; Mulrennan and Scott, 2008; Nietschmann, 1989; Sharp, 1993). Torres Strait Islanders have one of the highest per capita consumption rates of seafood in the world, extending to over 450 species of fish, shellfish, sea birds, turtles and dugong (Johannes and MacFarlane, 1991a; McNiven and Hitchcock, 2004). They are ‘one of the most marine-oriented and sea-life dependent indigenous societies on the planet’ (Cordell, 1993:159). Four geographical–cultural groupings are recognised — the Western Islands (Kaurareg and Maluilgal) dominated by granitic hills, the Top Western Islands (Guda Maluilgal) comprising muddy swamps and

Fig. 1. Map of study area highlighting western Torres Strait islands.

Please cite this article as: Weisler, M.I., McNiven, I.J., Four thousand years of western Torres Strait fishing in the Pacific-wide context, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.05.016

M.I. Weisler, I.J. McNiven / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2015) xxx–xxx

granitic hills, the Central Islands (Kulkalgal) of sandy cays and granitic hills, and the Eastern Islands (Meriam) of volcanic basalts (Von Gnielinski et al., 1998). Post-glacial sea level rise created the strait 8000–9000 years ago (McNiven, 2011). The range of terrestrial vertebrates on Torres Strait islands is low and ‘essentially a depauperate subset of that found on Cape York Peninsula and southern New Guinea’ (Lavery et al., 2012:188). In marked contrast, a superabundance of marine animal foods (turtles, dugongs, fish and shellfish) is available from extensive reef systems (McNiven and Hitchcock, 2004). Sweatman et al. (2015:30) record 326 coral reef fishes for Torres Strait, adding that ‘hundreds of small cryptic species certainly remain undetected’. Plant foods were mostly cultivated (e.g., yams, taro, sweet potato, bananas, coconuts and sugarcane) with a greater reliance on collected plant foods occurring in the southwest Strait. The Western Islands centre on the three Maluilgal community islands of Mabuyag (8 km2), Badu (105 km2) and Mua (170 km2; Fig. 1). These islands are surrounded by numerous rocky islets and extensive intertidal flats with a mosaic of rocky, sandy, muddy and coral substrates. Patches of small and large mangrove forests occur around the three large islands and most islets. Terrestrial and reef coring indicates that coral reefs attained their modern form by at least 5000 years ago with extensive reefal areas and sea grass beds by 4000 years ago (Barham, 2000; Woodroffe et al., 2000). Pollen cores reveal mangrove forests in place by 7000 years ago with a major expansion phase commencing ~ 6000 years ago giving way to retreat and modern ecological patterns within the past 3000 years (Rowe, 2007). Earliest archaeological evidence for human occupation of Torres Strait is 9000 years ago on Badu with first evidence for marine resource use in terms of fish/turtle and dugong dated to ~ 7200 and ~ 4200 years ago respectively on Mabuyag and Badu (Crouch et al., 2007; David et al., 2004; Wright et al., 2013). 3. The ethnographic picture of western Torres Strait fishing Considerable ethnographic details on Torres Strait Islander fishing practices are available for the 19th century through the anthropological research of Haddon (1901–35 and summarized for Mabuyag in Ghaleb, 1998) and for the late 20th century through the fisheries research of Johannes and MacFarlane (1991a, 1991b). Haddon (1912:3) provides a summary overview of fishing: A little fishing is indulged in by both sexes when they feel inclined for a change of diet; but at certain periods fishing becomes more of a general occupation. At low tide men, women, and children may be seen searching the reef for shell-fish and fish which have become imprisoned in rock-pools, but as a rule this simple collecting is done more by the women and children. Although serious fishing is more particularly men's work the women also take a part, but definite fishing expeditions and the quest of dugong and turtle are confined to the men. Practically the fishing of the women is limited to that which they can undertake on the fringing reef of their home island. Western Islanders depended more on fishing compared to the Eastern Islanders. Whereas for the Eastern Islanders ‘fishing operations were … largely of the nature of a recreation … Life was certainly not so easy for the Western Islanders. The islands are less fertile and the inhabitants had to depend to a larger extent than the Eastern Islanders on the spontaneous produce of the soil (which was not of much account) and on fishing’ (Haddon, 1912:6). Marine turtle meat and eggs were the most important protein source across Torres Strait with dugong perhaps more important in the Western Islands, especially on Mabuyag (Johannes and MacFarlane, 1991a:195–197; Haddon, 1912:137–138). Haddon notes that ‘Fish or shell-fish are eaten nearly every day, with occasional meals of turtle and dugong’ (1912:130, 154). This view accords with MacGillivray's 1840s observation that the Torres Strait Islander food ‘varies with the season of the year, and the supply is

3

irregular and often precarious. Shell-fish and fish are alone obtainable all the year round’ (1852, II:20). Haddon (1912:139, 157) recorded that ‘Numerous kinds of fish are eaten’ but specifically lists only im (carpet shark, Eucrossorhinus sp.), kaigas (shovel-nosed shark, Rhinobatis sp.), wad (Blenny sp.), and poadi (Lethrinus sp.). However, based on Ray's (1907) word lists, Ghaleb (1998:Table 1) expands this list to 69 types of fish, with 47 identified to at least generic level (8 cartilaginous, 39 bony) within 39 families (7 cartilaginous, 32 bony). In terms of cooking, the ‘larger fish are gutted before being cooked, and may be boiled in fresh water in a shell saucepan, alup [baler shell, Melos sp.] or bu [trumpet shell, Syrinx aruanus], roasted over the fire, or cooked in an earth-oven. Fish are often wrapped in pandanus leaves when being roasted … When not required for immediate use the fish are dried in the sun, dried and smoked, or slightly roasted on a bamboo frame hung over a fire or on a light wooden framework’ (Haddon, 1912:139). Certain types of food were taboo for different groups based on age, gender and transformative occasions. Examples include flesh, fat and intestines (male initiates), turtle and turtle eggs, octopus and certain shellfish (pregnant, breast feeding and/or menstruous women), turtle and dugong (female puberty rites), megapod eggs (females and younger men), and Torres Strait pigeon (women of child-bearing age) (Haddon, 1904:196, 202–203, 210, 212, 216, 270, 1908:105, 1912:140; MacGillivray, 1852, II:10). A number of food taboos related to fish. In the Western Islands, young men were forbidden to eat uzi (stonefish, Synanceia sp.) which was used in magic on Mabuyag. For Muralag, MacGillivray (1852, II:10) stated that ‘Many kinds of fish, including some of the best, are forbidden on the pretence of their causing disease in women, although not injurious to men’, with Haddon adding that all marine foods were taboo to menstruous women (1904:196, 204, 1912:139). In the Central Islands, on Naghir, male initiates were forbidden to eat paza (Soleidea? sp.) and takem (sp.?) fish and the thoracic viscera of crayfish (Ghaleb, 1998; Haddon, 1904:212; see also Fuary, 1991:151– 152). In the Eastern Islands, on Mer, it was taboo for pregnant women to eat garom (sp.?) fish (Haddon, 1908:105). The symbolic significance of fish also extended to the totemic organisation of Torres Strait Islander society. Haddon (1904:154–156) lists 35 totems for the Western and Central Islands, including danghal (dugong, Dugong dugon) and waru/surlul (green turtle, Chelonia mydas) and nine kinds of fish: gapu (sucker-fish, Echeneis naucrates), kaigas (shovel-nosed shark, Rhinobatis sp.), wad (Blenny sp.), baidam (shark, Carcharias and perhaps other genera), kursi (hammer-head shark, Sphyrna sp.), tapimul (various kinds of ray), kutikuti (type of shark), uzi (stonefish), and sakera (a type of small fish) (see also Ghaleb, 1998). It was taboo for a person to kill or eat their totem (except for members of the dugong and turtle totemic clans) (Haddon, 1904:186). Clearly, Torres Strait Islander marine subsistence (including fishing) practices were structured by a range of environmental, social and symbolic conditions. Five major forms of fishing technology were used ethnographically by Torres Strait Islanders — lines and hooks, scoop baskets, spears, tidal traps, and stupefaction (Fig. 2). Fishing lines with barbless turtleshell hooks and stone sinkers were used from canoes, off rocks or ‘standing in the water on the reef at high tide’ (Haddon, 1912:155). Hand-held conical scoop baskets were used to catch small sardines (tup) in shallow water on Mer and Dauar in the Eastern Islands (Haddon, 1912:155–156). Short single-pointed or multi-pronged fishing spears were used across Torres Strait (Haddon, 1912:156). Haddon (1912:157–158) notes that ‘Spearing fish is the most common method of catching them; it is employed either while walking along the shore or on the reef at low tide, or from canoes’, and adds that ‘Women go on the fringing reef at low water with spears to fish for all kinds of small fish’. Women in the Eastern Islands also would ‘wade about on the top of the reefs spearing garom and other small fishes’ (Haddon, 1912:158). During the monsoon season, garfish are speared on the water surface from canoes at night by torchlight in the Eastern Islands

Please cite this article as: Weisler, M.I., McNiven, I.J., Four thousand years of western Torres Strait fishing in the Pacific-wide context, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.05.016

4

M.I. Weisler, I.J. McNiven / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2015) xxx–xxx

Weisler, 1993). Quantification was by number of identified specimens (NISP) using the standard five-paired cranial bones (dentary, articular, quadrate, premaxillary and maxilla) as well as unique elements including bony denticles and the terminal spine of stingrays (Dasyatidae), vertebrae of sharks/rays, upper and lower pharyngeals (as well as isolated enamel portions) of wrasses and parrotfish, and shark teeth. Where possible, other cranial elements were used for identification, but this was rare due to the highly fragmented condition of the bones. The aggregation unit for minimum number of individuals (MNI) was the excavation square. Because even small sharks have more than 150 vertebrae, a single shark can have dozens of teeth, and hundreds of bony tubercles may comprise an individual ray, an MNI of 1 was recorded for these taxa within an excavation square. Vertebrae of elasmobranchs and finfish were measured with digital callipers to two decimal places to provide a general indication of fish size (Lambrides and Weisler, 2015). A summary of the bone recovered from the six study sites is presented in Table 1. An example of the fish bone midden is illustrated in Fig. 3. 4.2. The fish assemblages

Fig. 2. Selected Torres Strait Islander fishing technology. A: turtleshell fishhooks; B: stone fishing line sinker, Mer; C: scoop basket, Mer. Drawings not to scale (Haddon, 1912:Figs. 168–170).

(Haddon, 1912:158). Throughout most of the year, ‘When there are low tides at night men and women [Eastern Islands] go on the fringing reef with small torches searching the lagoons and small pools and turning over stones. One person generally holds the torch, whilst the other uses the spear. They get small fish, octopus, crayfish and crabs in this way. Sometimes they go out at half-tides’ (Haddon, 1912:158). Stonewalled tidal fishtraps were used in the Western Islands and especially the Eastern Islands (Fuary, 1991:147–148; Haddon, 1912:158–159). Fish in reef pools were also caught by stupefaction using a range of plant products (Fuary, 1991:148; Haddon, 1912:159; Poiner and Harris, 1991:133; Ray, 1907:121, 130). Fishing nets are ethnographically unknown for Torres Strait (Haddon, 1912:159). 4. Western Torres Strait archaeological sites 4.1. Methods of faunal analysis All excavated sediments were sieved with 3 mm screens. The fish bones were fragmentary and very small with assemblages averaging ~0.05 g per element. Consequently, a binocular microscope at 10× magnification was necessary for examining the bones. Identification to taxon was made using a fish reference collection containing nearly 150 species, from ~100 genera and 50 families (Weisler, 2001: Appendix 3). Otoliths were identified from this collection as well as using scanning electron micrographs of Indo-Pacific fish (Rivaton and Bourret, 1999;

4.2.1. Tigershark Rockshelter, Pulu Pulu is a small granite islet located less than 1 km off the west coast of Mabuyag, central western Torres Strait. At the southern end of the islet is a small rockshelter located 22 m inland and 7 m above the high water mark. The site is within easy walk of a mosaic of marine habitats including intertidal coral reef, sand and mud flats (Fig. 4B). The shoreline of Pulu and the adjacent shoreline of Mabuyag features isolated granite boulder and sandy beaches and extensive areas of mangrove forest. Deeper waters with coral and rock boulder substrates are located within 1 km of the site. The two large granite boulders forming the rockshelter protect a dense midden deposit containing marine shells, marine bone (fish, turtle and dugong), charcoal, and stone and shell artefacts. The midden extends over a 9 m by 6 m area with a maximum depth of ~35 cm. Four isolated 50 cm × 50 cm squares using XUs (spits) averaging 2.7 cm in thickness were excavated across the midden deposit in 1999 (McNiven et al., 2008). Seven radiocarbon dates on charcoal reveal that midden deposition commenced ~ 1300 cal BP and ceased ~500 cal BP. Only the bones retained in the 3 mm screen from Square A (32.5 cm deep) were analysed. As true of most western Torres Strait assemblages, the fauna was dominated by dugong and turtle (445.0 g), with other non-fish bones including 71 bird, 21 lizard/snake and 5 rat. The 144 g of fish bone (including 93 whole and fragmentary fish otoliths) represents one of the most diverse samples from the region. The top five ranked taxa by NISP were: 1-sharks/rays, 2-wrasses, 3-snappers, 4-emperors and 5-groupers. However, calculating the MNI using fish otoliths shows that snappers (Lutjanidae) dominate the finfish assemblage. Reported with this assemblage was the first identification of porcupinefish or Diodontidae for Torres Strait (McNiven et al., 2008:21). Otoliths were used to identify the first occurrence of mullet (Mugilidae) and a minimum number of 25 snappers (Lutjanidae). Most of the otoliths exhibited slight rounding (Fig. 5) often caused by digestion (Jones, 1986). Even so, the Lutjanus otoliths could tentatively be assigned to L. kasmira (bluestripe snapper) or L. fulvus (blacktail snapper). Both species range in the western Torres Strait islands and inhabit coral reefs, occurring in both shallow lagoons and outer reefs, whilst blacktail snapper also frequents fresh and brackish water as well as mangrove areas. Bluestripe snapper juveniles often inhabit seagrass beds around patch reefs (Froese and Pauly, 2014). Maturity for this species is reached at 17–25 cm in total body length with a maximum size of ~40 cm, whilst blacktail snapper mature at 20–30 cm long. Using the length measurements of 24 archaeological left Lutjanus spp. otoliths, the average size was 10.30 ± 1.75 mm (range 6.70 to 13.52 mm). Rivaton and Bourret (1999:98, 100) report the otolith length and live fish length for both taxa suggesting that most of the Tigershark otoliths were from mature fish with lengths ranging from

Please cite this article as: Weisler, M.I., McNiven, I.J., Four thousand years of western Torres Strait fishing in the Pacific-wide context, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.05.016

M.I. Weisler, I.J. McNiven / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2015) xxx–xxx

5

Table 1 Bone from western Torres Strait archaeological sites. Variable

1

2

3

4

5

6

Total

Excavated volume in litres Dugong & turtle (g) CIa dugong & turtle Fish (g) CIa fish

81.25 445 5.48 144 1.77

280 62.4 0.22 4.7 0.02

1625.5 7513.9 4.62 374.9 0.23

165.5 712.65 4.31 2.87 0.02

415 1195.7 2.88 19.2 0.05

497.5 156.8 0.32 2.7 0.01

3064.8 10,086.5 3.3 548.4 0.2

1—Tigershark Rockshelter (Square A), 2—Mask Cave (Pit A), 3—Goemu Village (Square A), 4—Mua (Square K40), 5—Kurturniaiwak (Squares A & B), 6—Badu 19 (Square L10). See Table 2 for references for the sites. a CI = weight of bone/litres.

130 to N300 mm. With the relatively high number and diversity of shark remains in the Tigershark Rockshelter deposits, it is possible that the fish otoliths were shark gut contents. The reconstructed fish size of other fish in the assemblage was quite small as 163 non-shark/ray vertebrae averaged 3.72 ± 1.82 mm ranging from 1.59 to 12.09 mm. Comparisons to vertebrae in an extensive fish reference collection (Weisler, 2001: Appendex 3) suggest an average reconstructed fish length considerably b10 cm in length. Fish size was also reconstructed by measuring 9 lower pharyngeal grinding plates of wrasses and 1 of parrotfish pointing to a fish length b 10 cm (after Fleming, 1986). The identification of sharks is presented here from Squares A to D which included 60 teeth providing some of the best data on shark exploitation in Torres Strait. At Tigershark Rockshelter, nine shark taxa representing four families were identified and included: 14 wobbegongs, Orectolobus spp. and tigersharks, Caleocerdo cuvier; 7 whalers, Carcharhinus spp.; 2 blacktip reef sharks, Carcharhinus melanopterus; 2 Australian blacktip shark, Carcharhinus cf. tilstoni; 2 silky sharks, Carcharhinus cf. falciformis; 2 lemon sharks, Negaprion acutidens; 2 hammerheads, Sphyrna spp. and 1 grey nurse sharks, Carcharias taurus. The stratigraphic distribution of wobbegong and tigershark teeth represents a period of exploitation spanning 500 to nearly 1000 years ago and, overall, the Tigershark Rockshelter provides the most comprehensive archaeological evidence for shark exploitation in Torres Strait. Additionally, 18.4 g (129 NISP from Square A) of ray dermal denticles, which are mostly from the porcupine ray (Urogymnus africanus), occurred throughout all levels of the site.

4.2.2. Mask Cave, Pulu Mask Cave is located under an elevated granite boulder towards the centre of Pulu islet approximately 30 m above sea level and 100 m northeast of Tigershark Rockshelter. As with Tigershark Rockshelter, diverse marine habitats are located within 1 km of the site. The area of sheltered overhang is 15 m × 13 m and cultural sediments comprise a low-density deposit of marine bone (fish, turtle and dugong), shell, charcoal, stone artefacts and pottery sherds within compacted dry clay sediments. Two separate trenches, one formed by two contiguous 70 cm × 70 cm squares (pits) and the other by a contiguous series of three 50 cm × 50 cm and a single 50 cm × 30 cm square using XUs averaging 2.3 cm in thickness were excavated at the site in 2002 and 2003 (McNiven et al., 2006). The complex stratigraphy included cultural materials down to a depth of 103 cm. Twenty six AMS radiocarbon dates reveal occupation commenced ~3750 cal BP with little cultural deposition within the past 1500 years. Fauna was analysed from Pit A, which measured 50 × 50 cm and ~ 112 cm deep. Dugong and turtle were the dominant taxa (Table 1), whilst fish bone was found throughout most levels and, of the 94 fragments recovered, the rank order abundance by NISP was: 1—parrotfish, 2—puffers and 3—sharks/rays (one ray terminal barb measured only 9.32 mm long). Since the parrotfish were almost exclusively represented by individual teeth dislodged from grinding plates, it is likely that puffers were the dominant taxon for the Pit A assemblage. Mask Cave provides the first evidence for the use of puffers (Tetraodontidae) in Torres Strait (McNiven et al., 2006:61). Ray (1907:91) lists ‘toad-fish’ (Tetraodontidae) called badar in Western-Central language, but it is not known if it was eaten. The vertebrae of sharks/rays were measured (2.86, 3.75 and 3.85 mm) and their small diameter suggests that small individuals were captured. The same is true for the finfish bones that represent only very small fish. 4.2.3. Goemu village, Mabuyag

Fig. 3. An example of fish bone midden from a western Torres Strait site. This bone is from Tigershark Rockshelter.

The ethnographically-known village of Goemu is located across lowlying (b 1–2 m above sea level) old biogenic beach sands supporting anthropogenic grasslands on the southeast coast of Mabuyag (Fig. 1). It is expressed physically as a large midden deposit extending 320 m-long and up to 40 m-wide with an area of ~2 ha. This midden features marine shells, marine bone (fish, turtle and dugong), charcoal and stone artefacts and is the largest known midden deposit in Torres Strait. Within 1 km of the site a diverse array of marine habitats including intertidal flats with rocky, coralline, sandy and muddy substrates and mangrove forests is found (Fig. 4A). Excavations have taken place at various locations across the site in 1984–85 and 2005. The 1984–85 excavations included 16 50 cm × 50 cm test pits, two ritual site structures (~1 m2 in total), and five 1 m × 1 m pits using XUs averaging 5 cm in thickness (Harris and Ghaleb Kirby, in press). In 2005, two separate 1 m × 1 m pits (Squares A and B) were excavated using XUs averaging 2.6– 2.7 cm in thickness within dense midden deposits (McNiven, 2013; McNiven et al., in press) confined mostly to within 40 cm of the surface with scattered cultural items extending down to a depth of nearly 2 m. A

Please cite this article as: Weisler, M.I., McNiven, I.J., Four thousand years of western Torres Strait fishing in the Pacific-wide context, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.05.016

6

M.I. Weisler, I.J. McNiven / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2015) xxx–xxx

Fig. 4. Photos of coastal marine environments. A: Goemu village (centre), Mabuyag, showing fringing coral reef and mangrove forest to the south, looking north, June 2008; B: Tigershark Rockshelter (centre), Pulu, showing fringing coral reef, looking south, May 2007 (photos: Ian J. McNiven).

comprehensive series of 28 charcoal and marine shell radiocarbon dates for Squares A and B indicate that dense midden deposition commencing ~1000 cal BP with a spatial expansion of dense midden formation commencing ~450 cal BP. Square A was positioned on a mound and excavated to a maximum depth of 202 cm (McNiven et al., in press). More than 46.6 kg of bone was recovered, mostly dugong, with small amounts of turtle, reptile (including crocodile) and bird with 4519 fish and shark/ray

(Elasmobranchii) elements weighing 374.9 g identified to nearest taxon. The diameter of all measurable vertebrae and widths of lower pharyngeals of parrotfish (Scaridae) and wrasses (Labridae) were used to estimate live fish length. Some 982 vertebrae, denticles and teeth from individuals of Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays), Dasyatidae (rays) and cf. Carcharhinidae (sharks) demonstrated their dominance in the assemblage. The rank-order abundance of finfish by NISP from Square A was: 1—wrasses, 2—parrotfish, 3—emperors and 4—groupers.

Fig. 5. Scanning electron images of emperor fish, Lutjanus, otoliths showing the pristine condition of L. kasmira reference specimen (left) with the other exhibiting evidence of digestion such as slight edge rounding and pitting (images: Ashleigh Rogers).

Please cite this article as: Weisler, M.I., McNiven, I.J., Four thousand years of western Torres Strait fishing in the Pacific-wide context, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.05.016

M.I. Weisler, I.J. McNiven / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2015) xxx–xxx

Wrasses represent 66.5% of MNI and 22.3% of NISP, whilst no other taxon is greater than 10.2%. To estimate reconstructed size of wrasses, the width of the lower pharyngeal was measured. With a relatively large sample size of 55 from SU1, the mean width was 19.78 ± 7.2 mm. The widths ranged from 8.52 to 40.02 mm with a median of 20.14 mm. Although a species level identification was not certain, most of the bones identified to wrasse were similar to Labridae Bodianus sp. or Thalassoma sp. The lower pharyngeal of Bodianus in the reference collection has a width of 24.50 mm and is from an individual that weighed 322 g. It is likely, then, that the reconstructed weight of the majority of wrasses contributing bones to the Square A assemblage weighed b 300 g, although there were three lower pharyngeal widths N35 mm (all from XU9) that probably had reconstructed live weights significantly greater than 300 g. Of the nine grouper (Serranidae) MNI, one dentary was from an individual N490 g live weight, whilst one premaxillary was the largest teleost in the assemblage with a reconstructed live weight N2200 g based on comparisons with the reference collection. Although measurement data are not available for the snappers and emperors, all these bones were from small individuals, likely b300 g live weight as these elements are similar in size to the labrids. Two lower pharyngeals of parrotfish were 7.08 mm and 7.45 mm wide which is consistent with individual fish weighing b300 g (see Fleming, 1986). Thus, the overall weight and length of teleost fish and sharks/rays in the assemblage is characterized by the small size of individuals. To further document fish size the diameters of 946 bony fish vertebrae were measured and averaged 5.07 mm, ranging from 1.53 to 16.85 mm. The Elasmobranchii class consisted of 842 vertebrae with an average width of 4.25 mm and range of 2.28–18.44 mm. One modern reference specimen of Whaler or Requiem shark (Carcharhinidae Carcharhinus sp.) weighed 1750 g, was 735 mm long, and had 157 vertebrae with an average width of 6.05 ± 2.01 mm ranging from 1.58 mm to 9.56 mm. It is likely that most of the Elasmobranchii vertebrae are of small-sized sharks and rays — perhaps none longer than a metre or so. The only elasmobranch identified to genus was the Thorny Stingray (Dasyatidae Urogymnus africanus) which was identified from the bony tubercles that are found by the hundreds on the dorsal surface of a single ray. Attaining lengths up to 3 m, this taxon does not have a venomous spine and inhabits sandy or mud bottoms and rarely frequent the vicinity of coral reefs (Randall et al., 1990:29–30). It is possible to estimate the total weight of live fish and sharks/rays represented by the SU1 assemblage from Square A by multiplying the MNI of 167 by an average live weight of 300 g yielding 50.1 kg. This is not an exact figure, of course, but it is likely that the true total weight is close to this value. With dugong and turtle representing a huge biomass relative to captured teleosts and elasmobranchs, it is clear that finfish were secondary in importance to the diet but, nonetheless, were a significant addition to subsistence.

7

consisted of 48 bones weighing 2.9 g or 0.06 g per bone. Parrotfish and wrasses were the highest ranked taxa using NISP, then groupers and sharks. Most bones were ~5 mm in size and 11 measureable finfish vertebrae averaged 5.16 ± 2.58 mm (range = 2.48–9.51 mm). Due to the average bone size, and measureable elements such as dentaries and premaxillaries, it is likely that individual fish were no more greater than 10 cm long and weighed b 100 g. There was no fishing gear in the site, although the excavated sample was quite small; however, the small reconstructed size of fish suggests that they were caught in shallow pools at low tide (David et al., 2008:405–408). 4.2.5. Kurturniaiwak, Badu This extensive midden deposit is located within a 250 m-long sheltered sandy bay of Kurturniaiwak on the northwest coast of Badu. The midden can be traced in section along the eroded shoreline face for at least 150 m. Immediately backing the eroded face is a low linear dune mostly b2 m above sea level and largely supporting anthropogenic grasslands. Sandy and coral reef intertidal flats with shallow pools fronting the site are bookended by mangrove forest patches and rocky headlands. In 2003 and 2004, two 50 cm × 50 cm squares (A and B) located 84 m apart were excavated within the shoreline erosion face using XUs averaging 3.1–3.9 cm in thickness (David and Weisler, 2006). Cultural deposits containing marine shell, marine bone (fish), charcoal and stone artefacts were found down to a depth of ~ 85 cm (Square A). Six radiocarbon dates on charcoal and shellfish reveal that occupation commenced ~650–550 years ago. The inventory of bone by weight was dugong (1195.7 g), b2 g of bird and 931 fish bones weighing 19.2 g that were examined from both excavated squares. Fish bones were highly fragmented with average size ~5 mm long and average weight 0.02 g. Consequently, few bones could be identified to a specific element other than spines, rays and unspecified cranial fragments (David and Weisler, 2006:28). Only 25 bones were identified to six families and Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays); one tooth was probably from a shark but not a reef shark Carcharhinidae or dog-toothed shark (Triacadae) from our reference collections. The rank order abundance by NISP was: 1-sharks/rays, 2wrasses, 3—parrotfish and groupers and 4—trevallies, emperors and puffers. The trevally was identified from a very small scute which suggests an individual in the genera Atule, Decapterus or Selar. The wrasse elements were consistent with those of Bodianus sp. The NISP of finfish was 10. Some 56% of all identified bones were vertebrae from sharks and/or rays that were from extremely small individuals as the mean diameter of 12 measureable vertebrae was only 3.87 ± 0.39 mm (range 3.38–4.48 mm). This is similar to the 56 fish vertebrae from both squares that had an average diameter of 3.63 ± 1.63 mm (range 1.85–9.31 mm). From comparisons of bones in the reference collection of fish of known size, it is likely that most of the fish in the Kurturniaiwak assemblages were b300 g and the groupers, especially, were b 50 g.

4.2.4. Urakaraltam site 36, Mua 4.2.6. Site 19, Badu Midden site 36 is located at Urakaraltam on the northeast coast of Mua, central western Torres Strait (Fig. 1). The extensive site is located immediately above the high water mark on a low linear sand deposit supporting forest. Diverse marine habitats within 1 km of the midden include mangrove forest immediately fronting the site, a rocky headland just to the north, a sandy beach to the east, and extensive intertidal flats with a mosaic of rocky, coral reef, sandy and muddy substrates. In 2002, a 50 cm × 50 cm square (K40) was excavated within dense midden deposits using XUs averaging 3.1 cm in thickness. It contained marine shells, bone (fish, turtle/dugong, and macropod), charcoal and stone artefacts variably down to a depth of 60 cm (David et al., 2008). Four radiocarbon dates on charcoal and marine shell indicate that cultural deposition commenced ~1300–1150 cal BP and ceased ~300–200 cal BP. The fauna was dominated by dugong and turtle (712.65 g) with one bone each of macropod and bird (Table 1). The fish bone sample

This midden deposit is on the granite islet of Berberass located off the west coast of Badu. It measures 75 m by 25 m within grassland and woodland near the shoreline between 1 and 4 m above sea level. Mangrove forest fronts the site which gives way to open intertidal flats with mixed sandy, rocky and coral substrates. In 2001, a 1 m × 1 m square (L10) was excavated in a dense area of midden using XUs averaging 5.2 cm in thickness (Crouch et al., 2007). A cultural deposit with marine shells, marine bone (fish, turtle and dugong), charcoal and stone artefacts was revealed down to a depth of at least 50 cm. A series of four radiocarbon dates on shell indicated initial occupation ~4000 cal BP with intensified activity commencing with little or no activity within the past 2500 years. Totaling some 1233.5 g, the fauna consisted primarily of dugong, turtle and large vertebrate with much lesser amounts of rodent, shark,

Please cite this article as: Weisler, M.I., McNiven, I.J., Four thousand years of western Torres Strait fishing in the Pacific-wide context, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.05.016

8

M.I. Weisler, I.J. McNiven / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2015) xxx–xxx

lizard and small vertebrate. Of the 63 fish bones weighing 2.9 g, the average weight was 0.04 g and nearly all bones were fragmented. Whilst the assemblage was biassed towards elements that preserve well (such as pharyngeal clusters and teeth), the rank-order abundance of fishfish using NISP was: 1—emperors, 2—wrasses, 3—parrotfish and 4—puffers. Otoliths were used to identify the orange striped emperor (Lethrinus cf. obsoletus) which accounted for 32% of identified elements. Shark and/or rays (Elasmobranchii) and rays (Myliobatidiformes) were also inventoried. Only four vertebrae were measureable for maximum width, all from Elasmobranchii: 3.58, 3.82, 3.90 and 4.33 mm; these diameters represent sharks and/or rays of small size, probably less than 1 m in total length. Typical of western Torres Strait fish bone assemblages, the bones in site 19 at Badu were from fish no larger than 10 cm long and it is likely that these small fish were captured in tide pools where they were stranded at low tide. 5. Discussion 5.1. Western Torres Strait fishing Dugong and turtle are, by far, the dominant food bones in western Torres Strait sites (Table 1). Aside from Tigershark Rockshelter where fish and shark/ray bones represented 32% of the faunal assemblage by weight, all other sites had b 5%. Fish and sharks/rays were clearly of secondary importance in the marine diet. Table 2 lists the 13 families identified at six western Torres Strait sites by NISP and MNI. Using the number of identified specimens (NISP) for all six western Torres Strait assemblages (n = 1927), sharks and rays (taxa including Elasmobranchii, Myliobatidiformes or stingrays, shark teeth, ray denticles and the porcupine ray or Urogymnus asperrimus) accounted for 59.9% of all identified elements. The most abundant finfish were wrasses (Labridae, mostly Bodianus sp.) at 21.3%, parrotfish (Scaridae) 6.3% and groupers (Serranidae) 2.5%. Seven families provided the remaining ~ 10% (Table 2). Because of the large numbers of shark/ray vertebrae, and shark teeth and ray denticles per individual, and the fragmentary nature of parrotfish grinding plate teeth that preserve well, the abundance of these taxa can be inflated relative to other finfish. It is best practice, then, to provide NISP and MNI counts for fish bone assemblages to allow for more robust comparisons within and between assemblages (Allen, 2003:318; Weisler and Green, 2013:78). The minimum number of individuals (MNI) for all six sites totaled 250. The five highest rank-ordered finfish included: 1—wrasses (50%), 2—emperors (11.6%), 3—snappers (10.8%), 4—parrotfish (10%) and 5—groupers (6%). All shark and ray taxa were only 7.6% which is in marked contrast to its NISP of 59.6%. Fish size was reconstructed by measuring the diameter of finfish and shark/ray vertebrae, length of emperor otoliths and widths of pharyngeal grinding clusters of parrotfish and wrasses and comparing to published references (e.g., Fleming, 1986; Rivaton and Bourret, 1999) or the fish reference collection. Live length was predominantly b10 cm for finfish and ~ 1 m for sharks. This small size of the fish represented in sites throughout western Torres Strait reflects a forager capture strategy probably undertaken primarily by women and children walking along the reef flat at low tide gleaning fish stranded in tide pools and shallow water channels (see also Ghaleb, 1998). Following Ghaleb's (1998) results for Goemu on Mabuyag, none of the six archaeological sites with fish bones discussed in this paper revealed any obvious evidence of fishing technology. Indeed, no archaeological evidence for fishing technology such as shell fishhooks has been recovered from archaeological excavations in western Torres Strait. This absence may reflect, in part, poor preservation conditions for turtle shell fishhooks in midden contexts, and small samples from midden excavations across the region (cf. Attenbrow, 2010). The only known archaeological evidence of fishing technology in western Torres Strait is 27 stone-walled tidal fishtraps (McNiven et al., 2004:77). The only fishing technology excavated from Torres Strait come from the Eastern

Islands and is represented by a few possible fishing line sinkers (perforated and grooved pieces of coral) from Kurkur Weid site on Mer dated 300–800 years ago, Sokoli site on Dauar dated 900–2800 years ago, and Ormi site on Dauar dated 1600–2800 years ago (Carter, 2004:255–56, 260–61, 268). Interpretation of these possible sinkers was based on ethnographically-known fishing line stone sinkers described by Haddon (1912:155; see Fig. 2).

5.2. Wider Pacific context Considering fish bone assemblages from across the Pacific, and from all island types, what immediately stands out from the western Torres Strait sites discussed above is the incredibly small size and average weight of the bones, usually b0.1 g (Fig. 3). This relates to the diminutive size of captured finfish and sharks and rays in general, but also to a lack of a developed fishery as inferred from much material culture associated with fishing such as fishhooks, as well as line and net weights. This provides a real contrast to Pacific-wide artefact assemblages, especially in East Polynesia, that evidence a range of single, two-piece and composite fishhooks in addition to net, line and octopus lure sinkers (Beasley, 1928; Buck, 1957). In a recent comparison of 16 prehistoric fish bone assemblages from all island types found across the tropical Pacific, the average number of identified families per study was 24 ± 4, ranging from 17 to 30 (Weisler and Green, 2013:84); this included finfish, sharks and rays. The combined six assemblages from western Torres Strait had only 13 families (10 finfish and 3 shark/ray), which is in marked contrast to the Pacific-wide mean. However, the Torres Strait assemblages had six of the top 10 widely distributed families reported for the Pacific region (Weisler and Green, 2013: Fig. 3). Noticeably absent from the Torres Strait assemblages are surgeonfish (Acanthuridae), triggerfish (Balistidae), squirrelfish and soldierfish (Holocentridae) and goatfish (Mullidae)—fish that are usually captured by seine netting (especially surgeonfish) or by angling. Another interesting contrast is the high proportion of shark and rays in the Tigershark Rockshelter assemblage. As mentioned previously, 59.9% of NISP are sharks and rays with vertebrae contributing 51.5% of the identifications from the combined assemblages. Most Pacific assemblages have far less shark and rays, usually b 5% whether from coastal sites on atolls, volcanic islands and makatea islands (Weisler and Green, 2013: Table 4). Clearly, then, the prehistoric occupants of the western Torres Strait islands had a preference for sharks and rays as significant marine resources. It must be added, though, that dugong and turtle were of far more importance in overall marine subsistence. Indeed the importance of turtle and dugong may explain in part the high representation of sharks in some Torres Strait archaeological assemblages. Both turtles and dugongs are butchered on beaches immediately adjacent to the water's edge. As a result, considerable quantities of blood infuse shoreline waters which invariably attract numerous small (~ 1 m-long) sharks, especially black-tipped reef sharks (Ian McNiven, pers. obs). Whilst today these sharks tend not to be caught for food, a different situation may have existed in the past. Following Ghaleb (1998), this study found that archaeological evidence for western Torres Strait fishing practices over the past 4000 years match closely to 19th century ethnographic records for fishing on Mabuyag documented by Haddon. That is, fishing focused on smallsized fish most likely obtained from near-shore habitats (identified by Ghaleb as ‘sandy foreshore, lagoon, fringing reef, mangrove and rocky headland’), with near complete avoidance of pelagic fishing. This finding is consistent with the absence of shell fishhooks in Torres Strait archaeological sites which points more towards use of wooden spears (for shallow water fishing) as recorded ethnographically. Small fish, of the sizes represented in the middens discussed here, are also caught by poisoning (Poiner and Harris, 1991:133) using the milky sap of the vine root (Derris sp.), which was used in small, shallow intertidal pools in

Please cite this article as: Weisler, M.I., McNiven, I.J., Four thousand years of western Torres Strait fishing in the Pacific-wide context, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.05.016

M.I. Weisler, I.J. McNiven / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2015) xxx–xxx

9

Table 2 Fish bone from western Torres Strait archaeological sites. Taxon

Common Name

Tigershark Rockshelter NISP

Fish Elasmobranchii Myliobatidiformes Dasyatidae Urogymnus africanus Shark (not identified further) Orectolobidae Orectolobus spp. Carcharhinidae Galeocerdo cuvier Carangidae Diodontidae Labridae Bodianus sp. Lethrinidae Lethrinus cf. obsoletus

Sharks/Rays Rays Stingrays & Whiprays Porcupine Ray

Carpet Sharks Carpet Sharks Requiem Sharks Tiger Sharks Jacks & Trevallies Porcupinefish Wrasses Wrasses Emperors Orange-Striped Emperors Lujanidae Snappers Lutjanus kasmira or Bluestripe or fulvus Blacktail Snappers Mugilidae Mullets Muraenidae Moray Eels Scaridae Parrotfish Scaridae/Tetraodontidae Parrotfish/Puffers Serranidae Groupers Tetraodontidae Puffers Totals

Mask Cave MNI NISP

338 58 3

1 1

72

1

94 3 1

Goemu Village MNI NISP 1 1

Mua

Kurturniaiwak

MNI NISP MNI

NISP

MNI NISP

931 14

1

4519 910

6

48

57 15

1 1

3

1

7 2 2 55

1 1 1 9

342

111

14

7

82

17

2 48

1 25

1

1

6

1

9 6 288

4 3 58

26 1

2 1

9 40

3 8

3

1

1 84

1 17

36 6 1536

9 3 167

2

1 2

Badu 19

63 8 1

Total % of MNI NISP 1 1

1

1 2

1

1

3

1

1

1

7

1

9

4

2

2

2

3

1

2

1

2 1 24

1 1 8

1 29

1 9

10

MNI

Total

5993 993 5

51.53 0.26

10 3

4.00 1.20

129 17

6.69 0.88

2 2

0.80 0.80

3

0.16

1

0.40

0.36 1 0.16 2 0.10 1 21.17 123 0.10 2 5.03 25 0.47 4

0.40 0.80 0.40 49.20 0.80 10.00 1.60

7 3 2 408 2 97 9 5 48

3

Total

Total % of

0.26 2.49

2 25

0.80 10.00

1 0.05 1 1 0.05 1 124 6.43 25 1 0.05 1 49 2.54 15 23 1.19 11 1927 100.00 250

0.40 0.40 10.00 0.40 6.00 4.40 102.80

* = Including previously unpublished data; n/a = not available. Fish NISP for Tigershark Rockshelter does not include unidentiable fish bone. References: Tigershark Rockshelter, Square A (McNiven et al., 2008); Mask Cave, Pit A (McNiven et al., 2006); Goemu Village, Square A (McNiven et al., in press); Mua, Square K40 (David et al., 2008); Kurturniaiwak, Squares A & B (David and Weisler, 2006); Badu 19, Square L10 (Crouch et al., 2007).

coral areas (Fuary, 1991:148; Haddon, 1912:159). Some fish were also likely caught using stone-walled tidal fishtraps (Ghaleb, 1998). Haddon provides no explanation for why inshore fishing was far more common compared to offshore fishing, although this is a common strategy in the tropical Pacific (Ono, 2010). The general lack of deep sea fishing for larger pelagic fish cannot be explained by lack of technology as western Torres Strait Islanders possessed hooks and lines, and large sea-going canoes (McNiven, in press). Yet the importance of turtle and dugong may again provide clues. Nietschmann (1989:75) states that western Torres Strait ‘Islanders spend more time hunting than they do fishing because they consider the activity and the product more significant’. Based on modern survey data, Johannes and MacFarlane (1991b:390) state:

In a sense, western Torres Strait Islanders orchestrated the luxury of small fish selection by ensuring that marine protein needs were met largely by high prestige hunting of turtle and dugong. This selectivity was expressed by a strong preference for small fish caught from near shore shallow waters. In recent times it is known that small fish (such as parsa/erar, Siganus lineatus) are said to be ‘sweeter’ tasting compared to larger fish and are an important targeted fish more for gastronomical reasons than calorific value (e.g., Bird and Bird, 2002:246; Busilacchi,

Torres Strait Islanders consume large amounts of two species that are looked upon in most other tropical regions as luxuries — were they are available at all. These are green turtles, and, in western Torres Straits, dugongs. Green turtles figure especially prominently in Islanders' diets today. Our data indicate an average annual per capita catch rate of about one sea turtle, implying an average consumption rate of about 125 grams of turtle meat per day … Torres Strait Islanders thus consume, per capita, a greater quantity of turtle meat alone than the seafood-loving Japanese consume of all seafoods combined. Finfish, whilst of subsistence importance, invariably rank below turtles in terms of dietary contribution, and in some cases (e.g., Mabuyag) below dugong (Johannes and MacFarlane, 1991a, 1991b:390–391). These findings concur with Haddon's (1912:138) late 19th century ethnographic observations and Ghaleb's (1998) archaeological findings from Goemu on Mabuyag.

Fig. 6. Parsa (golden-lined spinefoot Siganus lineatus) fish and a crayfish cooking on a fire place, Tudu, central Torres Strait, November 2014. These small fish were deliberately selected over large fish for their superior ‘sweeter’ taste (photo: Joe Crouch).

Please cite this article as: Weisler, M.I., McNiven, I.J., Four thousand years of western Torres Strait fishing in the Pacific-wide context, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.05.016

10

M.I. Weisler, I.J. McNiven / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2015) xxx–xxx

2008:143–44; Fuary, 1991:153; Harris et al., 1995:23) (Fig. 6). This luxury also extended to accommodating a wide range of fish (taboo) avoidance practices. 6. Conclusion Do the western Torres Strait islands evidence a prehistoric fishing regime that is unique from the rest of the tropical Pacific? We have compared the fish species richness of other Pacific islands and showed that the western Torres Strait islands have a lower inventory of targeted finfish species; in fact, nearly half of what has been documented from a recent Pacific-wide study of archaeological fish bone assemblages from all island classes (Weisler and Green, 2013). This difference suggests, in part, that fishing was not a primary and intensive pursuit of western Torres Strait Islanders which is, in itself, quite different than other tropical Pacific assemblages studied thus far. What really stands out, however, is the high proportion of sharks and rays at nearly 60% of NISP for all sites combined. From the small reconstructed length of individual fish, it is clear that most fish in the western Torres Strait sites were quite small, perhaps b 10 cm. The average weight of individual fish bones, whilst documenting the highly fragmented nature of the bones, also speaks to the small size of individual fish. We acknowledge that the fish bone identifications from 3 m3 of cultural deposits resulting in a minimum number of 250 fish and a NISP of ~6000, may be considered a relatively small sample, yet Torres Strait sites have 6 of the top 10 families reported Pacific-wide. So, to answer the question posed above, the western Torres Strait islands are unique within the tropical Pacific islands region because of: 1) low fish species richness of the assemblages; 2) dominance, by NISP, of sharks and rays in the combined assemblages; and 3) small reconstructed length of captured finfish and shark/rays; and as a consequence, the lack of evidence for an intensive fishery. Further studies of fish bone assemblages from across the 150 km of Torres Strait may demonstrate that this is a common pattern for the region but, if not, documenting the variability of the fishery will be an important task. Acknowledgements Special thanks to Torres Strait Islander communities who collaborated with Monash University to undertake archaeological excavations over the past 15 years. In particular we thank the Goemulgal of Mabuyag and Pulu, the Badulgal of Badu, and the Mualgal of Mua. The figures were completed by Matthew Harris (University of Queensland) who was supported by strategic funding to the archaeology program from the Office of the Vice Chancellor, University of Queensland. Ashleigh Rogers (University of Queensland) provided the scanning electron images. We thank Barbara Ghaleb Kirby (Solihull College, England) for her pioneering research on the archaeology of Torres Strait Islander fishing and for advice on the archaeology of Goemu village, Mabuyag. We appreciate the useful comments by two anonymous reviewers. References Allen, M.S., 2003. Human impacts on Pacific nearshore marine eco-systems. In: Sand, C. (Ed.), Archaeology: Assessments and Prospects in the Pacific. Le Cachiers de l'Archaeologie en Novelle-Caledonie, Noumea, pp. 317–325. Attenbrow, V., 2010. Aboriginal fishing on Port Jackson, and the introduction of shell fishhooks to coastal New South Wales, Australia. In: Hutching, P., Lunney, D., Hochuli, D. (Eds.), The Natural History of Sydney. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Mosman, NSW, pp. 16–34. Barham, A.J., 2000. Late Holocene maritime societies in the Torres Strait Islands, northern Australia — cultural arrival or cultural emergence? In: O'Connor, S., Veth, P. (Eds.), East of Wallace's Line. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp. 223–314. Beasley, H.G., 1928. Pacific Island Records: Fish Hooks. Seeley, Service & Co., Ltd., London. Bird, R. Bliege, Bird, D.W., 2002. Constraints of knowing or constraints of growing? Hum. Nat. 13 (2), 239–267. Buck, P.H., 1957. Arts and crafts of Hawaii. Special Publication 45. B.P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu (Te Rangi Hiroa).

Busilacchi, S., 2008. The Subsistence Coral Reef Fish Fishery in the Torres Strait: Monitoring Protocols and Assessment. (PhD thesis). James Cook University, Townsville. Butler, V.L., 1994. Fish feeding behaviour and fish capture: the case for variation in Lapita fishing strategies. Archaeol. Ocean. 29, 81–90. Carter, M.J., 2004. North of the Cape and South of the Fly: The Archaeology of Settlement and Subsistence on the Murray Islands, Eastern Torres Strait. (PhD thesis). School of Anthropology, Archaeology and Sociology, James Cook University, Townsville. Cordell, J., 1993. Indigenous people's coastal marine domains: some matters of cultural documentation. Turning the Tide: Conference on Indigenous Peoples and Sea Rights. Northern Territory University, Darwin, pp. 159–174. Crouch, J., McNiven, I.J., David, B., Rowe, C., Weisler, M., 2007. Berberass: marine resource specialization and environmental change in Torres Strait during the past 4000 years. Archaeol. Ocean. 42, 49–64. David, B., Weisler, M., 2006. Kurturniawak (Badu) and the archaeology of villages in Torres Strait. Aust. Archaeol. 63, 21–34. David, B., McNiven, I.J., Mitchell, R., Orr, M., Haberle, S., Brady, L., Crouch, J., 2004. Badu 15 and the Papuan–Austronesian settlement of Torres Strait. Archaeol. Ocean. 39, 65–78. David, B., McNiven, I.J., Weisler, M.I., 2008. Archaeological excavations at Gerain and Urakaraltam. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, Cultural Heritage Series 4(2), pp. 401–429 Queensland Museum. Fleming, M.A., 1986. The Scaridae Family in Pacific Prehistory. Unpublished M.A. thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Otago, Dunedin. Froese, R., Pauly, D. (Eds.), 2014. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic pubication (www.fishbase.org.). Fuary, M.M., 1991. Fishing and its social significance on Yam Island. In: Johannes, R.E., MacFarlane, J.W. (Eds.), Traditional Fishing in the Torres Strait Islands. CSIRO Division of Fisheries, Hobart, pp. 144–155. Fuary, M., 2009. Reading and riding the waves: the sea as known universe in Torres Strait. Hist. Environ. 22 (1), 32–37. Ghaleb, B., 1998. Fish and fishing on a Western Torres Strait island, northern Australia: ethnographic and archaeological perspectives. In: Jones, A.K.G., Nicholson, R. (Eds.), Fish Remains and Humankind: Part Two. Internet Archaeol. 4 (http://intarch.ac.uk/ journal/issue4/ghaleb/toc.html). Haddon, A.C. (Ed.), 1901–1935. Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits vols. I-6. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Haddon, A.C. (Ed.), 1904. Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits. Sociology, Magic and Religion of the Western Islanders vol. 5. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Haddon, A.C. (Ed.), 1908. Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits. Sociology, Magic and Religion of the Eastern Islanders vol. 6. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Haddon, A.C. (Ed.), 1912. Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits. Arts and Crafts vol. IV. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Haddon, A.C., 1935. Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits. General Ethnography vol. I. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Harris, D.R., Ghaleb Kirby, B., 2015. Mabuyag (Torres Strait) in the mid-1980s: archaeological reconnaissance of the island and midden excavations at Goemu. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum — Culture 8(2) (in press). Harris, A., Dews, G., Poiner, I., Kerr, J., 1995. Monitoring the traditional and island-based catch of the Torres Strait Protected Zone. Report on CSIRO Research 1991–1993. Division of Fisheries, Brisbane. Haywood, M.D.E., Browne, M., Skewes, T., Rochester, W., McLeod, I., Pitcher, R., Dennis, D., Dunn, J., Cheers, S., Wassenberg, T., 2007. Improved knowledge of Torres Strait seabed biota and reef habitats. Report to the Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility. Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Limited, Cairns. Johannes, R.E., MacFarlane, J.W. (Eds.), 1991a. Traditional Fishing in the Torres Strait Islands. CSIRO Division of Fisheries, Hobart. Johannes, R.E., MacFarlane, J.W., 1991b. Torres Strait Traditional Fisheries Studies: some implications for sustainable development. In: Lawrence, D., Cansfield-Smith, T. (Eds.), Sustainable Development for Traditional Inhabitants of the Torres Strait Region. GBRMPA, Townsville, pp. 389–401. Jones, A.K.G., 1986. Fish bone survival in the digestive systems of the pig, dog and man: some experiments. In: Brinkhuizen, D.C., Clason, A.T. (Eds.), Fish and Archaeology, Studies in Osteometry, Taphonomy, Seasonality and Fishing Methods, B.A.R. International Series 294, Oxford, pp. 53–61. Lambrides, A.B.J., Weisler, M.I., 2015. Applications of vertebral morphometrics in Pacific Island archaeological fishing studies. Archaeol. Ocean. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ arco.5059. Lambrides, A.B.J., Weisler, M.I., ms. Pacific Islands icthyoarchaeology in a global context: a review of methods and methodologies. J. Archaeol. Res. (in revision). Lavery, T.H., Watson, J.L., Leung, L.K.-P., 2012. Terrestrial vertebrate richness of the inhabited Torres Strait Islands, Australia. Aust. J. Zool. 60, 180–191. MacGillivray, J., 1852. Narrative of the voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake 2 vols. T. & W. Boone, London. McNiven, I.J., 2011. Torres Strait Islanders: the 9000-year history of a maritime people. The Torres Strait Islands. Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, pp. 210–219. McNiven, I.J., 2013. Ritualized middening practices. J. Archaeol. Method Theory 20 (4), 552–587. McNiven, I.J., 2015. Canoes of Mabuyag and Torres Strait. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum — Culture 8(1) (in press). McNiven, I.J., Hitchcock, G., 2004. Torres Strait islander marine subsistence specialization and terrestrial animal translocation. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, Cultural Heritage Series 3(1), pp. 105–162.

Please cite this article as: Weisler, M.I., McNiven, I.J., Four thousand years of western Torres Strait fishing in the Pacific-wide context, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.05.016

M.I. Weisler, I.J. McNiven / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2015) xxx–xxx McNiven, I.J., Fitzpatrick, J., Cordell, J., 2004. An Islander world: new approaches to managing the archaeological heritage of Torres Strait, northeast Australia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, Cultural Heritage Series 3(1), pp. 73–91. McNiven, I.J., Dickinson, W.R., David, B., Weisler, M., Von Gnielinski, F., Carter, M., Zoppi, U., 2006. Mask Cave: red-slipped pottery and the Australian–Papuan settlement of Zenadh Kes (Torres Strait). Archaeol. Ocean. 41, 49–81. McNiven, I.J., Crouch, J., Weisler, M., Kemp, N., Clayton Martínez, L., Stanisic, J., Orr, M., Brady, L., Hocknell, S., Boles, W., 2008. Tigershark rockshelter (Baidamau Mudh): seascape and settlement reconfigurations on the sacred islet of Pulu, western Zendah Kes (Torres Strait). Aust. Archaeol. 66, 15–32. McNiven, I.J., Wright, D., Sutton, S., Weisler, M., Hocknull, S., Stanisic, J., 2015. Midden formation and marine specialisation at Goemu village, Mabuyag (Torres Strait) before and after European contact. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum — Culture 8(2) (in press). Mulrennan, M.E., Scott, C.H., 2008. Mare nullius: Indigenous rights in saltwater environments. Dev. Chang. 31, 681–708. Nietschmann, B., 1989. Traditional sea territories, resources and rights in Torres Strait. In: Cordell, J. (Ed.), A Sea of Small Boats. Cultural Survival Inc., Cambridge (Mass.), pp. 60–94. O'Connor, S., Ono, R., Clarkson, C., 2011. Pelagic fishing at 42,000 years before the present and the maritime skills of modern humans. Science 334 (6059), 1117–1121. O'Connor, S., Veth, P., 2005. Early Holocene shell fish hooks from Lene Hara Cave, East Timor establish complex fishing technology was in use in Island South East Asia five thousand years before Austronesian settlement. Antiquity 79 (304), 249–256. Ono, R., 2010. Ethno-archaeology and early Austronesian fishing strategies in near-shore environments. J. Polynesian Soc. 119 (3), 269–314. Poiner, I.R., Harris, A.N., 1991. Fisheries of Yorke Islands. In: Johannes, R.E., MacFarlane, J.W. (Eds.), Traditional Fishing in the Torres Strait Islands. CSIRO Division of Fisheries, Hobart, pp. 143–155. Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R., Steene, R.C., 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.

11

Ray, S.H., 1907. Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits. Linguistics vol. 3. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Rivaton, J., Bourret, P., 1999. Les Otolithes des Poisons de l'Indo-Pacifique. Documents Scientifiques et Techniques Volume special II2. Institut de Recherché pour le Développement, Nouméa. Rowe, C., 2007. A palynological investigation of Holocene vegetation change in Torres Strait, seasonal tropics of northern Australia. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 251 (1), 83–103. Sharp, N., 1993. Stars of Tagai: The Torres Strait Islanders. Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra. Sweatman, H.P.A., Johns, K.A., Jonker, M.J., Miller, I.R., Osborne, K., 2015. Final report on coral reef surveys in Torres Strait. Report to the National Environmental Research Program. Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Limited, Cairns. Von Gnielinski, F.E., Denaro, T.J., Wellman, P., Pain, C.F., 1998. Torres Strait region. In: Bain, J.H.C., Draper, J.J. (Eds.), North Queensland Geology. Australian Geological Survey Organization Bulletin 240, pp. 159–164 (Queensland Geology 9). Walter, R., Anderson, A., 2002. The archaeology of Niue Island, West Polynesia. Bishop Museum Bulletin in Anthropology 10. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. Weisler, M.I., 1993. The importance of fish otoliths in Pacific Island archaeofaunal analysis. N. Z. J. Archaeol. 15, 131–159. Weisler, M.I., 2001. On the margins of sustainability: prehistoric settlement of Utrōk Atoll, Northern Marshall Islands. BAR International Series 967. Hadrian Books Ltd., Oxford. Weisler, M.I., Green, R.C., 2013. Mangareva fishing strategies in regional context: an analysis of fish bones from five sites excavated in 1959. J. Pac. Archaeol. 4, 73–89. Weisler, M.I., Bollt, R., Findlater, A., 2010. Prehistoric fishing strategies on the makatea island of Rurutu. Archaeol. Ocean. 45, 130–143. Woodroffe, C.D., Kennedy, D.M., Hopley, D., Rasmussen, C.E., Smithers, S.G., 2000. Holocene reef growth in Torres Strait. Mar. Geol. 170, 331–346. Wright, D., Hiscock, P., Aplin, K., 2013. Re-excavation of Dabangay, a mid-Holocene settlement site on Mabuyag in Western Torres Strait. Queensland Archaeol. Res. 16, 14–31.

Please cite this article as: Weisler, M.I., McNiven, I.J., Four thousand years of western Torres Strait fishing in the Pacific-wide context, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.05.016