The Geographic Range of Interaction Spheres During the Colonization of New Zealand (Aotearoa): New Evidence for Obsidian Circulation in Southern New Zealand

ABSTRACT

During the colonization of remote Pacific Islands, founding communities forged novel interaction spheres within newly settled archipelagos. We report on new research on the geographic range of interaction spheres in the first centuries of occupation of New Zealand based on geochemical source identifications from obsidian assemblages found along the coast of the Otago region in the southern South Island. Results suggest that while there is evidence for interaction spanning the entire archipelago, logistical limitations on long-distance mobility along the long north-south axis of New Zealand appear to have developed early on and may be important in understanding the development of territories later in Māori culture history.

Keywords:

• island colonization
• mobility
• transient villages
• obsidian
• New Zealand

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks the Otago Museum, especially the museum's director Ian Griffin, Scott Reeves, and Moira White, and to all the Otago University volunteers for their assistance: Lori Bowers, Georgia Kerby, Justin Maxwell, and Jozef Mendrun. Many thanks to three anonymous reviewers and Scott Fitzpatrick for their comments that helped us revise and clarify this article.