Journal article
Na koronivalu ni Bā: Upland settlement during the last millennium in the Bā river valley and Vatia Peninsula, northern Viti Levu Island, Fiji
Asian Perspectives, Vol.51(1), pp.1-21
2012
Abstract
Former settlements, now abandoned, are found in inland upland locations on many larger islands in the tropical Pacific. In Fiji, such settlements are known today as koronivalu (war-towns) and, as elsewhere in the region, appear to have been established within the same period during the first half of the last millennium. Twenty-seven koronivalu were mapped for this research in the Bā Valley and nearby Vatia Peninsula, northern Viti Levu Island (Fiji); of these, nine were subject to detailed investigation. All koronivalu arein defensible locations, either with exceptional views across the surrounding landscape or hidden within deep narrow valleys. At all koronivalu, evidence for the consumption of marine shellfish was found, even though the sites are often far from the coast. Twenty-four radiocarbon ages from charcoal and shellfish remains were obtained. A single age around a.d. 700 from the farthest inland site (Koroikewa) appears anomalous. The remainder, once adjusted, suggest that most koronivalu in the study area were established a.d. 1200-1750, perhaps separable into early (a.d. 1200-1450) and later (a.d. 1500-1750) phases. While questions remain about the functions of these koronivalu, the fact that, as elsewhere in Fiji and in other western Pacific Island groups, they appear to have been established within the same period suggests that there is a region-wide explanation for the profound settlement-pattern change this implies. Climate change, perhaps expressed through drought and/or sea-level change, appears the only plausible external forcing mechanism. © 2013 by the University of Hawai'i Press.
Details
- Title
- Na koronivalu ni Bā: Upland settlement during the last millennium in the Bā river valley and Vatia Peninsula, northern Viti Levu Island, Fiji
- Authors
- Patrick Nunn (Author) - University of New England
- Publication details
- Asian Perspectives, Vol.51(1), pp.1-21
- Publisher
- University of Hawaii Press
- Date published
- 2012
- DOI
- 10.1353/asi.2012.0002
- ISSN
- 0066-8435
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2012 Patrick Nunn. Reproduced in accordance with the policy of the publisher.
- Organisation Unit
- Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre; Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research; School of Social Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society; Sustainability Research Cluster
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99449047702621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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