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A Geoarchaeological Investigation of Naihehe Cave in the sigatoka River Valley of viti Levu, Fiji

Riordan, Kyle
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1524150877877185

Abstract Details

2018, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Anthropology.
Naihehe Cave, a Navatu phase site, is located within the middle region of the Sigatoka river valley of Viti Levu, Fiji. This thesis reports on a series of original investigations of Naihehe cave, which began with field excavations of the site during May 2017 and continued with laboratory investigations over the following year. The research is innovative and exploratory, as Naihehe Cave had never been excavated before and the geoarchaeological methods applied in this research have never been applied in Fijian archaeology, and rarely elsewhere. There were many questions answered in this research, but the primary goal was to investigate if humans had occupied Naihehe Cave in prehistory, to understand what they might have been doing inside of the cave, and ultimately to see if human activities affected the natural environment and deposits in the cave. Understanding the archaeology of this cave site is deduced mainly by way of sedimentological “ecofacts” rather than material artifacts. Sediments were collected and analyzed through numerous testing methods. The methodology is diverse which allows for a thorough and data rich interpretation of natural deposition and human activities. It adds to the conversation of how traces of human activity can be discerned at the smallest of scales and understood archaeologically. The lab methods employed in this research include use of Scanning Electron Microscopy with energy dispersion spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), organic matter loss-on-ignition, carbonate loss-on-ignition, macrocharcoal paleobotanical identification, and radiocarbon dating. Naihehe Cave is in a geographically and archaeologically significant area pertaining to the first agriculturalists in Fiji. Naihehe cave was investigated in order to assess the connection between the sites in this area. It was concluded that humans did occupy the cave in prehistory, during the time period where humans occupied the nearby agricultural site of Qaraqara. The extent of archaeological features discovered in the two excavated test units include four separate fire features (two calibrated radiocarbon dates at AD 886-1013 and AD 280-529).
Julie Field, Dr. (Advisor)
Mark Mortiz, Dr. (Committee Member)
Kristen Gremillion, Dr. (Committee Member)
John Dudgeon, Dr. (Committee Member)
221 p.
Archaeology
Archaeology, Geoarchaeology, Fijian Archaeology, Pacific Islands Archaeology

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Riordan, K. (2018). A Geoarchaeological Investigation of Naihehe Cave in the sigatoka River Valley of viti Levu, Fiji [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1524150877877185

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Riordan, Kyle. A Geoarchaeological Investigation of Naihehe Cave in the sigatoka River Valley of viti Levu, Fiji. 2018. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1524150877877185.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Riordan, Kyle. "A Geoarchaeological Investigation of Naihehe Cave in the sigatoka River Valley of viti Levu, Fiji." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1524150877877185

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1524150877877185
272
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