Abstract
This chapter considers a third heritage which, along with the genetic and maritime heritages that Spice Islanders passed on to their Lapita and Polynesian descendants, was vital to the successful colonization of the Pacific. This was the horticultural heritage bequeathed to the Polynesians by their Spice Island ancestors. It involved plant domestication and the manipulated adaptation of domesticated plants to new environments. We argue that the horticultural skills and knowledge that the Polynesians inherited from their Spice Island ancestors, who for thousands of years had been involved in plant domestication in Wallacea, enabled them to successfully translocate essential staple foods to the varying microclimates of the Pacific islands they settled. The Polynesians’ past and continuing genetic engineering of some plants and human-assisted adaptation of others enabled them to create an intensive horticulture on Pacific islands able to sustain significant humanpopulations.
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Pearce, C.E., Pearce, F. (2010). The Horticultural Context. In: Oceanic Migration. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3826-5_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3826-5_7
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