![]() ![]() In the more recent past, remarkable social networks that stretched across thousands of kilometers of ocean between Pacific Island communities have been reconstructed based on obsidian evidence. Archaeologists have for many years used these spatial patterns to reconstruct changes associated with transition from the Paleolithic to Neolithic which involved increasingly permanent settlement and food production via agriculture. The geographic distribution of stone artefacts made of obsidian, a natural volcanic glass, gives us a window in to major shifts in human mobility and trade in the past. This study demonstrates the value of conducting tandem lithic technology and geochemical sourcing studies to understand how people create and maintain social networks during periods of warfare. A smaller amount comes from blocks of material transported from an off-shore island a greater distance away, called Mayor Island, in a formal trade and exchange network. ![]() We find that most of the obsidian described here was likely obtained directly from natural sources, especially those located on off-shore islands within about 60–70 km of sites. ![]() These deposits represent a good cross-section of Late Period archaeology, including primary working of raw material at a natural source (Helena Bay), undefended sites where people discarded rubbish and worked obsidian (Bream Head), and a heavily fortified site (Mt. Here we use collections of obsidian artefacts that date to a period of endemic warfare among Maori during New Zealand's Late Period (1500–1769 A.D.) to determine what strategies people engaged in to obtain obsidian, namely (1) collecting raw material directly from a natural source, (2) informal trade and exchange, and (3) formal trade and exchange. Archaeological evidence of people's choices regarding how they supply themselves with obsidian through direct access and different types of exchanges gives us insight in to mobility, social networks, and property rights in the distant past. ![]()
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