Much of my research in the Pacific has dealt with the logistics of prehistoric agriculture. I apply models from evolutionary ecology to examine and explain the variation in technologies used to produce agricultural products, and to explain why people choose to invest in one technology over another. I seek to understand the social and ecological factors involved in the intensive production of Pacific crops, and how the application of particular agricultural strategies can be related to long-term trajectories of population growth, territoriality, and resilience in the face of environmental disturbances. I have also collaborated with Drs. Ethan Cochrane (U Auckland) and Diana Greenlee (PPNM) on a study of isotopic diet in prehistoric Fijian populations. Utilizing human and animal samples obtained from archaeological deposits in the Sigatoka Valley and the island of Waya, we have examined the variation in diet over a 2000 year period, and between coastal and interior populations (Field et al. 2009).
Fijian fish for dinner!