Archaeology: oceanic prehistory, paleoenvironmental studies, marine zooarchaeology, human ecology.

Present graduate students
Seth Quintus (PhD) – Human ecodynamics of terrestrial food production on Ofu Island, Manu'a, American Samoa, University Doctoral Scholar (primary supervisor)

Jennifer Huebert (PhD) – Evaluating forest transformations and the rise of arboreal subsistence strategies in highly variable environments: The anthropogenic forests of the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia. University Doctoral Scholar (primary supervisor)

Alex Jorgensen (PhD) – The archaeological signatures of mobility in pre-contact northern New Zealand. University Doctoral Scholar (secondary supervisor)

Laura Dawson (MA)

Adam Hand (MA)

Lisa McKendry (BAHons)

Sophie Miller (BAHons)

Sayali Sangamnerkar (BAHons)

Past graduate students (recent) - PhDs

Andrew McAlister (PhD) – Methodological issues in the geochemical characterisation and morphological analysis of stone tools: a case study from Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands, East Polynesia. University Doctoral Scholar (completed 2011)

Jacqui A. Craig (PhD) – Stable isotope analysis of prehistoric human and commensal diets on Aitutaki, southern Cook Islands (co-supervisor Dr. Judith Littleton) (2009)

Past graduate students (recent) - MAs and BAhons

Laura Dawson (BAHons) -Dental calculus in Polynesian pigs (2012)

Adam Hand (BAHons) - Maori fuel use and vegetation histories on Great Mercury Island (2012) (1' supervisor with Rod Wallace)

Annie Stephens (BAHons) - History and function in Polynesian coral abraders (2012)

Rebecca Walley (BAHons) - Fish stressors, osteological indicators & bio-archaeological potentials (2012)

Alison Preston (MA) – Element choice, analytical bias and archaeofish interpretations: a case study from the Cook Islands. Faculty of Arts Scholarship

Sarah Ricketts (BAHons), Stone use and sourcing in Northland, New Zealand (w/ R. Philipps) (2011)

Associate Professor Melinda S. Allen 's Postgraduate Supervision

Allen, M.S. Dietary Opportunities and constraints in the islands of Remote Oceania. Oxford Handbook of Diet, edited by Julia Lee-Thorp and M. Anne Katzenberg. Oxford University Press. Accepted. (invited contribution).

Allen, M.S. and E. Ussher. 2013. Starch analysis reveals prehistoric plant translocations and shell tool use, Marquesas Islands, Polynesia. Journal of Archaeological Science 40(6): 2799-2812.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2013.02.011

Allen, M.S. and A. McAlister. 2013. Early Marquesan settlement and patterns of interation: new insights from Hatiheu valley, Nuku Hiva Island. Journal of Pacific Archaeology 4(1):90-109. Available at: http://pacificarchaeology.org/index.php/journal

Allen, M.S. 2012, Pacific Islands: Settlement of Polynesia. In Oxford Handbook of Archaeology, edited by N.A. Silberman (ed.). Invited contribution.

Allen, M.S., W. R. Dickinson, and J. M. Huebert. 2012. The anomaly of Marquesan ceramics: A fifty year retrospective. Journal of Pacific Archaeology 3(1): 90-104. Available at: http://pacificarchaeology.org/index.php/journal

Allen, M.S. 2011. Molluscan foraging efficiency and patterns of mobility amongst foraging agriculturalists: a case study from northern New Zealand. Journal of Archaeological Science. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.09.013

Mulrooney, M., Bickler, S.H., Allen, M.S., Ladefoged, T. 2011. High-precision dating of colonization and settlement in East Polynesia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Letter to the editor. Available at www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1100447108

Allen, M.S., K. Butler, J. Flenley, and M. Horrocks. 2011. New pollen, sedimentary, and radiocarbon records from the Marquesas Islands, East Polynesia: implications for archaeological and palaeoclimate studies. The Holocene 21(3): 473-484. doi:10.1177/0959683610385726 http://hol.sagepub.com/content/21/3.toc
 
Allen, M.S. and A. J. McAlister. 2010. The Hakaea Beach site, Marquesan colonisation, and models of East Polynesian settlement. Archaeology in Oceania 45: 54-65.
 
Allen, M.S. and J. G. Kahn. 2010. Central East Polynesia: an introduction. Archaeology in Oceania 45: 49-53.
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Huebert, J.M., M.S. Allen and R. Wallace. 2010. Polynesian earth ovens and their fuels: wood charcoal remains from Anaho Valley, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands. Journal of the Polynesian Society 119: 61-97.

Allen, M. S. and R. N. Holdaway. 2010. Archaeological avifauna of Harataonga, Great Barrier Island, New Zealand: implications for avian palaeontology, Maori prehistory, and archaeofaunal recovery techniques. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 40: 11-25.

Allen, M. S. 2010. Oscillating climate and socio-political flexibility: the case of the Marquesan chiefdom, Polynesia. Antiquity 84: 86-102.
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Allen, M. S. 2010 (2009). Morphological variability and temporal patterning in Marquesan domestic architecture: Anaho Valley in regional context. Asian Perspectives 48(2).
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Allen, M. S. and J. Craig. 2009. The dynamics of Polynesian subsistence: new insights from archaeofauna and stable isotope studies from Aitutaki, Cook Islands. Pacific Science 63(4): 477-506.
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Petchy, F., M. S. Allen, D. Addison, and A. Anderson. 2009. Stability in South Pacific surface marine 14C reservoir over the last 750 years. Evidence from American Samoa, the Southern Cook Islands and the Marquesas Islands. Journal of Archaeological Science 36: 2234-2243.

Nagaoka, L. and M. S. Allen. 2009. Zooarchaeological research in New Zealand: studying the effects of anthropogenic environmental change. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 4: 164-176.

Aswani, S. and M. S. Allen. 2009. A Marquesan coral reef (French Polynesia) in historical context: an integrated bio-cultural approach. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 19: 614-625. DOI: 10.1002/aqc.1006.

Allen, M. S. 2007. Three millennia of human and sea turtle interactions in Remote Oceania. Coral Reefs  26: 959-970. DOI 10.1007/s00338-007-0234-x.

Allen, M. S. and R. Wallace. 2007. New evidence from the East Polynesian gateway: substantive and methodological results from Aitutaki, southern Cook Islands. Radiocarbon 9(3): 1-17.

Allen, M. S. 2006. New Ideas about Late Holocene Climate Variability in the Central Pacific. Current Anthropology 47(3): 521-535.

Allen, M. S. 2006. Periodicity, duration, and function of occupation at Tauroa Point, Northland, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Archaeology 27: 19-62.

Allen, M. S. 2006. Blowing in the wind: rescue excavations at Site N05/302, Tauroa Point, Ahipara, Northland. Archaeology in New Zealand 49: 105-119.

Allen, M. S., A. McAlister, D. Addison, S. Aswani, K. Butler, and J. Flenley. 2005. Archaeological, marine ecological, and palynological research on Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands: 2003-2004. In: Henri Marchesi (ed.), Bilan de la Recherche Archéologique en Polynésie Française 2003-2004. Punaauia, Tahiti: Ministére de la Culture de Polynésie Française Service de la Culture et du Patrimoine.

Allen, M. S., 2004. Bet-hedging strategies in unpredictable environments: historical development of dryland agriculture in Kona, Hawai`i. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 23: 196-224.

Allen, M. S. 2004. Revisiting and revising Marquesan culture history: new archaeological investigations at Anaho Bay, Nuku Hiva Island. Journal of the Polynesian Society 113: 143-196.

Allen, M. S. and L. A. Nagaoka. 2004. In the footsteps of von Haast…the discoveries something grand: the emergence of zooarchaeology in New Zealand. In L. Furey and S. Holdaway (eds.), Change Through Time: 50 Years of New Zealand Archaeology, pp. 193-214. New Zealand Archaeological Association Monograph 26.

Allen, M. S. 2003. Human impact on Pacific near-shore ecosystems. In C. Sand (ed.), Pacific Archaeology: Assessments and Prospects, pp. 317-325. Les Cahiers de l'Archéologie en Nouvelle-Calédonie 15. Services des Musées et du Patrimoine, Nouméa.

Allen, M. S. 2003. Style and function in East Polynesian fishhooks. In Michael O’Brien and Lee Lyman (eds.), Style, Function, Transmission: Evolutionary Archaeological Perspectives. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. (reprint of 1996 paper).

Nicholls, A., E. Matisoo-Smith, and M.S. Allen. 2003. Novel application of molecular techniques to Pacific archaeofish remains. Archaeometry 45(1): 133-147.

Allen, M. S. 2002. Resolving long-term change in Polynesian marine fisheries. Asian Perspectives 41(2): 195-212.

Allen, M. S., E. Matisoo-Smith and A. Horsbourgh. 2001. Pacific 'babes': issues in the origins and dispersals of Pacific pigs and the potentials of mitochondrial DNA analysis. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 11: 4-13.

Allen, M. S., T. Ladefoged, and J. Wall. 2001. Traditional Rotuman fishing in temporal and regional context. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 11: 56-71.

 

Associate Professor Melinda S. Allen 's Recent Publications