Biogeography and Prehistoric Exploitation of Birds in the Mussau Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Three archaeological sites on or near Mussau Island (Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea) have yielded 58 bird bones that represent 17 species (six seabirds, eight resident landbirds, two migrant shorebirds and one introduced species). Four of these (the petrel Pterodromasp., Brown Booby Sula leucogaster, cockatoo cf. Cacatuasp. and owl Tytosp.) have not been recorded previously from Mussau. The archaeological samples of birds from Mussau are too small to represent thoroughly the island’s prehistoric avifauna. Nevertheless, they are important among avian bone assemblages from the Lapita Cultural Complex (c. 3500-2000 yr BP) for being the westernmost, among the best dated and associated with extensive cultural and environmental information. The Mussau samples also demonstrate that prehistoric losses of birds, such as those well documented in Polynesia, occurred as well in the Papuan region. Compared to avifaunas from Lapita sites in Western Polynesia (Tonga), the lower percentage of extinct/extir-pated species from Mussau may be related to the island’s more rugged terrain. Alternatively, it is possible that earlier, pre-Lapita peoples lived on Mussau and already had extirpated species.