5.3 Evidence from the Japanese Taro
93
rewarding. The possibility of timing migrations using this technology extends the
potential power of the approach.
One possible implication of Hendy’s study of the Japanese taro is that Spice
Island mariners may have sourced the 42-chromosome form of the taro directly from
Japan and introduced it to New Zealand before 1000 BC, the earlier margin for its
mutation and also the cut-off point for oceanic voyaging which was determined by
the global cold period that began at this time. This provides us with a minimum age,
if not for a first-wave colony in southern Japan, at least for Spice Island trading with
Japan. The presence of the Japanese taro in New Zealand supports our claim for
a Lapita-age first-wave settlement of New Zealand – with New Zealand like Japan
being reached by following a major WPWP from the Spice Islands. But though the
fact that the Japanese taro was taken to New Zealand may support the likelihood
of a preceding first-wave settlement in southern Japan it cannot tell us how much
earlier that settlement may have been.
Other contextual evidence for a first-wave Spice Island trading colony in southern Japan relies on archaeological evidence for both first- and second-wave Spice
Island colonizations of Hawaii and contact with America. Again, while this evidence
establishes the likelihood that there was a first-wave Spice Island colony in southern
Japan, it can only supply later dating margins for such a colony. The distance from
the Spice Islands to southern California enforces the likelihood that southern Japan
was used as a rest and supply base on the Kuro Shio route from the Spice Islands
to America in the earlier as well as in the later period. Given this likelihood, the
clear dating we have for Spice Island contact with America in both periods, from
before 1000 BC and from about AD 300 to AD 800 (discussed in the next chapter), carries implicit dating margins for both first-wave and second-wave southern
Japanese colonies. If a colony was set up in Palau in Micronesia nearly 6,000 years
ago to act as a rest and supply station for a spice trading route to Japan; if Japan
in turn was used as a rest and supply station making possible the first-wave discovery and colonization(s) of Hawaii; and if Hawaii in turn was used as a rest and
supply station enabling Spice Island explorers to reach America before the cold
period descended in 1000 BC, we have a chain of circumstances that supports the
establishment of a first-wave colony in southern Japan before 1000 BC. But the
dating for this colony would need wide margins. The earliest date for the settlement of Micronesia is nearly 3,000 years earlier than the dating for the single-piece
curved shell fishhooks which appear in southern California in about 1000 BC or
slightly earlier and which, being common to both Micronesia and Hawaii as well as
to southern California, establish both the Kuro Shio route and the timing for their
diffusion.
But again this contextual evidence can only establish late margins for a first-wave
Japanese colony. The argument for a time differential between establishing a spice
trading route to Japan that was supported all the way by the warm waters of the
WPWP and establishing a trading route across the colder Indian Ocean probably
applies also to voyaging outside the Pool across the width of the northern Pacific.
The differential implies that a spice-trading colony may have been established in
southern Japan long before first-wave Spice Islanders reached Hawaii and America.
93
rewarding. The possibility of timing migrations using this technology extends the
potential power of the approach.
One possible implication of Hendy’s study of the Japanese taro is that Spice
Island mariners may have sourced the 42-chromosome form of the taro directly from
Japan and introduced it to New Zealand before 1000 BC, the earlier margin for its
mutation and also the cut-off point for oceanic voyaging which was determined by
the global cold period that began at this time. This provides us with a minimum age,
if not for a first-wave colony in southern Japan, at least for Spice Island trading with
Japan. The presence of the Japanese taro in New Zealand supports our claim for
a Lapita-age first-wave settlement of New Zealand – with New Zealand like Japan
being reached by following a major WPWP from the Spice Islands. But though the
fact that the Japanese taro was taken to New Zealand may support the likelihood
of a preceding first-wave settlement in southern Japan it cannot tell us how much
earlier that settlement may have been.
Other contextual evidence for a first-wave Spice Island trading colony in southern Japan relies on archaeological evidence for both first- and second-wave Spice
Island colonizations of Hawaii and contact with America. Again, while this evidence
establishes the likelihood that there was a first-wave Spice Island colony in southern
Japan, it can only supply later dating margins for such a colony. The distance from
the Spice Islands to southern California enforces the likelihood that southern Japan
was used as a rest and supply base on the Kuro Shio route from the Spice Islands
to America in the earlier as well as in the later period. Given this likelihood, the
clear dating we have for Spice Island contact with America in both periods, from
before 1000 BC and from about AD 300 to AD 800 (discussed in the next chapter), carries implicit dating margins for both first-wave and second-wave southern
Japanese colonies. If a colony was set up in Palau in Micronesia nearly 6,000 years
ago to act as a rest and supply station for a spice trading route to Japan; if Japan
in turn was used as a rest and supply station making possible the first-wave discovery and colonization(s) of Hawaii; and if Hawaii in turn was used as a rest and
supply station enabling Spice Island explorers to reach America before the cold
period descended in 1000 BC, we have a chain of circumstances that supports the
establishment of a first-wave colony in southern Japan before 1000 BC. But the
dating for this colony would need wide margins. The earliest date for the settlement of Micronesia is nearly 3,000 years earlier than the dating for the single-piece
curved shell fishhooks which appear in southern California in about 1000 BC or
slightly earlier and which, being common to both Micronesia and Hawaii as well as
to southern California, establish both the Kuro Shio route and the timing for their
diffusion.
But again this contextual evidence can only establish late margins for a first-wave
Japanese colony. The argument for a time differential between establishing a spice
trading route to Japan that was supported all the way by the warm waters of the
WPWP and establishing a trading route across the colder Indian Ocean probably
applies also to voyaging outside the Pool across the width of the northern Pacific.
The differential implies that a spice-trading colony may have been established in
southern Japan long before first-wave Spice Islanders reached Hawaii and America.