50
3 The Oceanographic Context
be thought of as minimal prerequisites. It is arguable that for the Spice Island ancestors of the Polynesian peoples a 35,000-year maritime history which was lived on
the borders of this changing and dynamic oceanographic phenomenon made possible the startling change to transoceanic voyaging after the last Ice Age flood. Their
mastering of fast currents within the WPWP, thought of as a long-distance voyaging nursery, eventually made it possible for them to follow three of its major
currents into waters outside the Pool. The skill and daring of Spice Island mariners
and their readiness to seize new opportunities, matched to evolving cold resistance
and dynamic changes in the WPWP itself, made possible the maritime feats we
consider in the following chapters.
While in the late Holocene El Niño northerlies could assist voyaging from the
Spice Islands to New Zealand and monsoonal winds could assist sailing of the
Cinnamon Route, these advantages were supportive rather than fundamental. For
prehistoric long-distance voyaging global warmth was an essential requirement.
Only then was current-driven and El Niño-assisted transoceanic voyaging feasible.
Clearly, without the powerful WPWP currents that made transoceanic voyaging
possible in global warm periods, Spice Island mariners would have been restricted
to slow coastal trading. The warmth of the Holocene, the consequent enlargement of
the WPWP and increased warmth of its major currents, due to volcanic activity on
the sea floor, contributed to the Spice Islanders’ evolution from regional and international coastal trading to international transoceanic trading. Being able to exploit
three major WPWP currents transformed Spice Island maritime exploration, trading
and migration history. We sketch the stages of this transformation in the following
sections.
3.6 Spice Island Expansion from Regional to Long-Distance
Trading After the Last Ice Age Flood
There is archaeological evidence for the expansion from regional to long-distance
and international trading in the Spice Island region about 6,000 years ago. This evidence could be seen as supporting our claim that Spice Island mariners developed
new skills and technologies within their WPWP voyaging nursery. Oppenheimer
[17] points to evidence that, 6,000 years ago, obsidian was being traded from both
the Lou Island near Manus and from Talisea in New Britain to Bukit Tengkorak
on the east coast of Sabah in Borneo, 3,500 miles to the west. Lou Island obsidian
had previously been found in Sabah dated to the Lapita period. But the radiocarbon
date for the layer in which Malaysian archaeologist Stephen Chia found some 200
obsidian flakes from Lou Island and Talisea was 2,500 years earlier. This evidence
suggests that maritime traders may have been engaged in long-distance obsidian
trading from New Britain to Sabah as early as 6,000 years ago and that they may
have continued in this role for another 2,500 years. Of course, we cannot claim that
Spice Island mariners were responsible. But that they may have long been engaged
in this trade is supported by the Spice Islanders’ probable connection with obsidian
trading 13,000–8,000 years ago and also perhaps supported by the Lapita peoples’
3 The Oceanographic Context
be thought of as minimal prerequisites. It is arguable that for the Spice Island ancestors of the Polynesian peoples a 35,000-year maritime history which was lived on
the borders of this changing and dynamic oceanographic phenomenon made possible the startling change to transoceanic voyaging after the last Ice Age flood. Their
mastering of fast currents within the WPWP, thought of as a long-distance voyaging nursery, eventually made it possible for them to follow three of its major
currents into waters outside the Pool. The skill and daring of Spice Island mariners
and their readiness to seize new opportunities, matched to evolving cold resistance
and dynamic changes in the WPWP itself, made possible the maritime feats we
consider in the following chapters.
While in the late Holocene El Niño northerlies could assist voyaging from the
Spice Islands to New Zealand and monsoonal winds could assist sailing of the
Cinnamon Route, these advantages were supportive rather than fundamental. For
prehistoric long-distance voyaging global warmth was an essential requirement.
Only then was current-driven and El Niño-assisted transoceanic voyaging feasible.
Clearly, without the powerful WPWP currents that made transoceanic voyaging
possible in global warm periods, Spice Island mariners would have been restricted
to slow coastal trading. The warmth of the Holocene, the consequent enlargement of
the WPWP and increased warmth of its major currents, due to volcanic activity on
the sea floor, contributed to the Spice Islanders’ evolution from regional and international coastal trading to international transoceanic trading. Being able to exploit
three major WPWP currents transformed Spice Island maritime exploration, trading
and migration history. We sketch the stages of this transformation in the following
sections.
3.6 Spice Island Expansion from Regional to Long-Distance
Trading After the Last Ice Age Flood
There is archaeological evidence for the expansion from regional to long-distance
and international trading in the Spice Island region about 6,000 years ago. This evidence could be seen as supporting our claim that Spice Island mariners developed
new skills and technologies within their WPWP voyaging nursery. Oppenheimer
[17] points to evidence that, 6,000 years ago, obsidian was being traded from both
the Lou Island near Manus and from Talisea in New Britain to Bukit Tengkorak
on the east coast of Sabah in Borneo, 3,500 miles to the west. Lou Island obsidian
had previously been found in Sabah dated to the Lapita period. But the radiocarbon
date for the layer in which Malaysian archaeologist Stephen Chia found some 200
obsidian flakes from Lou Island and Talisea was 2,500 years earlier. This evidence
suggests that maritime traders may have been engaged in long-distance obsidian
trading from New Britain to Sabah as early as 6,000 years ago and that they may
have continued in this role for another 2,500 years. Of course, we cannot claim that
Spice Island mariners were responsible. But that they may have long been engaged
in this trade is supported by the Spice Islanders’ probable connection with obsidian
trading 13,000–8,000 years ago and also perhaps supported by the Lapita peoples’