Coconuts on the Move: Archaeology of Western Pacific

ABSTRACT

The coconut was one of the major food crops used by the ancient populations of the western Pacific. Although critical to the successful settlement and sustainability of Pacific populations, the history of the coconut is little known, its presence being recorded by only a handful of archaeologists. This paper will provide for the first time a review of the coconut in the archaeological record, charting its first uses and spread across the Pacific.