ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the effects of both human predation and changing environment on the predominantly exploited mollusc species Gafrarium and Anadara, as well as the consequences following this decrease in size for the subsistence of the early Tongans. Shellfishing in ethnohistoric and modern Tonga is done by the women, who walk at low tide to the reef and mudflats or in the lagoon, search the ground with their toes, and dig out or pick up the shells with their hands. The Lapita population had to face a dwindling supply in large Anadara sp. shells, which was caused by both predation and changing environment. The Lapita population was growing in number as can be documented to some extent by the high number of middle Lapita and especially late Lapita sites along the lagoon. In addition Poulsen observed an overall decrease of shells compared to the total midden debris.
