SPICE ISLAND STEW: CREOLIZATION OF FOODWAYS ON COLONIAL ERA NUTMEG PLANTATIONS, MALUKU PROVINCE, INDONESIA

Abstract

The Banda Islands, in modern Indonesia’s Maluku Province, were the world’s sole source of nutmeg in the 16th Century. Control over the spice trade was a major goal for European powers. Consequently, the Banda Islands were a location of early disputes and colonial experimentation.  After eradicating most of the indigenous population, the Dutch East India Company established a plantation system in 1621 on the islands.  The plantation system fundamentally altered the lifeways of all inhabitants of the Banda Islands but there is little evidence regarding how the alterations and adaptations occurred or why.  Excavations at three nutmeg plantations reveal that the inhabitants engaged with multiple strategies of both subsistence and trade. By examining multiple lines of evidence including ceramic, faunal, and starch grain analysis, a more comprehensive understanding of social adaptations to colonialism can be demonstrated.