Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2002

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Brown, Susan Love

Abstract

By comparing research from several disciplines and subfields such as history, anthropology, and environmental archaeology, an alternative theory for the cause of Captain James Cook's death on February 14, 1779 developed. One of the basic needs of human beings is food. In 1779, food played an integral part in Hawaiian culture. The population in Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii was at maximum potential and was supported by a large-scale agricultural system known as the Kona Field System. There were 284 men on Captain Cook's third expedition and they relied on the Hawaiians for their food provisions. The economic production of the Kona Field System was affected by several external factors. Environmental conditions, limited farming technology, population density, and sociopolitical organization were causes of food shortages and famines in Hawaiian prehistory. The death of Captain Cook was an indirect result of food scarcity that was caused by a combination of these external factors.

Extent

83 p.

Comments

FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2002.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Identifier

FADT12946

Format

pdf

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