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Radiocarbon Dates from the Ulong Site in Palau and Implications for Western Micronesian Prehistory
Abstract
Recent excavations on Ulong Island in Palau recovered an early pottery assemblage that has not been recorded previously in the archipelago. Four AMS results on charcoal fragments and carbonised residues adhering to pot sherds ranged from 3150 ± 90 BP to 4330 ± 90 BP, and were consistent with palaeoenvironmental work which suggests that human arrival in western Micronesia might have occurred as early as 4500 BP. Redating of the Ulong samples that gave the earliest results put occupation instead around 3000–2650 BP, and an error during laboratory processing of the oldest AMS samples is suspected. Revision of the Ulong dates invites reconsideration of other archaeological radiocarbon ages from western Micronesia where convincing evidence for occupation deposits older than c. 3300 cal BP has yet to be obtained.
... 3400-3300 cal B.P. in the Bismarck Archipelago. However, the settlement of western Micronesia (Palau, Yap, and the Mariana Islands) was broadly contemporaneous with, but not a part of Lapita dispersal (Carson and Kurashina 2012;Clark 2004;Fitzpatrick 2003a;Wickler 2001). While the subsistence strategies of Lapita colonizers have been investigated from both archaeological and isotopic perspectives, there has been comparatively little research on prehistoric Micronesian subsistence following initial settlement, especially studies that use stable isotope analysis (e.g., Beavan Athfield et al. 2008;Green 1979;Groube 1971;Kinaston et al. 2014aKinaston et al. , 2014bKinaston et al. , 2015aKinaston et al. , 2015bKinaston and Buckley 2013;Leach et al. 2003, Valentin et al. 2010). ...
... Paleoenvironmental evidence suggests that Palau may have been first settled as early as 4500 cal B.P. (Athens and Ward 1999), though current archaeological evidence instead supports a colonization date around 3300-3000 cal Aika el skeng el tilobed a kmal di redemelel a omesuub el tilobed el oeak a ureor er a archaeology el lolecholt el kmo a delengchokl er a rechuodel er a rechad er a Belau a kmal mle mui el ultuil er a kall el mengai er a daob e di ua tirka chad er a Lapita er a chelecha el taem, me a uldasu a kmo a lukel a klengar er a daob a mle uchul e aika el mekekere el iungs a mlo sebechel el mechederoder a mesisiich el delengchokl er ngii. kall er a rechuodel; taiheio; iungs (mekekere el iungs) B.P. based on radiocarbon dates from several mortuary and small-scale habitation sites in the Rock Islands, including Ulong Island (Clark 2004), Ucheliungs (Stone et al. 2017), and Chelechol ra Orrak (Fitzpatrick 2003a;Fitzpatrick and Jew 2018). Current genetic and archaeological evidence, as well as computer simulations of drift voyaging, suggests that Palau was initially settled from somewhere in Island Southeast Asia (ISEA), but evidence to pinpoint a more specific place of origin has yet to be identified (Callaghan and Fitzpatrick 2008;Lum and Cann 2000;Montenegro et al. 2016). ...
... Endemic terrestrial fauna are more limited but include birds, bats, snakes, lizards, and land crabs (Alkire 1977;Fitzpatrick 2014). Introduced terrestrial domesticates, including pig, dog, rat, and chicken, were also present prehistorically, but the distribution of these taxa vary regionally and have only been found in relatively small quantities (Clark 2004;Intoh 2008;Matisoo-Smith 2009). In Palau, pigs have been recovered from prehistoric contexts that are associated with the period of stonework village construction on both Babeldaob and the Rock Islands. ...
... The initial colonisation of Remote Oceania by Lapita groups in the south-western Pacific probably occurred between c. 3250 and 3000 cal BP (Denham et al. 2012), and is represented by more than 250 sites that span a vast area, including Melanesia, West Polynesia (Samoa and Tonga) and even (although comparatively rare) the southern coast of New Guinea (McNiven et al. 2011). Contemporaneous or slightly earlier non-Lapita sites have also been found in western Micronesia, with several in Palau possibly dating to as early as c. 3300-2800 cal BP, and seven or eight in the Marianas dating to c. 3500-3200 cal BP (Fitzpatrick 2003a;Clark 2005;Liston 2005;Carson & Kurashina 2012). It has been argued that the latter sites represent the earliest entry of humans into Remote Oceania at 3500 cal BP (e.g. ...
... The site was used extensively in prehistory after burial activity ceased-first as a campsite, and then as a quarry for Yapese islanders to produce their famous stone money (Fitzpatrick 2003b). These subsequent post-burial activities provide additional and important information on site use over time and how the archaeological record of the most northerly part of the Rock Islands compares to the southern lagoon area (Fitzpatrick 2003b;Clark 2005;Clark et al. 2006;Masse et al. 2006). ...
... These islands are generally less than 100m high, with jagged karst topography, steep 'V'-shaped valleys, solution fissures, sink holes and an abundance of caves and rockshelters with flowstone formations. Archaeological evidence indicates that many of the Rock Islands were used during the earlier stages of prehistoric occupation for burying the dead, and at least one (Ulong) appears to have been occupied fairly continuously over the last 3000 years (Clark 2004(Clark , 2005Nelson & Fitzpatrick 2006;Fitzpatrick & Nelson 2008). Between c. 900 and 600 cal BP, stonework villages-which initially began around 900-800 BP on Babeldaob and Koror-appeared on some of the larger Rock Islands in the southern Lagoon (Masse et al. 2006). ...
Research at the Chelechol ra Orrak rockshelter in Palau has revealed an extensive cemetery with at least 50 interred individuals, their graves overlain by later occupational deposits. Previous radiocarbon dating placed this sequence of burial and occupation at c. 3000 cal BP, making it one of the earliest Pacific Island cemetery sites. To provide a more robust chronological framework, Bayesian modelling was applied to construct probability ranges for the date and duration of activity at the site, assisted by a suite of new ¹⁴C determinations. The results provide more secure evidence for burial activity dating back to c. 3000 cal BP, thus confirming Chelechol ra Orrak as one of the only cemeteries in Remote Oceania that dates to the earliest, known stages of island colonisation.
... Archaeological evidence from two sites in the Rock Islands, Chelechol ra Orrak and Ulong Island, supports the probable colonisation of Palau dating to c. 1350-1050 cal BC (Athens & Ward 1999;Fitzpatrick 2003a;Clark 2004). The former site is associated with human burials, the latter with ceramics, shellfish and stone abraders, and flakes (Fitzpatrick 2002(Fitzpatrick , 2003aClark 2004;Clark et al. 2006;Ono & Clark 2012). ...
... Archaeological evidence from two sites in the Rock Islands, Chelechol ra Orrak and Ulong Island, supports the probable colonisation of Palau dating to c. 1350-1050 cal BC (Athens & Ward 1999;Fitzpatrick 2003a;Clark 2004). The former site is associated with human burials, the latter with ceramics, shellfish and stone abraders, and flakes (Fitzpatrick 2002(Fitzpatrick , 2003aClark 2004;Clark et al. 2006;Ono & Clark 2012). Later occupation (c. ...
Recent excavation at Ucheliungs Cave in Palau has provided new evidence in the debate concerning the colonisation of the Palauan archipelago. An abundance of faunal material and the presence of transported artefacts contradict a previous interpretation that the site represents an early burial cave containing purported small-bodied humans. New radiocarbon dates suggest long-Term use of the cave for both mortuary activity and small-scale marine foraging that may slightly precede the accepted date for the earliest human occupation of Palau. The results of this research here discount earlier claims for insular dwarfism among the earliest inhabitants of these islands.
... BP (Fitzpatrick 2003; also see discussion of acceptability of Palau dates in Liston 2005). The Ulong Island site has 22 14 C dates, and the oldest cultural deposit has eroded ceramics from tidal reworking— consistent with subsidence—and a lens of marine shells and coral that might represent a storm deposit (Clark 2004, 2005). For these reasons Liston (2005) considered the two oldest determinations on marine shell with median ages of ca. ...
... Masse (1989) calculated a tentative R of −63 ± 4 years, since revised to around −300 to −200 years (Masse et al. 2006). A similar range has been suggested by Fitzpatrick (2002), but in view of uncertainty about the coeval deposition of shell-charcoal pairs, as well as the possibility of geographic variation and species difference in 14 C (Anderson et al. 2001b; Dye 1994; Petchey et al. 2005), most researchers in Palau have used R = 0 (Clark 2004, 2005; Fitzpatrick 2003; Fitzpatrick and Boyle 2002; Liston 2005; Phear et al. 2003). Marine shells of known age were recovered from a site on the east side of Ulong Island occupied by the crew of the Antelope, an East India Company Packet wrecked on the west barrier reef in AD 1783 (Nero and Thomas 2002). ...
Adaptation to new environments is an important issue in colonization research with implications for accurately establishing the timing of human arrival and interpreting the dispersal pattern from the distribution of early archaeological sites. Island groups frequently contain a diverse range of landscapes and geographic variation in their colonization records that might reflect the environmental preference of prehistoric migrants. In the Palau Islands the large island of Babeldaob may have been colonized by 4300 cal BP on palaeoenvironmental evidence, while the oldest archaeological deposits in the small limestone islands of southern Palau date to ∼ca. 3000 cal BP. Does the discrepancy in colonization ages represent a predilection for the large volcanic island relative to small limestone islands? To examine the timing of human arrival in southern Palau an early site on Ulong Island was re-excavated, along with ancillary investigations to calculate a local reservoir value (ΔR) to apply to new marine shell C ages and investigation of a buried sea-notch to estimate the impact of sea-level change and tectonic movement. Human arrival in southern Palau is dated to no earlier than 3100–2900 cal BP. Neolithic dispersal in other island environments in the Pacific is reviewed to see whether colonization of large islands tended to precede use of small islands. The general pattern is for the oldest sites to be located on large islands, with human activity archaeologically visible throughout an archipelago within 100–300 years. A similar interval applied to Palau would put colonization at 3400–3100 cal BP, but this needs to be confirmed by palaeoenvironmental and archaeological investigations in coastal Babeldaob.
... The carbon content of the specimen is a useful guide to reliability. This can be measured using EDXA; Clark (2004) found that elemental analysis of Palauan archaeological pottery and charcoal produced very similar carbon measurements to those reported here on samples of pottery and charcoal. But it is probably easier to measure carbon content during the 14 C dating process, as here. ...
... At present, there is a significant discrepancy between a paleoenvironmental inference of settlement in western Micronesia by about 4800-4500 BP (Wickler 2001a) and archaeological results that do not extend currently beyond about 3500-3000 cal BP (Clark 2004). The magnitude of the discrepancy, and the potential for dating materials in both Palauan contexts to be contaminated by environmental sources of carbon, requires further systematic investigation of the kind advocated here before either "long" or "short" prehistoric occupation chronologies can be accepted with confidence. ...
It is difficult to construct archaeological chronologies for Babeldaob, the main island of Palau (western Micronesia), because the saprolitic clays of the dominant terraced-hill sites and associated ceramic sherds often contain old carbon that originated in lignites. This has implications, as well, for chronologies of sedimentary sequences. Comparative analysis of the dating problem using lignite, pottery, and charcoal samples indicates that, in fact, there are both old and young sources of potential contamination. It is concluded that radiocarbon samples from Babeldaob need to be tested for appropriate carbon content rather than relying solely upon material identification.
... 3200-4300 BP (e.g. Athens and Ward 2005: 113;Clark 2004;Welch 1998), during the suggested Colonization Era. The earliest archaeological dates are obtained from the Rock Islands. ...
Oral history is an important component of Palauan heritage and living culture. Interaction of oral history and archaeology is regarded as a policy when conducting research in Palau, both within the Bureau of Arts and Culture, responsible for protection and preservation of cultural remains in Palau, and among researchers not representing BAC. Legally, a material remain is proven significance if it is connected with intangible resources, such as "lyrics, folklore and traditions associated with Palauan culture".
This paper examines and discusses the connection of oral history and archaeology, which will be presented through three case studies: the earthworks on Babeldaob, the traditional stonework village of Edangel in Ngardmau state, and the process of nominating a cultural remain for inclusion in the National Register for Historic Places. The nomination is a good reflection of the interaction between archaeology and oral history, where association with intangible resources is virtually necessary. The two specified types of archaeological remains are compared to one another regarding presence in oral traditions and significance for Palauans. Based on the information obtained from personal experience, interviews and literature, it can be concluded that an archaeological or historical site is valued more by its connection to oral history than to its archaeological qualities, which in turn effects how protection and preservation is administrated, financed, and carried out.
... Human arrival in the Marianas has been placed at 3500 cal BP by archaeologists for more than three decades (Butler, 1995;Carson, 2014Carson, , 2008Rainbird, 2004;Spoehr, 1957). Even so, there are relatively few early sites in the archipelago that can be said to be adequately dated, if the common acceptance/rejection criteria for radiocarbon dating that are routinely applied in other parts of the Pacific are applied to them (Anderson, 1991;Clark, 2004;Spriggs and Anderson, 1993). The corpus of radiocarbon ages associated with the oldest sites in the Marianas contains determinations on charcoal from unidentified species of trees, which can lead to inaccurately old determinations. ...
This paper compares quantitative and qualitative results from selected pottery assemblages in sites in the northern Philippines with those from sites in the Mariana Islands. Pottery appears in this region sometime between 4000 and 3000 years ago, with the pottery of the Marianas Islands being towards the younger end of this age range. Arguments concerning the origins of the first pottery in the Marianas have been dominated to date by the correlation of selected decorative and stylistic attributes of the Marianas pottery with that of pottery found in sites in Island Southeast Asia (ISEA). The similarities and differences in the pottery at the assemblage levels, however, have never been fully articulated. Recent arguments regarding the pottery have been specifically focused on perceived parallels between the early Marianas Red pottery and the early pottery of the Cagayan Valley in the northern Philippines. Although it has not been explicitly suggested that the northern Philippines was the immediate departure point for migrant boats, it has nevertheless been argued that there are more parallels between the pottery assemblages of these two regions than any others. This has even been a contributing factor in recent revisions to the Out of Taiwan model, which concerns the migration and dispersal of Austronesian language speakers. The results presented herein, however, show that there are distinct differences in the pottery technologies of the two regions that would not be expected if the sites are directly related. Consequently, there is no clear evidence that the pottery assemblages of the northern Philippines are ancestral to those of the Marianas. While both the early Marianas Red pottery and the northern Philippines pottery assemblages originate in a red-type pottery horizon that exists in both ISEA and the Marianas, the data to date suggests only a loose affinity between the assemblages, there being a high degree of variation in the constituent pottery characteristics between regions.
... The earlier than expected cultural sequence was later substantiated by excavations at the Chelechol ra Orrak rock shelter on the small limestone island of Orrak near the southeastern tip of Babeldaob which revealed a cemetery dating back to between 2,700-3,000 B.P. (Fitzpatrick 2003b;Fitzpatrick and Nelson 2008;Nelson and Fitzpatrick 2006). In addition, recent research on Ulong Island (Clark 2004(Clark , 2005Clark et al. 2006) has also provided dates that extend between 3,000-3,300 B.P. What these earlier dates demonstrate is extensive use of smaller, limestone islands contemporaneous, or even prior to, settlement on the larger volcanic islands in the Palauan archipelago. Proxy evidence from paleoenvironmental cores suggests an even earlier settlement ca. ...
Western Micronesia encompasses several major archipelagos and islands, including the
Marianas, Yap, and Palau. Language and human biology suggest Western Micronesia was
most likely colonized from Island Southeast Asia in a complex process, possibly involving
multiple population movements from different areas during prehistory. A key
archaeological question concerns the variable timing of this colonization, which could be
as early as 4,500 years ago according to paleoenvironmental data or up to 1,000 years
later when considering artifact-associated dates. Although sometimes perceived as
similar, Micronesia’s western archipelagos comprise varying cultural sequences with, for
example, the region’s earliest pottery, Achugao Incised and San Roque Incised, and
megalithic stone structures, or Latte, in the Marianas, complexly constructed earthworks
covering much of the main islands of Palau, and extensive prehistoric and historic
exchange systems, such as the sawei, centered on Yap.
... Prehistorically, many of these islands were used for either small-scale habitation, mortuary practices, or both, with archaeological evidence dating back to as early as ca. 1000 BCE (Clark, 2004;Fitzpatrick, 2003b;Fitzpatrick and Nelson, 2008;Stone et al., 2017). The site of Chelechol ra Orrak ("beach of Orrak") site, which is the focus of this study, is located on Orrak Island about 1 km southeast of the large volcanic island of Babeldaob. ...
Objective:
To explore the frequency and severity of temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJ-OA) and its causative factors in a skeletal assemblage from the prehistoric site of Chelechol ra Orrak, Palau, western Micronesia.
Materials:
50 temporomandibular joint surfaces (mandibular condyles and articular eminences), representing a minimum of 22 adult individuals, 17 of which retain teeth.
Methods:
Joint surfaces were macroscopically evaluated for characteristics associated with TMJ-OA and joint morphology. Dental remains were scored for tooth wear and staining.
Results:
Nine individuals (40.1 %) displayed lesions typical of TMJ-OA. The strongest associations were between tooth wear and TMJ-OA.
Conclusions:
Indirect effects of parafunctional dental activity appear to be a factor in TMJ-OA frequency at Chelechol ra Orrak. While betel nut chewing may be one of those activities, it does not appear to be solely driving the presence of TMJ-OA.
Significance:
This study highlights the association between a specific parafunctional use of the temporomandibular joint and the potential pathological consequences. It also reinforces the need to carefully evaluate the archaeological context of skeletal remains in order to evaluate specific etiological factors in the presence of TMJ-OA in present and past populations.
Limitations:
Sample sizes are limited in this study. This will increase as excavations continue.
Suggestions for further research:
Because dental occlusion appears to be associated with TMJ-OA, focus on dental conditions affecting occlusal patterns, such as third molar agenesis, antemortem tooth loss, and malocclusion, and their relationship to TMJ-OA frequency, are recommended.
... BP is generally accepted, although some work proposes colonisation at 3300-3200 cal. BP (Clark 2004;Petchey et al. 2017), similar to the age of Lapita arrival in the Bismarck Archipelago (Sheppard et al. 2015). The oldest ceramics from the Marianas have recently been compared with pottery from the Northern Philippines and Western Pacific Lapita culture with two significant migrations proposed (Figure 2.1). ...
... This region consists of eastern Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, and is one of the most recently settled regions on the planet. Initial migrants arrived during the latter part of the Austronesian expansion, approximately 3500-3000 BP, through Lapita colonization of eastern Melanesia (Anderson, 2002;Denham et al., 2012;Sheppard, 2011) and the settlement of western Micronesia by related groups (Carson and Switzerland, 2013;Clark, 2004;Clark et al., 2006;Fitzpatrick, 2003). Because of the low number of edible wild species on these islands in comparison to continental environments, the initial settlers brought plants and animals with them, creating what have been termed "transported landscapes" (Anderson, 1952;Kirch, 1997). ...
In Micronesia, and more broadly in the Pacific Islands, human-introduced plants, especially vegetatively-propagated root/tuber and tree crops, form a large part of local diets. Archaeobotanists working in the region often employ phytolith analysis to understand the landscapes these plants help create, the role that they play in human migration and settlement, and socio-cultural aspects of food production systems. However, to more fully understand the benefits and limitations of this method, it is necessary to develop and analyze regional, archaeologically-oriented phytolith reference collections, as has been done in other regions of the world. This paper presents an analysis of one such reference collection to more fully understand the potential and limitations of phytolith analysis in the archaeology of the Pacific Islands, specifically oriented towards the island of Pohnpei, Micronesia. In this analysis, 77 plant taxa were processed, individual phytolith morphologies were recorded, and plants and plant parts were categorized according to phytolith production. Results confirm that phytoliths in the taxa of this region are abundant and specific, and can be used for both understanding landscape use and the function of artifacts and features. However, there are some notable limitations that may be specific to the Pacific region and the crops that grow here.
... It has been proposed that the first colonists to arrive in Palau concentrated on the large volcanic island of Babeldaob, and that use of small limestone islands like Ulong was limited or delayed (Liston, 2005). Babeldaob may have been colonized by 4500 cal BP based on palaeoenvironmental evidence (Athens and Ward, 2005;Dickinson and Athens, 2007;Welch, 2002); however, the oldest archaeological deposits in Palau have been found in the small limestone Rock Islands south of Babeldaob, with radiocarbon dates from the oldest cultural deposit on Ulong indicating human arrival between 3100 and 2900 cal BP (Clark, 2004;Clark et al., 2006). Initially, the Rock Islands served not as permanent settlements but as burial grounds (Fitzpatrick, 2003;Nelson and Fitzpatrick, 2006;Stone et al., 2017) and bases for intermittent or short-term activities, such as fishing parties and transportation camps (Fitzpatrick and Kataoka, 2005, Fitzpatrick et al., 2011, Giovas et al., 2010, Ono and Clark, 2012. ...
This study represents the first starch grain analysis undertaken in Palau, performed on a sediment core extracted from a sinkhole on Ulong Island. Radiocarbon dating indicates the core spans the likely period of human occupation on Ulong (ca. 3000 years) as established by prior archaeological evidence. Samples were analysed for macrocharcoal, starch content, and geochemical composition. The results of the analyses indicate an initial period of intensive clearance and gardening from ca. 3000–2000 BP, during which banana (Musa spp.), yams (Dioscorea spp.), Polynesian arrowroot (Tacca leontopetaloides), Tahitian chestnut (Inocarpus fagifer), and breadfruit (Artocarpus sp.) were being utilised and/or cultivated. This initial phase was then followed by a period of reduced and stabilized gardening activity until ca. 1000 BP, during which banana (Musa spp.) disappears from the starch record. The period after 1000 BP represents the transition between the first permanent settlements on Ulong, abandoned between 500 and 300 BP, and the arrival of Europeans in 1783. This period is marked by a dearth of charcoal indicating the absence of significant burning, as well as a decrease in the variety of starch grains from cultigens.
... If so, western Micronesia was probably settled at 3400-3200 cal. BP, although a robust colonisation chronology for the region has yet to be established (Clark 2004). ...
... Recent research on the prehistoric colonization of islands in western Micronesia (northwest tropical Pacific) has revealed a relatively clear picture of multiple, but chronologically disparate entries into Palau and the Mariana Islands between ca. 3200 and 2800 cal BP from groups in Island Southeast Asia (Clark 2004(Clark , 2005Fitzpatrick 2003;Petchey et al. 2016;Rieth and Athens 2017). Despite an increased understanding of when these two major Micronesian archipelagoes were settled, initial human arrival in Yap-a group of four small islands situated between the two other island groups-is still unclear. ...
... The lack of soil accumulation at the site and the frequent intertidal and storm deposits suggest that beach flat stabilisation did not occur before 2000 cal. BP (Clark, 2004;Clark et al., 2006). Permanent settlement did not establish at the site until after stabilisation of the beach flat and Ulong village was abandoned around 400 cal. ...
Subsistence strategies of early colonisers in the Pacific and settlement locations of Lapita sites in close vicinity of freshwater streams have been employed to develop predictive models about potentials of different geomorphological settings to produce archaeological sites. It was concluded that islands with depauperate environments might have been actively avoided by the earliest colonisers because of lack of access to surface freshwater. This paper presents results from recent excavations on the Rock Islands of Palau where two ceramic containers with broken bases were found in stratigraphic levels associated with freshwater lenses in a beach setting. Radiocarbon age determinations of around 2800 cal. BP place the vessels into the early colonisation phase of the Rock Islands of Palau. It is suggested that these containers might have functioned as sumps tapping the freshwater lens, providing evidence that colonising populations were able to sustain settlements on small islands without surface freshwater.
... Colonisation of the Mariana Islands is usually placed at ca. 3500 cal. BP (Rainbird 2004: 81), but there are relatively few early sites in the archipelago that are adequately radiocarbon dated (Clark 2004), and the purpose of the 2008 excavations at Bapot-1 was to analyse multiple samples of marine shell and charcoal to determine the age of the oldest cultural deposit. Radiocarbon results from previous excavations indicated, variously, site use at 3000 cal. ...
AbstrAct The colonisation of the Mariana Islands in Western Micronesia is likely to represent an early ocean dispersal of more than 2000 km. Establishing the date of human arrival in the archipelago is important for modelling Neolithic expan-sion in Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific, particularly the role of long-distance dispersals. This paper presents new 14C results and a ∆R estimate from the Bapot-1 site on Saipan Island, which indicate human arrival at ca. 3400–3200 cal. BP. Archaeological chronologies of long-distance dispersal to Western Micronesia and the Lapita expansion (Bismarcks to Samoa) show that the Neolithic dispersal rate was increasing during the period ca. 3400–2900 cal. BP. The range-versus-time relationship is similar to stratified diffusion whereby a period of relatively slow expansion is succeeded by long-distance movement. An increase in new colonies created by long-distance migrants results in accelerating range expansion.
... This date implies that the longest ocean voyage of its time (in excess of 2000 km) occurred at the very beginning of the exploration and colonisation of Remote Oceania. All other Neolithic movements into Western Micronesia (Palau and Yap), and settlement of islands east of the main Solomon Islands by Lapita people, did not occur until c.3000 calBP (Clark 2004;Liston 2005;Sheppard et al. 2015). ...
The colonisation of the Mariana Islands in Western Micronesia is likely to represent a long-distance ocean dispersal of more than 2000 km, and establishing the date of human arrival in the archipelago is important for modelling Neolithic expansion in Island South-East Asia and the Pacific. In 2010, Clark et al. published a paper discussing a number of radiocarbon dates from the Bapot-1 site on Saipan Island, but a disparity between charcoal and marine shell (Anadara sp.) results prevented the calculation of a definitive age for the site and left open the possibility that Bapot-1 was first settled as early as 3500 calBP. Here, we present new research using a combination of stable isotope (δ13C and δ18O) and 14C information to demonstrate that A. antiquata from the lowest layers of Bapot-1 is affected by hardwaters. These new results indicate human arrival at Bapot-1 occurred around 3200–3080 calBP (1250–1130 BC). We recommend a similar isotopic evaluation for other sites in the Marianas that are dated by marine shell. La colonisation des îles Mariannes (Micronésie occidentale) est susceptible de représenter une dispersion océanique de longue distance, s'étendant sur plus de 2000 km, et établir la date de l'arrivée humaine dans l'archipel est crucial pour modéliser l'expansion néolithique en Asie du Sud-Est et dans le Pacifique. Nous présentons ici de nouveaux travaux utilisant des informations issues à la fois des isotopes stables (δ13C et δ18O) et des 14C pour démontrer que les A. antiquata provenant des couches inférieures de Bapot-1 sont affectées par la dureté de l'eau. Les nouveaux résultats indiquent que l'arrivée humaine à Bapot-1 s'est produite autour de 3200–3080 calBP (1250–1130 BC) plutôt que vers 3500 calBP.
... received less attention (but see Masse 1989;Carucci 1992;Fitzpatrick 2001Fitzpatrick , 2002aFitzpatrick , 2002bFitzpatrick , 2003aFitzpatrick , 2003bFitzpatrick and Boyle 2003;Clark and Wright 2003;Clark 2004). This is in part, due to a surge in infrastructure development and contract archaeology on Babeldaob that started in the late 1990s (Liston et al. 1998a(Liston et al. , 1998b(Liston et al. , 1998Wickler 2001;Wickler et al. 1998) and a general misconception that the larger volcanic islands hold the best, if not the only evidence for early and long-term settlement and site use (Wickler 2001). ...
We report on an assemblage of well preserved fish remains recovered from the site of Chelechol ra Orrak in the Rock Islands of Palau. This is only the second such study to date in Palau and one of the few for the region, indicating the need to better understand the role marine resources played in the adaptation and development of early Micronesian societies. Results demonstrate that Palauans were fishing by at least 1700 BP, several hundred years earlier than previously recorded, and that they exploited a wide range of fish taxa, primarily from inner reef and lagoonal habitats. Our study also suggests that the diversity of fish decreased over time, perhaps due to overharvesting and/or changes in subsistence patterns, similar to what other researchers have reported in the Pacific.
... Most of the islands of Micronesia are atolls, though there are some upraised coral limestone " makatea " islands, such as Nauru and Banaba, and the few high volcanic islands of Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae. The earliest dates for Micronesia, not surprisingly, come from western Micronesia with archaeological sites in the Marianas and Palau suggesting that human occupation there dates from about 3300 BP (Clark, 2004). It has been argued based on changes in the paleoenvironmental record, however, that human presence may predate this by as much as 1000 to 1500 years (Wickler, 2001). ...
Introduction: The Pacific region, defined here as the islands of the Pacific Ocean from New Guinea eastwards to Rapa Nui/Easter Island in the west and from Hawai’i in the north to Aotearoa/New Zealand in the south (Figure 19.1), is particularly interesting and valuable for studying human migration. There are a number of characteristics that make migration here unique: the timing of colonization, the varieties of environments that people encountered, the relative isolation compared with most continental regions and, perhaps most importantly, the fact that migration for most of the history of human occupation required crossing vast stretches of open ocean in some form of watercraft. However, both despite and perhaps because of the relative isolation of most Pacific islands, migration has always been a major feature of life. The Pacific Ocean covers over a third of the earth’s surface, with an area of more than 165 000 000 square kilometers stretching nearly 20 000 km east to west. The total land mass of the Pacific Islands, however, is only about 1 262 000 square kilometers and more than half of that is taken up by New Guinea, the second largest island in the world. While many people in the world have and continue to view the ocean as a barrier, for Pacific peoples the open ocean has been the life force, the link to their ancestors and to their neighbors. It was a great highway, which, like many highways, at some times allowed people to move quickly and at other times restricted movement.
... This region, consisting of eastern Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, was not settled until the latter part of the Austronesian expansion, approximately 3500-3000 BP. This occurred through Lapita colonization of eastern Melanesia (Anderson 2002;Denham et al. 2012;Sheppard 2011) and the settlement of western Micronesia by related groups (Carson and Switzerland 2013;Clark 2004;Clark et al. 2006;Fitzpatrick 2003). Because of the small size of these Remote Oceanic islands and relative lack of natural resources compared to continental environments, the initial colonizers of these islands brought plants and animals with them, creating "transported landscapes" (Anderson 1952;Kirch 1997) in their new locations. ...
Food production, or the cultivation and processing of edible materials, is closely linked to both the physical environment and human social systems. This is especially true on the islands of Remote Oceania, where cultivation of plants introduced with colonization has always been a key component of survival. This project centers on the production systems of an island in the west central Pacific: Pohnpei, Micronesia. It addresses the fundamental question of how food production is related to changes in social and physical environments and also addresses the optimum ways to archaeologically study plant remains in tropical oceanic environments with poor preservation. In order to examine these questions, this project looks at human-environment interrelationships using historical ecology.
A multi-pronged approach was used in this research. Archaeological survey was used to identify prehistoric and historic features on the landscape and to map the distribution of food production activities. Excavation of selected archaeological features, including breadfruit fermentation pits, yam enclosures, and cooking features, was conducted to examine formation patterns. Paleoethnobotanical analysis included collection and analysis of flotation samples for carbonized plant macroremain analysis and sediment samples for phytolith analysis. Finally, because a reference collection is key to all paleoethnobotanical research, plant specimens from multiple Pacific locations were collected and processed for phytolith reference.
Botanical data show that phytolith analysis is very useful in the Pacific region, as many economically important taxa produce phytoliths. However, because of differential silica uptake, it should be used in conjunction with other methods. Archaeological phytolith analysis of the garden landscape shows disturbance caused by pigs, which were introduced historically, a change from the prehistoric phytolith record, which shows no major shifts. Combined analysis of plant macroremains and phytoliths from secure archaeological contexts shows the use of banana leaves in breadfruit cooking in the historic period, highlighting the importance of multi-method paleoethnobotanical study. These data point towards an anthropogenic environment and stable agricultural system that was present in late prehistoric Pohnpei. Major changes occurred in the historic period, although production of plant foods that were important for centuries continues to flourish today.
... Rau 1884;Clark 1948;Yesner 1979;Cleland 1982; Moseley and Feldman 1988;Plew 1996;Erlandson 2001), and residue has been used for AMS dating in many areas of the world (e.g. Mason 1966;Lovis 1990a,b;Carr and Haas 1996;Kuzmin and Keally 2001;Nakamura et al. 2001;Fischer 2002;Brumbach 2003, 2005;Clark 2004;Means 2005). Here, we test this freshwater reservoir effect hypothesis through a critical assessment of Fischer and Heinemeier's interpretations of AMS dates on charred cooking residue from 3 northern European sites. ...
Fischer and Heinemeier (2003) present a hypothesis that the freshwater reservoir effect produces old apparent ages for radiocarbon dates run on charred cooking residues in regions where fossil carbon is present in groundwater. The hypothesis is based in part on their analysis of dates on charred cooking residues from 3 inland archaeological sites in Denmark in relation to contextual dates from those sites on other materials. A critical assessment of the dates from these sites suggests that rather than a pattern of old apparent dates, there is a single outlying date-not sufficient evidence on which to build a case for the freshwater reservoir effect. © 2007 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona.
... Sahul by 40 -50,000 BP, which was to become the island of New Guinea (O'Connell and Allen, 2004). The second was the movement of people into Micronesia, possibly around 3,300 -3,000 (Clark, 2004(Clark, , 2005. The third was the movement of people, presumably from Southeast Asia, into Remote Oceania as far as Western Polynesia from ~ 3,100/3,000 BP Spriggs, 2008, Summerhayes, 2007a). ...
Migration is a widely used explanation for culture change in the archaeological record. In the
Southwest Pacific Islands, migration was essential for the colonisation of the island groups in
Near and Remote Oceania during the Lapita Cultural Complex (~3,300 – 2,200 BP). Lapita is
an archaeologically recognised cultural group defined by the presence of a distinctively
decorated ceramic tradition.
This thesis seeks to directly assess prehistoric migration and mobility in New Guinea and the
Bismarck Archipelago using isotope (87Sr/86Sr and δ18O), trace element (Ba/Sr) and nonmetric
dental trait analyses. Samples included in the analyses were from Lapita human
(Reber-Rakival and Lifafaesing) and pig (Reber-Rakival) samples in the Bismarck
Archipelago as well as from a post-Lapita human population on the New Guinea mainland
(Nebira). Isotopes and trace elements were measured in the tooth enamel of individuals
because enamel develops during childhood and provides a retrospective record of where the
individual lived while the tooth was developing. Therefore a shift in location during
adulthood can be inferred. On the other hand, non-metric dental traits are known to be
genetically controlled and inherited. Assessing these traits in prehistoric populations may
therefore allow individuals to be identified that have migrated from genetically distinct
populations.
The isotope and trace element data from the human individuals from Reber-Rakival suggests
that one young female may have been a migrant to the site. Also, several pigs were possibly
transported to the island from four potentially separate locations. No migrant individuals were
identified at Lifafaesing. The isotope and trace element data from the Nebira individuals
suggest there may have been nine migrants to the site from four potentially separate locations.
A group of five non-local individuals at Nebira potentially migrated from a coastal location.
The non-metric dental traits were only recorded in the individuals from Reber-Rakival and
Nebira as those teeth were from intentional inhumations. The non-metric dental traits
exhibited a similar pattern of trait frequency within both populations. While some patterns of
these traits showed differences between the local and non-local groups identified through
isotope analysis, there were no statistically significant differences in trait frequency between
the groups.
The variation in the isotope and trace element data measured in the tooth enamel of the
individuals within and between the sampled sites indicates there is enough variability to
identify prehistoric migration and mobility in a Pacific Island context, with a clear distinction
between island and inland populations identified. The similarity in non-metric dental trait
frequencies in the individuals from Reber-Rakival and Nebira may reflect interaction and
migration between genetically similar communities, but was not as powerful for identifying
migration as the isotopic data.
... A primary obstacle to using shellfish as a dating source is the lack of a localized correction factor for the marine reservoir effect. ∆R values ranging from zero (Fitzpatrick 2002; Clark 2004) to 115 ± 50 (Beardsley 1996Beardsley , 1997) have been applied to Palauan shellfish samples. Masse (1984 Masse ( , 1989) employed a " tentative " ∆R value of –63 ± 4 after considering associated charcoal/shell assays, surface equatorial seawater 14 C transects, and a chronological gap between stonework villages on the Rock Islands and Babeldaob. ...
Archaeological investigations in the Republic of Palau, Micronesia, have produced 409 radiocarbon age deter-minations from cultural contexts, indicating a range of Palauan occupation from about 3000 yr ago into the modern era. However, these dates are scattered among numerous sources (many difficult to obtain) and are presented in a number of dif-ferent formats and calibrations. The goal of this paper is to compile a usable, systematic database of all of these Palauan cul-tural 14 C assays. This database will be suitable for developing and evaluating chronological models, an effort being undertaken as a separate paper. Prior to constructing prehistoric colonization and cultural chronologies for Palau, the validity of each assay and the relative adequacy in sample size per cultural and environmental zones must be examined. After system-atic recalibration, the reliability of the dates is evaluated in light of sample material, cultural context, and site formation pro-cesses. A method for dating monumental earthwork complexes through site formation analysis is presented. Sets of 237 valid and 58 potentially valid 14 C dates remain to develop chronological models. The representation of Palau's environmental zones, site types, and regions within the dating pool is examined and compared to ensure meaningfulness in these chronolog-ical models. Newly obtained 14 C age determinations are also provided.
... The lack of soil accumulation at the site and the frequent intertidal and storm deposits suggest that beach flat stabilisation did not occur before 2000 cal. BP (Clark, 2004;Clark et al., 2006). Permanent settlement did not establish at the site until after stabilisation of the beach flat and Ulong village was abandoned around 400 cal. ...
Subsistence strategies of Lapita colonisers and settlement locations of Lapita sites in close vicinity of freshwater streams have been employed to develop predictive models about potential archaeological sites. It was concluded that small islands with marginal environments might have been actively avoided by early colonisers because of lack of access to surface freshwater. This paper presents results from recent excavations on the Rock Islands of Palau where two ceramic containers with broken bases were found in stratigraphic levels associated with freshwater lenses in a beach setting. Radiocarbon age determinations of around 2800 cal BP place the vessels into the early colonisation phase of the Rock Islands of Palau. It is suggested that these containers might have functioned as sumps tapping the freshwater lens, providing evidence that colonising populations were able to sustain settlements on small islands without surface freshwater. More importantly, can this evidence be interpreted as technological competence of early colonisers assessing environmental attributes of small island hydrology?
... BP (Butler, 1994), with redating of deposits and critical reviews of radiocarbon results pointing to human arrival in Palau and the Marianas by 3400-3100 cal. BP (Fitzpatrick, 2003;Clark, 2004Clark, , 2005Liston, 2005. There has been no detailed study of early marine resource use in western Micronesia prior to 2000 BP, primarily because of an absence of early archaeological sites with sufficient quantities of fish and other marine taxa remains. ...
The paper reports fish bone and shellfish assemblages from Ulong Island in the Rock Islands of Palau, western Micronesia dating from ∼3100 to 500 BP. Use of marine resources in early prehistory appears to have been highly localised with increasing capture of outer-reef/pelagic taxa including shark and tuna after 1000 BP. Local stocks of large Tridacnids were depleted during initial human use of Ulong Island, and there is a size decrease in Scarus sp. remains consistent with pressure on the inshore fishery, especially after establishment of permanent stonework villages in late prehistory. Comparison of archaeological assemblages of fish bone from other Rock Islands dated to after 2000 BP indicate that the captured fish species and major capture methods differ between sites and likely reflect local marine environments at each location. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
... 2500 BC (Liston, 1999;Athens and Ward, 2001), and a later, ca. 1300 BC (Fitzpatrick, 2003;Clark, 2004Clark, , 2005, colonization chronology. Though a part of the expansion of Austronesian horticulturalists out of insular Southeast Asia, the specific point of origin for these early settlers is unknown and could have been via Melanesia, Taiwan, the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago, or the Philippines (Osborne, 1958;Masse, 1991;Irwin, 1992). ...
The Palau archipelago is a sizeable and geologically diverse set of volcanic and coralline limestone islands in equatorial western Micronesia. Recent archeological fieldwork, pollen analyses, and radiocarbon assays have expanded our understanding of more than 3000 years of culture history in Palau, providing a potentially unique window on the relationship between climate, environment, human adaptation, and culture change in the tropical western Pacific. Our focus is on the period of AD 1200–1600, particularly as relates to the transition between the Medieval Warm Period and the onset of the Little Ice Age. This period encompasses the establishment of stonework villages throughout the archipelago, and ultimately their abandonment in the limestone islands. Paleoenvironmental and archeological data, including settlement pattern analyses, provide mixed but intriguing messages regarding the role of climate in Palauan culture change. Archeological deposits in Uchularois Cave contain domestic pig, Sus scrofa, large-eyed bream, Monotaxis grandoculis, parrotfish, Scarus sp., and the humped conch, Strombus gibberulus gibbosus, that together provide evidence of environmental degradation or overharvesting and the potential effects of climate change on culture. Our data suggest that a greater emphasis on high-resolution data is necessary to properly evaluate the role of climate in Pacific island culture change.
... Rau 1884;Clark 1948;Yesner 1979;Cleland 1982; Moseley and Feldman 1988;Plew 1996;Erlandson 2001), and residue has been used for AMS dating in many areas of the world (e.g. Mason 1966;Lovis 1990a,b;Carr and Haas 1996;Kuzmin and Keally 2001;Nakamura et al. 2001;Fischer 2002;Brumbach 2003, 2005;Clark 2004;Means 2005). Here, we test this freshwater reservoir effect hypothesis through a critical assessment of Fischer and Heinemeier's interpretations of AMS dates on charred cooking residue from 3 northern European sites. ...
Fischer and Heinemeier (2003) present a hypothesis that the freshwater reservoir effect produces old apparent ages for radiocarbon dates run on charred cooking residues in regions where fossil carbon is present in groundwater. The hypothesis is based in part on their analysis of dates on charred cooking residues from 3 inland archaeological sites in Denmark in relation to contextual dates from those sites on other materials. A critical assessment of the dates from these sites suggests that rather than a pattern of old apparent dates, there is a single outlying date—not sufficient evidence on which to build a case for the freshwater reservoir effect.
... The burden of evidence for trade across Vitiaz Strait thus rests on " hard " goods such pottery and stone artefacts, but secure dating of this evidence requires resolution of issues about the nature of samples and their stratigraphic associations, and the calculation of local DR values for marine shell samples that address local seawater conditions, the feeding behaviour of molluscs, and the variation of DR values through time (cf. Kirch, 2001: 219–220; Clark, 2004; Petchey et al., 2004). The presence of plateau regions on the calibration curve around the time of the beginning and end of Type X further complicates the issue. ...
... Archaeological evidence collected over the past 50 years (e.g., [6,8,9,13,15161719,40414243444546474849 from a number of different site types, including human burials [2,3,5,7,50], suggests that Palau was colonized sometime between 3000–3300 BP [5,7,15,47,51]. Based on mtDNA lineage analyses [52], multivariate analysis of craniometric data [10], artifactual evidence [15], and computer simulations of voyaging [53,54] it appears that the earliest colonists originated from somewhere in Island Southeast Asia, possibly the Philippines, more than 400 nautical miles (600 km) from Palau, although migration from elsewhere such as Melanesia cannot be entirely discounted. ...
Current archaeological evidence from Palau in western Micronesia indicates that the archipelago was settled around 3000-3300 BP by normal sized populations; contrary to recent claims, they did not succumb to insular dwarfism.
Previous and ongoing archaeological research of both human burial and occupation sites throughout the Palauan archipelago during the last 50 years has produced a robust data set to test hypotheses regarding initial colonization and subsequent adaptations over the past three millennia.
Close examination of human burials at the early (ca. 3000 BP) and stratified site of Chelechol ra Orrak indicates that these were normal sized individuals. This is contrary to the recent claim of contemporaneous "small-bodied" individuals found at two cave sites by Berger et al. (2008). As we argue, their analyses are flawed on a number of different analytical levels. First, their sample size is too small and fragmentary to adequately address the variation inherent in modern humans within and outside of Palau. Second, the size and stature of all other prehistoric (both older and contemporaneous) skeletal assemblages found in Palau fall within the normal parameters of modern human variation in the region, indicating this was not a case of insular dwarfism or a separate migratory group. Third, measurements taken on several skeletal elements by Berger et al. may appear to be from smaller-bodied individuals, but the sizes of these people compares well with samples from Chelechol ra Orrak. Last, archaeological, linguistic, and historical evidence demonstrates a great deal of cultural continuity in Palau through time as expected if the same population was inhabiting the archipelago.
Prehistoric Palauan populations were normal sized and exhibit traits that fall within the normal variation for Homo sapiens-they do not support the claims by Berger et al. (2008) that there were smaller-bodied populations living in Palau or that insular dwarfism took place such as may be the case for Homo floresiensis.
Researchers have long had an interest in dental morphology as a genetic proxy to reconstruct population history. Much interest was fostered by the use of standard plaques and associated descriptions that comprise the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System, developed by Christy G. Turner, II and students. This system has served as the foundation for hundreds of anthropological studies for over 30 years. In recognition of that success, this volume brings together some of the world's leading dental morphologists to expand upon the concepts and methods presented in the popular The Anthropology of Modern Human Teeth (Cambridge, 1997), leading the reader from method to applied research. After a preparatory section on the current knowledge of heritability and gene expression, a series of case studies demonstrate the utility of dental morphological study in both fossil and more recent populations (and individuals), from local to global scales.
Researchers have long had an interest in dental morphology as a genetic proxy to reconstruct population history. Much interest was fostered by the use of standard plaques and associated descriptions that comprise the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System, developed by Christy G. Turner, II and students. This system has served as the foundation for hundreds of anthropological studies for over 30 years. In recognition of that success, this volume brings together some of the world's leading dental morphologists to expand upon the concepts and methods presented in the popular The Anthropology of Modern Human Teeth (Cambridge, 1997), leading the reader from method to applied research. After a preparatory section on the current knowledge of heritability and gene expression, a series of case studies demonstrate the utility of dental morphological study in both fossil and more recent populations (and individuals), from local to global scales.
Researchers have long had an interest in dental morphology as a genetic proxy to reconstruct population history. Much interest was fostered by the use of standard plaques and associated descriptions that comprise the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System, developed by Christy G. Turner, II and students. This system has served as the foundation for hundreds of anthropological studies for over 30 years. In recognition of that success, this volume brings together some of the world's leading dental morphologists to expand upon the concepts and methods presented in the popular The Anthropology of Modern Human Teeth (Cambridge, 1997), leading the reader from method to applied research. After a preparatory section on the current knowledge of heritability and gene expression, a series of case studies demonstrate the utility of dental morphological study in both fossil and more recent populations (and individuals), from local to global scales.
Die monumentalen Erdwerke Palaus sind eines der eindrucksvollsten Bei-spiele anthropogener Landschaftstransformation in Ozeanien. Die terrassierten und über-formten Hügel dominieren bis heute das Landschaftsbild der vulkanischen Insel Babeldaob im Norden des Inselstaates. Die hier präsentierten geoarchäologischen und archäologischen Un ter-suchungen zu den Konstruktionstechniken und dem damit verbundenen Arbeitsaufwand lie-fern Anhaltspunkte für die Rekonstruktion von Bevölkerungszahlen und sozialer Organisation. Sediment-und Mikrofossilanalysen geben erste Hinweise auf Entstehung und ehemalige Nut-zung der Anlagen. Archäologische Befunde erlauben Interpretationen bezüglich ihrer sozio-kul-turellen Bedeutung. Der Großteil der Erdwerke wurde wohl zwischen 2400 und 1200 BP erbaut. Damit stellen sie das früheste Zeugnis für Monumentalität in Ozeanien dar.
In the late twentieth century, a shift in morphological analyses emerged. Rather than focusing on linear measurements and qualitative descriptions of shape, it became possible to describe quantitatively and compare morphology (Adams et al. 2004). While the dilemma of oversimplifying linear measurements had long been recognized, it was not until a new method, “geometric morphometrics” (GM), was developed that morphologists could finally analyze the shape between linear end points quantitatively (Rohlf and Marcus 1993).
The quantification and analysis of shape offered by GM can provide insight into the essential biological questions, as has been demonstrated for many skeletal phenotypes, including teeth. In this chapter we introduce various GM approaches and review ways they have been applied to studying mammalian teeth, highlighting work on primates.
One area of research receiving more and more attention is the use of morphological variation within and between populations to elucidate developmental mechanisms, and thereby inform on the evolution of these mechanisms. Teeth play an important role. As our knowledge of the genetic organization of dental development expands, opportunities for exploring the relationship between these processes and the shape of the adult dentition using GM increase.
Following this research vein, we provide a brief review of our current knowledge of tooth developmental genetics, with special emphasis on the hierarchical structure of the dentition. We then highlight several studies that have used GM to test hypotheses about dental development. We present our own case study of shape variation in the tooth row of the Old World monkey Colobus guereza to illustrate the insights to mammalian tooth development that can be gained from the geometric morphometric analysis of primate dental variation.
Petrographic examination of temper sands in prehistoric Oceanian pottery collected by archaeologists from island groups spread across the tropical Pacific Ocean shows that the sands vary compositionally in geographic patterns that are governed by geotectonic setting and vagaries of local bedrock exposure on individual islands. The small islands serve as virtual point sources of sediment derived exclusively from the restricted array of rocks that form each island. Both natural and manually added tempers can be traced to bedrock sources by the same petrographic methodology, but independently sourcing clay bodies requires geochemical comparison of clay pastes with potential clay sources. Oceanian tempers include calcareous as well as terrigenous sands, but only the latter can be associated unequivocally with specific islands or island groups because the nature of reef tracts is similar throughout the tropical Pacific. Exotic tempers can be distinguished from indigenous tempers because their compositions are incompatible with the geology of the islands where the exotic sherds are found. Human migration into islands of the Pacific Ocean was the last main stage in human dispersal over the planet, with no human occupation of the small islands lying beyond island Southeast Asia and Australasia until 1500 B.C. The earliest inhabitants possessed a ceramic culture, and ceramic traditions evolved over subsequent centuries to produce a varied succession of ceramic phases. Lapita pottery, which is the oldest ware in southwest Pacific island groups, is especially notable because its production was limited to a time frame short enough to allow Lapita sherds to serve a role akin to index fossils. Temper sands in Lapita and post-Lapita sherds from the same locales are indistinguishable and show that salient temper contrasts are controlled by island geology rather than habits of ancient potters. Prehistoric collecting sites for temper sand were not necessarily identical to places where modern sand accumulates because of severe environmental changes on many islands. The compositions of terrigenous temper sands in Pacific Oceania reflect the complex pattern of circum-Pacific plate boundaries and intra-Pacific hotspot chains, and define oceanic basalt, andesitic arc, postarc-backarc, dissected orogen, and tectonic highland temper classes composed of different associations of grain types. The geographic distribution of different temper classes reflects not only the current geotectonic setting of each island group but also their paleotectonic settings when exposed rock assemblages were formed. Temper aggregates include beach, stream, and rarely dune sands, as well as grog (broken-sherd) and crushed-rock particles in some island groups. Terrigenous grain types in Oceanian temper sands are subdivided by petrographic analysis into three main groups: light mineral grains including quartz and feldspars, heavy ferromagnesian mineral grains including opaque iron oxides and ferromagnesian silicates, and a variety of polycrystalline lithic fragments that are dominantly of volcanic derivation in most temper suites. Useful triangular compositional diagrams plot relative proportions of grain types for populations of total terrigenous grains, mineral grains exclusive of lithic fragments, ferromagnesian silicate mineral grains, all non-ferromagnesian grains, only transparent mineral grains, and exclusively quartz and feldspar mineral grains. Supplemental grain parameters or indices express ratios of grain types among quartz and feldspar mineral grains, ferromagnesian grains, and lithic fragments. Oceanic basalt tempers are mineralogically simple volcanic sands derived from basaltic to basanitic volcanic assemblages of intraoceanic hotspot chains erupted in the interior of the Pacific plate in the eastern Caroline Islands, along the northern Melanesian borderland, in Samoa and American Samoa, and in the Marquesas Islands. Andesitic arc tempers are volcanic sands displaying more compositional variability and are the most abundant tempers within the region of Oceanian ceramic cultures, occurring along island arcs flanking the Philippine Sea plate, bounding the Banda Sea in eastern Indonesia, within the Bismarck Archipelago east of New Guinea, along the reversed-polarity Solomon and Vanuatu arcs, on the Fiji platform and the Lau remnant arc, and in Tonga. Postarc and backarc volcanic sand tempers, variously displaying affinities with both oceanic basalt and andesitic arc tempers, are known from the Bismarck Archipelago, the Vanuatu backarc region, the Horne Islands of the northern Melanesian borderland, and both the Fiji platform and the Lau remnant arc. All volcanic sand tempers of Pacific Oceania are composed of phenocrystic mineral grains and volcanic lithic fragments. Most are quartz-free or quartz-poor, but quartzose variants are present locally along island arcs where silicic eruptions accompanied more typical andesitic to basaltic activity, and within backarc settings where bimodal igneous assemblages are exposed. Most quartzose Oceanian temper sands are either dissected orogen tempers containing dominantly igneous but not exclusively volcanic detritus, or tectonic highland tempers containing recycled sedimentary detritus. Dissected orogen tempers with quartzose plutonic detritus occur in selected sherd suites from the Torres Strait Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago, and the Solomon Islands, but are especially characteristic from the south coast of Viti Levu in Fiji. Quartzose tectonic highland tempers occur in sherds from the outer Banda arc, the Aru Islands in the Arafura Sea, the D'Entrecasteaux Islands of the Solomon Sea, and New Caledonia. Nonquartzose tectonic highland tempers derived from ophiolitic rocks of uplifted oceanic crust are present in sherds from Yap and New Caledonia. Comparisons of temper compositions among temper classes indicate that oceanic basalt and basaltic backarc tempers contain significantly higher proportions of olivine mineral grains than arc and postarc tempers, which include a varied array of temper types containing different proportions of pyroxenes and hornblendes. Dissected orogen and quartzose andesitic arc tempers display varying proportions of quartz, plagioclase, and K-feldspar within the compositional field typical for circum-Pacific orogenic sands. Tectonic highland tempers contain distinctly higher proportions of nonigneous lithic fragments than other temper classes. The presence of exotic sherds containing temper sands incompatible with the geology of the islands from which they were recovered documents 106 instances of ceramic transfer between different islands, mostly lying within the same island groups, but also between island groups lying far apart. Two-thirds of the instances of ceramic transfer involved interisland distances of less than 200 km, and most of the remainder involved distances in the range of 200-600 km, but a few cases of ceramic transfer for 1000 km or more are known from temper analysis.
Long-distance human migration across the Pacific Ocean occurred during the late Holocene and originated almost entirely in the west. As prevailing tradewinds blow from the east, the mechanisms of prehistoric seafaring have been debated since the sixteenth century. Inadequacies in propositions of accidental or opportunistic drifting on occasional westerlies were exposed by early computer simulation. Experimental voyaging in large, fast, weatherly (windward-sailing) double-canoes, together with computer simulation incorporating canoe performance data and modern, averaged, wind conditions, has supported the traditional notion of intentional passage-making in a widely accepted hypothesis of upwind migration by strategic voyaging. The critical assumption that maritime technology and sailing conditions were effectively the same prehistorically as in the historical and modern records is, however, open to question. We propose here that maritime technology during the late-Holocene migrations did not permit windward sailing, and show that the episodic pattern of initial island colonization, which is disclosed in recent archaeological data, matches periods of reversal in wind direction toward westerlies, as inferred from the millennial-scale history of ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation).
This paper summarizes current research into flaked stone assemblages from the Republic of Palau, Micronesia. We review archaeological analyses of Palau's flaked stone artifacts, examine ethnohistorical sources for descriptions and potential uses of lithic tools, and present the results of a recent microscopic use-wear and residue study of twenty flaked stone artifacts. We find that while a lithic technology based on bipolar reduction had emerged by at least the beginning of the first millennium B.C., the archaeological and ethnohistorical records demonstrate the relative obscurity of stone tool use in the final stages of prehistory. The artifacts analyzed for residues are associated with radiocarbon dates ranging from ca. 1120 B.C.-A.D. 1640, with the majority recovered from inland earthwork and village complexes radiocarbon dated to approximately two thousand years ago. Residue evidence for wood and bone/skin working is discussed in terms of past social activities and changes in settlement patterns, and in light of the perceived dominance of shell as a tool material on Palau. The potential for soil fungi to influence the interpretation of artifact residues is also considered. The study emphasizes the unique position of residue analyses in contributing to studies of artifact function in the Pacific, and suggests future directions for flaked-stone research on Palau. KEYWORDS: Palau, Micronesia, stone, residue analysis, microscopy.
We report on an assemblage of well preserved fish remains recovered from the site of Chelechol ra Orrak in the Rock Islands of Palau. This is only the second such study to date in Palau and one of the few for the region, indicating the need to better understand the role marine resources played in the adaptation and development of early Micronesian societies. Results demonstrate that Palauans were fishing by at least 1700 BP, several hundred years earlier than previously recorded, and that they exploited a wide range of fish taxa, primarily from inner reef and lagoonal habitats. Our study also suggests that the diversity of fish decreased over time, perhaps due to overharvesting and/or changes in subsistence patterns, similar to what other researchers have reported in the Pacific.
Information from cores into the offshore reefs of Komebail Lagoon and into the coastal fringes of Babeldaob and neighboring islets allows the first well-constrained appraisal of the Holocene paleoshoreline history of Palau. Bulk subsidence of the island group since ∼5 kyr at a rate of ∼0.55 mm/yr is indicated jointly by both the offshore and the onshore datasets. Persistent subsidence of paleoshorelines since the initial human settlement of Palau has implications for the evolution of coastal paleoenvironments and the elevations of early coastal habitation sites with respect to present sea level. Discrepancies between radiocarbon dates for the earliest known archaeological sites and the earliest human impact on island environments in Palau and elsewhere in western Micronesia raise pointed questions about the timing of initial human occupation. Knowledge of the paleoshoreline history of Palau suggests that the disturbance indicators provide a more reliable guide to human arrival than the earliest settlement sites discovered to date.
The last twenty years has seen an apparent consensus that the immediate origins of Polynesian language, culture and biology lie solely with the Lapita peoples and cultures that settled Samoa and Tonga by 2700 years ago. We suggest that there is increasing evidence that does not sit well with this generally accepted view of Polynesian origins and thus we put forward an alternative model for consideration. Building on Green's suggestion of over 20 years ago, we propose that some of the ideas in his Triple-I model (Green 1991a) might also be usefully applied to conceptualizing the processes involved in Polynesian origins. Specifically, we suggest that in addition to Lapita origins, there were significant later elements introduced to Polynesia that were fundamental to the development of Polynesian culture and biology prior to the settlement of East Polynesia. Current data suggest that some of these elements are shared with Micronesia and may be ultimately derived from post-Lapita population movements, perhaps from Island Southeast Asia through the low islands of the Carolines, Kiribati and Tuvalu to West Polynesia.
This paper investigates the marine reservoir effect (ΔR) around Palau with specific focus on environmental and oceanographic causes of variation. Two new ΔR values of known-age, pre-AD 1950 Scaridae sp. fish bone from the lagoon, are compared to extant marine shell values from the western branch of the North Pacific Gyre. This review indicates that a ΔR value of 75 ± 68 14C yrs for the ocean immediately surrounding Palau best fits the available evidence, while a value of -52 ± 22 14C yrs should be used for the southwest lagoon. Comparison of marine and charcoal samples from archaeological deposits on Ulong Island lend support to this regional open ocean marine reservoir value, but additional analysis is required to assess the stability of this value around the archipelago and over time. The analysis highlights that careful, informed selection of radiocarbon samples is essential to produce tight radiocarbon chronologies for Pacific archaeological sites.
A number of recent genetic, linguistic, and archaeological studies have attempted to ascertain the origin of settlers to the Palauan archipelago, but it remains a complex and debated issue. To provide additional insight into colonization strategies and settlement patterns, we conducted computer simulations of drift voyages to the Palauan archipelago based on historically recorded winds and currents. Drift voyages were considered here as drifting before the wind when lost, a strategy documented for Pacific Islanders. The simulations suggest that peoples drifting before the wind from the southern Philippines would have had the most success in landfall. This finding supports the current hypothesis of human colonization to the islands of Palau. KEYWORDS: Computer simulation, drift voyaging, seafaring, colonization, Palau, Micronesia.
In this Introduction we comment on issues raised by the present collection of papers as they appear relevant in thinking about the settlement of the Indo-Pacific from the Pleistocene to the late Holocene. Successful maritime migration across this vast region was obviously related to voyaging technology and colonizing behaviors. Here we critique earlier models that indicate simple unidirectional expansion and posit farming, or indeed any other single driver, for maritime expansion in the mid-late Holocene. It now appears that the development of interaction spheres in Wallacea, and perhaps connections with New Guinea, have contributed significantly to late Holocene societies in ISEA and Island Melanesia. Even in Remote Oceania where long-term colonizing success was dependent on a transported tropical horticultural complex, initial settlement strategies are likely to have been highly varied and to have had variable success. Nor is migration restricted to the founding events of island settlement; rather, it continued as a significant component of the formation and re-formation of island cultures up to the historical era and, of course, within the present day. Like the authors represented here we suggest that if we wish to make progress in understanding the motives, sources, mechanisms and results of colonizing migration, there will be greatest reward in exploring the complexity and variability that lie behind it. KEYWORDS: Maritime migration, Indo-Pacific, Island Southeast Asia, seafaring technology, voyaging strategies, Austronesian colonization, transported landscapes.
In western Micronesia archaeological sites containing material-culture remains spanning millennia are rare. This paper reports one from Ulong Island in Palau, which is radiocarbon dated to 3000 cal. B.P. The pottery sequence was divided into three assemblages, each distinguished by distinct vessel forms and by the type and proportion of nonplastic temper inclusions. An abrupt transformation of the ceramic assemblage is tentatively dated to around 2400 cal. B.P., coincident with substantial landscape alteration on the main island where pottery was manufactured, indicating that anthropogenic activity may have constrained the raw materials available to prehistoric potters. There is a discontinuity in the sequence from 2000-1000 B.P. that might represent an hiatus in site use. Critical consideration of paleoenvironmental data pointing to human arrival at 4500-4300 cal. B.P. suggests, instead, that climatic events may be responsible for the observed palaeoecological changes. If so, then sites dating to 3300-3000 cal. B.P., such as Ulong, could well be among the oldest in western Micronesia. KEYWORDS: archaeology, Palau, colonization, culture sequence, western Micronesia.
IntroductionThematic Setting and Non-Archaeological Background
Environmental setting and historyArchaeological Background: Near OceaniaArchaeological Background: Remote OceaniaAn EndpointReferences
In a recent A
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article (65: 767–95) Atholl Anderson presented a detailed analysis of radiocarbon dates to show that the settlement of New Zealand occurred later than previously thought. In this paper Anderson teams up with another proponent of ‘chronometric hygiene’, Matthew Spriggs (see A
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63: 587–613), to examine the dates for the colonization of the rest of East Polynesia. Once again the generally accepted dates for initial settlement are found wanting and a later chronology is suggested.
Micronesia received several human dispersals in the prehistoric period. Four major movements of human dispersals into Micronesia are proposed based on the archaeological evidence. The earliest movement around 3600 B.P. to the Mariana Islands was followed by three dispersals to other island groups from west and south at different times. This provides a complicated model compared to what has been proposed by linguistic studies. The heterogeneity of Micronesia is cautiously stressed.
The detailed radiocarbon age vs calibrated (cal) age studies of tree rings reported in this Calibration Issue provide a unique data set for precise 14C age calibration of materials formed in isotopic equilibrium with atmospheric CO2. The situation is more complex for organisms formed in other reservoirs such as lakes and oceans. Here the initial specific 14C activity may differ from that of the contemporaneous atmosphere. The measured remaining 14C activity of samples formed in such reservoirs not only reflects 14C decay but also the reservoir 14C activity. Model calibrations are made for the global marine response for surface (0-75m) thermocline (75-1000m) and deep (1000-3800m) waters. Model calculations yield information of atmospheric Δ14C values, production rates, Q, and alternative changes in oceanic mixing rates Kz, and demonstrate the validity of the production modulation approach to calibration. -from Authors
Direct dating of a human bone fragment from the Chelechol ra Orrak site (western Micronesia) has yielded one of the earliest dates for Palau thus far. This date compares well with recently collected paleoenvironmental evidence and radiocarbon dates on Babeldaob Island suggesting that settlement of the Palauan archipelago took place much earlier than pre- viously thought.
Substantial anthropogenic environmental change occurred in Remote Oceania following the é rst arrival of people at 3000 BP and their spread throughout the region by 700 BP. It included numer- ous faunal extinctions, widespread deforestation and the erosion and re-deposition of sediments, to which are attributed various consequences for cultural development. The issue considered here is whether an explanation of anthropogenic change could extend to variations in settlement history between Remote Oceanic islands. Most of those were inhabited continuously, especially in the older settled area, but in East Polynesia settlement is thought to have declined on several islands and it was abandoned in many others. Consideration of the type and scale of anthropogenic changes indi- cates no correlation with variations in settlement history. Anthropogenic changes might be regarded as constants of the settlement process. Late Holocene climatic patterns, ecological complexity and isolation with its effect on the availability of subsistence choices, may have been more inè uential variables.
We have measured radiocarbon in prebomb known-age shells and coral from the Indian Ocean and southeast Asia to determine marine reservoir age corrections. Western Indian Ocean results show a strong 14C depletion due to upwelling in the Arabian Sea, and indicate that this signal is advected over a wide area to the east and south. In contrast, th e surface waters of the South China Sea contain relatively high levels of 14C, due in part to the input of well-equilibrated water masses from the western Pacific. The easternmost regions of the Indian Ocean are also strongly influenced by the flowthrough of Pacific waters north of Australia.
A relatively complete and reasonably well preserved skeleton, including a partially reconstructed cranium and mandible, of an approximately 35-45 year old female, found at the Lapita site, WKO-013B, near Kone, Foue Peninsula, New Caledonia, is described. Although not without problems, radiocarbon dating of the skeleton and other archaeological considerations place the burial around the middle of the first millennium BC (c. 500 BC). Chemical analysis of the bone gives no clear picture about diet, although direct or indirect consumption of C4 plants is hypothesised . Nitrogen isotope values imply average contribution from both land and marine environments. The reconstructed skull is long and resembles crania from eastern island Melanesia. The teeth are small and the incisors exhibit moderate shovelling . A single dent al caries, an apical abscess, moderate dental attrition, enamel hypoplasias, and evidence of periodontal disease were observed in the teeth . The stature is estimated to be 161.4 em, or 5 feet 3.5 inches. There is osteological evidence that this individual experienced childbirth. The cranial vault bones are thickened. There is little or no osteoarthritis in these remains . Limited comparisons of certain cranial, dental and skeletal morphological features of this new skeleton suggest affinities with other Lapita-associated skeletons and skeletal series from eastern island Melanesia.
A literature review regarding reef rubble (defined as mechanically or chemically abraded parts of framebuilders or reef rock larger than sand fraction) and its binding agents is presented. Rubble is produced by natural and man-made events such as storms, wave agitation, earthquakes, bioerosion, ship groundings, and dynamite fisheries. The regeneration of reefs after rubble-forming processes requires rigid rubble binding, which is always preceded by preliminary stabilization. Preliminary stabilization can be achieved by a decline in hydrodynamic energy, interlocking of components, seagrass, and overgrowth by sponges or algae. Rigid binding is primarily achieved by diagenetic cementation. The literature indicates that binding by coralline algae or other organisms (corals, worms, bryozoans) is only of subordinate importance. Highest rates of rigid rubble binding are known from fore-reef areas with low sloping angles above fair-weather wave base; rigid rubble binding is particularly rare in deeper fore-reef environments and not described from the reef crest. Rigid binding by diagenetic cementation is generally known from inter- and supratidal near-shore ramparts as well as back-reef, reef-flat, and shallow fore-reef rubble accumulations, while coralline algae rigidly bind rubble only in very shallow fore-reef environments. Rubble binding does not appear to be easily achieved and fewer reports of bound rubble were found than of loose rubble.
Because of their durability and widespread use, ceramics in the Pacific are important artifacts for examining patterns of prehistoric subsistence, settlement, and societal interaction. Numerous studies demonstrate that petrographic analysis of prehistoric pottery in western Oceania can differentiate temper sands and other mineral constituents unique to geotectonically different islands. However, a detailed study of tempering agents has not been attempted for ceramic assemblages in Palau, Western Caroline Islands, Micronesia. We present the first major synthesis of Palauan ceramic petrography and petrological classification. The analysis of several sherd suites recovered from both the volcanic and limestone islands in the archipelago and other nearby western Micronesian atolls suggest that pottery was locally made, manufactured using primarily grog or composite (mixed-grog sand) tempers, and transported to smaller islands within and outside of the Palauan archipelago. The research has implications for determining raw material acquisition by ancient Palauan potters and is a critical step for developing regional models of intra- and inter-island exchange and interaction.
Dates for the appearance of Lapita pottery suggest a rapid expansion from the Bismarck Archipelago in the north to Western Polynesia in the south. Kirch and Hunt (1988a, 1988b) see this as instantaneous in archaeological and radiocarbon terms, but Spriggs (1990) proposes a "pause" in the Bismarck Archipelago. We review the dates from the Bismarck area and note that two interpretations are possible, depending on which dates are accepted. Lapita pottery may have begun there later than the accepted date of cal. 3450-3550 B.P., or it could have begun in the Mussau Islands earlier than in New Britain. Both views raise questions about Lapita presence in this region and have implications for its spread to more southerly islands. A maximum time range of from cal. 3300 to 2100 B.P. is suggested for the Bismarck Archipelago, with most dates falling between 3100 and 2300 B.P. The end date of Lapita is problematical, since it depends on how the end is defined. The paper concludes with some observations on the implications of the revised dating for understanding Lapita sites. KEYWORDS: dating, calibration, Lapita, shell, charcoal.
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, 1992. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [231]-248). Photocopy.
Un bon nombre d'analyses polyniques effectuées dans le Pacifique Ouest ont eu pour but de comparer la végétation et le paysage des îles avant puis après la colonisation par l'homme. Il existe aujourd'hui plus de 50 diagrammes polyniques et informations sur les charbons en dehors de l'Australie et des hautes terres de Nouvelle-Guinée, la plupart non publiés. Ces données forunissent des résultats mitigés en termes de chronologie ou d'équilibre des influences naturelles et anthropiques sur la végétation. Cet article est un guide des sites et de la littérature associée qui évalue le type d'information disponsible en fonction du questionnement archéologique. Peu de sites ont livré des séquences claires de l'implantation humaine et des changements dans la végétation. Certains diagrammes concernent des régions où l'impact de l'homme a été négligeable alors que d'autres ont des hiatus sédimentaires ou sont insuffisamment datés. Malgré tout, un bon nombre de diagrammes reflètent le peuplement initial et les changements induits par la colonisation. Ces diagrammes représentent donc un potentiel important pour écrire une histoire indépendante de l'impact humain mais ils ne peuvent encore fournir une représentation cohérente de la période 5000-2000 avant le présent. (Résumé d'auteur)
The Tongoleleka archaeological site on Lifuka Island, Kingdom of Tonga, is a rich accumulation of pottery, marine mollusks, and nonhuman bones that represents first human contact on a small island in Remote Oceania approximately 2,850 years ago. The lower strata contain decorated Lapita-style pottery and bones of an extinct iguana (Brachylophus undescribed sp.) and numerous species of extinct birds. The upper strata instead feature Polynesian Plainware pottery and bones of extant species of vertebrates. A stratigraphic series of 20 accelerator-mass spectrometer radiocarbon dates on individual bones of the iguana, an extinct megapode (Megapodius alimentum), and the non-native chicken (Gallus gallus) suggests that anthropogenic loss of the first two species and introduction of the latter occurred on Lifuka within a time interval too short (a century or less) to be resolved by radiometric dating. The geologically instantaneous prehistoric collapse of Lifuka's vertebrate community contrasts with the much longer periods of faunal depletion on some other islands, thus showing that the elapse time between human arrival and major extinction events was highly variable on oceanic islands as well as on continents.
Recent and earlier research in Fiji has documented the approximate period of settlement there during the Lapita era. Age estimates extended back to about 3200 BP. A survey of the radiocarbon ages from sites containing dentate-stamped pottery, and especially from sites or levels where there are only Lapita wares, indicates that there is no convincing case for Lapita settlement earlier than about 2900 cal BP. In fact, the period of dentate-stamped ceramics might have been quite brief and dated to about 2800–2700 cal BP.
The Age Calibration Program, CALIB, published in 1986 and amended in 1987 is here amended anew. The program is available on a floppy disk in this publication. The new calibration data set covers nearly 22 000 Cal yr (approx 18 400 14C yr) and represents a 6 yr timescale calibration effort by several laboratories. The data are described and the program outlined. -K.Clayton
Cores from Kabira Reef, Ishigaki Island, southwest Japan, reveal the internal structure and temporal changes in sedimentary process of a complete coral reef flat. The reef crest caught up with sea level at about 4000 yr BP. Since then, it expanded ocean ward and the reef pavement has grown landward. The backreef structure is composed of bioclasts derived from the reef framework. Of all the bioclasts, corals and coralline algae are most abundant. Coral fragments coarser than -3.0 φ have dominated the backreef sediments since about 2000 yr BP. Benthic foraminiferal tests first occurred at about 4000 yr BP, and their abundance increased significantly starting around 2000 yr BP. Shallowing of the reef crest is also indicated by the presence of the shallow-water benthic Foraminifera Baculogypsina sphaerulata tests after 2000 yr BP. The date 2000 yr BP is coincident with tectonic uplift at Kabira Reef (Kawana 1989). We consider this uplift to have caused a relative sea-level fall that aided the deposition of coral fragments transported from the reef pavement by storms. The relative sea-level fall also caused subaerial exposure of the reef crest during low tides and the transition of reef-building organisms from corals to shallow-water species of benthic Foraminifera, resulting in a change noticeable in the constituents of backreef sediments. The results of this study suggest that the coral reef flat, and especially the backreef, can be a faithful recorder of relative sea-level changes.
The island of Yap has an established prehistoric record of about 2000yr. This is a little younger than might be expected on the basis of that known for other regions of Micronesia, and on linguistic grounds the Yapese language has some features which are indicative of an old Oceanic language. In this paper we review these issues and present two palaeoecological records. These records suggest that a major period of forest destruction, accompanied by fire, took place about 3300 BP, and subsequently a savanna vegetation developed. The latter was most pronounced about 300 BP, when the human population was probably also at a peak. We suggest that the data is consistent with a pattern of human impact about 1000yr longer than is currently recognised from the archaeological record and that the now extensive savanna is an artefact of human impact on the vegetation and soils of the island.
Over the last decade there has been an intense debate as to whether New Zealand prehistory is 'long' ( > 1500 yr),'short' (< 600 yr) or 'intermediate' (c.1000 yr). Pollen and charcoal analyses have played a key role in this debate by pinpointing the transition from relatively undisturbed environments to those deforested by anthropogenic fires. We review pollen and stratigraphic studies carried out on a variety of sites, including peat bogs, swamps, estuaries and lakes, and contribute new results. Different sedimentary environments show varying susceptibilities to contamination and have resulted in a wide spread of ages for initial Maori impact. Feat and macrofossils from bogs are the least susceptible to contamination by old or young carbon, whereas lakes and swamps are subject to inwash of old carbon and hard water effects. Silty sediments appear to be particularly vulnerable to contamination. Analysis of C-14 dates for the start of Maori deforestation show that ages falling ill the 'long' prehistory period are exclusively derived from lakes and swamps. In contrast, the bulk of the ages falling in the 'short prehistory period are from bogs. We conclude the first evidence of Maori environmental impact dates to 1200-1400 AD (750-550 calendar years BP). Finer age resolution is limited by the uncertainty associated with identifying the first signs of human impact and variability of the C-14 calibration curve.
The earliest identified settlement is in the Marianas, dated to about 3500 B.P., while the other islands in the region appear to be settled from about 2000 B.P. onward. The archaeological remains reveal diverse approaches to island living. While Nan Madol and Leluh in the eastern Carolines are major architectural achievements, a discussion of these sites does not detract, for example, from the terrace systems of Palau or the lattestone groups of the southern Marianas. Of equal interest is the settlement of atolls and their recently recognized potential for preservation of stratified deposits. As information allows, each island or group is considered on an individual basis in order to allow for each specific island context to be assessed. This is described within the broader themes of architecture, chronology, environment, material culture, settlement pattern, social organization, and subsistence. In conclusion, the current standing of prehistory in the region is outlined in relation to early settlement, environment, social organization, chronology, settlement pattern studies, portable material culture, subsistence, and atolls. Finally, suggestions for the future are made.
Thesis (PhD)--Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, 1989. Includes bibliographical references (p. 553-580)
Palaeoenvironmental evidence for early human settlement in Palau: the Ngerchau core
- Athens
Subsurface archaeological reconnaissance survey Ryoko Condominium project area: Tamuning Dededo Municipality Territory of Guam
- R S Brown
Radiocarbon dates from Unai Bapot, Saipan – implications for the prehistory of the Mariana Islands
- Bonhomme T
Archaeological inventory survey Lot 12-1 development parcel Ipan Talofofo Municipality Territory of Guam
- R S Brown
- P H Rosendahl
- A E Haun
Military Geology of Palau Islands, Caroline Islands. Intelligence Division, Office of the Engineer
- C G Corwin
- C L Rogers
- P O Elmquist
Archaeological inventory survey InterPacific Hotel and Country Club: Fadian
- D E Highness
- P H Rosendahl
Near and Remote Oceania: Disestablishing Melanesia in Culture History
- Green
In the wake of Lapita: transformation of Lapita designs and the gradual dispersal of the Lapita peoples
- Ishimura T.
Archaeological test excavations Palau Islands 1968–1969
- Osborne D.
Pacific island radiocarbon dates, an overview
- Shutler R.
Archaeological data recovery at Ngermereues Ridge, Ngesaol, Koror, Republic of Palau
- T.M. Reith
- J. Liston
Marianas prehistory. Archaeological survey and excavations on Saipan, Tinian and Rota
- Spoehr
Early Upland Expansion of Palauan Settlement
- Welch
The colonization of western Micronesia and early settlement of Palau
- Wickler
A Radiocarbon Chronology for Palau C. Sand Pacific Archaeology: Assessments and Prospects Les Cahiers de l
- S Phear
- G Clark
- A Anderson
Formosan prehistory and Austronesian dispersal
- Bellwood
Archaeological inventory survey Lot 12-1 development parcel Ipan
- R S Brown
- P H Rosendahl
- A E Haun
- B J Dilli
Early human burials at Chelechol ra Orrak: evidence for a 3000 year old occupation in Western Micronesia
- S M Fitzpatrick
Radiocarbon dating, sea‐level change and the peopling of Belau
- Masse W.B.
The Archaeology of the Palau Islands
- Osborne
Mobility models of Lapita migration
- Anderson
Archaeological inventory survey InterPacific Hotel and Country Club: Fadian Mangilao Municipality Territory of Guam
- D E Highness