Mike T Carson
Biographic Data
| ID | 528263 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mike T Carson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mike T |
| FAMILY NAME | Carson |
| SIGNATURE | CARSON M T |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Guam |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3755-9126 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 44 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 217 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 43 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Ritual tooth ablation in ancient Taiwan and the Austronesian expansion
The earliest farming communities in Taiwan practiced a distinctive bio-cultural marker of identity, in the form of deliberate anterior teeth extraction. This distinguishing body transformation can be traced back to 4800 years BP in Taiwan and associated with the first Austronesian communities, and it has endured among contemporary Austronesian speakers in Taiwan and extending across the Asia-Pacific region. Through a comprehensive exploration of …
Early Holocene exploitation of taro and yam among southern East Asian hunter-gatherers
Increases in population size are associated with the adoption of Neolithic agricultural practices in many areas of the world, but rapid population growth within the Dingsishan cultural group of southern China pre-dated the arrival of rice and millet farming in this area. In this article, the authors identify starch grains from taros (Colocasia) and yams (Dioscorea) in dental calculus and on food-processing tools from the Dingsishan sites of Huiya…
Negritos in Taiwan and the wider prehistory of Southeast Asia: New discovery from the Xiaoma Caves
Taiwan is known as the homeland of the Austronesian-speaking groups, yet other populations already had lived here since the Pleistocene. Conventional notions have postulated that the Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers were replaced or absorbed into the Neolithic Austronesian farming communities. Yet, some evidence has indicated that sparse numbers of non-Austronesian individuals continued to live in the remote mountains as late as the 1800s. The crani…
Preceramic riverside hunter-gatherers and the arrival of Neolithic farmers in northern Luzon
The most westerly Pacific island chain, running from Taiwan southwards through the Philippines, has long been central in debates about the origins and early migrations of Austronesian-speaking peoples from the Asian mainland into the islands of Southeast Asia and Oceania. Focusing on the Cagayan Valley of northern Luzon in the Philippines, the authors combine new and published radiocarbon dates to underpin a revised culture-historical synthesis. …
Palaeolandscapes in Archaeology: Lessons for the Past and Future
Let's catch octopus for dinner: Ancient inventions of octopus lures in the Mariana Islands of the remote tropical pacific
When people first lived in remote tropical seashores, they developed novel adaptations for living in these extreme environments, including the use of a specialized octopus lure device. The evidence for this fishing tradition now can be traced back as early as 1500–1100 BC in the Mariana Islands of Western Micronesia. New research has examined the artefacts of these compound lure devices, especially concerning the cut and drilled dorsum pieces of …
Central Pacific Islands: Sea-Level Change and Sites
Pacific Islands: Finding the Earliest Sites
Peopling of Oceania: Clarifying an Initial Settlement Horizon in the Mariana Islands at 1500 Bc
Radiocarbon ( 14 C) has been instrumental in clarifying how people came to inhabit the expanse of Pacific Oceania, now supporting an “incremental growth model” that shows a number of long-distance sea-crossing migrations over the last few millennia. A crucial step in this narrative involved the initial settlement of the remote-distance Oceanic region, in the case of the Mariana Islands around 1500 BC. The Marianas case can be demonstrated through…
Food and ritual resources in hunter-gatherer societies: Canarium nuts in southern China and beyond
Central Pacific Islands: Sea-Level Change and Sites
The first discovery of Neolithic rice remains in eastern Taiwan: Phytolith evidence from the Chaolaiqiao site
Learning from Paleo-Landscapes: Defining the Land-Use Systems of the Ancient Malayo-Polynesian Homeland
Paleo-landscape investigations contextualize how people have inhabited and coevolved dynamically with their landforms, resource zones, and social-ecological niches during measured time intervals and through extended chronological sequences. Toward illustrating this research potential, changing paleo-landscapes 2500-1500 BC reveal the ancient conditions of the places where people lived in both Taiwan and the northern Philippines, in this case expl…
Pacific Islands: Finding the Earliest Sites
First Islanders: Prehistory and Human Migration in Island Southeast Asia
Inhabiting Remote Tropical Seashores at 1500–1100 b.c: Water, Practicalities, and Rituals in the Mariana Islands
When people first inhabited the Remote Oceanic region of the world at 1500 b.c., they generated archaeological sites attesting to their practical coastal adaptations in tandem with their ceremonial traditions, wherein water figured vitally in daily living and ritual performance. Of eight known first-settlement sites in the Mariana Islands, Ritidian in Guam uniquely incorporates one residential habitation plus two caves related to water collection…
Cultural spaces inside and outside caves: A study in Guam, western Micronesia
Collapses of island societies from environmental forcing: Does history hold lessons for the future
Societies that develop on islands in oceans, distant from continental shores and one another, are unusually vulnerable to fundamental change (collapse). It is argued that a common cause of such change is the effect of external (climate-driven) environmental forcing on food resources, especially those on which coastal-dwelling island peoples invariably depend. Relative changes in sea level that were comparatively rapid are implicated in several in…
Pollen, Starch, and Biosilicate Analysis of Archaeological Deposits on Guam and Saipan, Mariana Islands, Northwest Pacific: Evidence for Chamorro Subsistence Crops and Marine Resources
Recent advances in the study of crop fossils have been made at sites across much of the Pacific by the application of a range of microfossil techniques, namely analysis of pollen, phytoliths, and starch. Compared with Melanesia and Polynesia, however, the application of this in Micronesia is limited. Here we report on microfossil analysis of Micronesian archaeological deposits from the Mariana Islands, from two sites on Guam: Tumon and Ipan, and …
Natural-cultural landscape heritage at Ritidian, Guam
Purpose – Landscapes bear potential as heritage resources, unifying natural and cultural history that can be experienced today in special preserved areas. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Geoarchaeological investigation 2006-2011 explored this potential at the Ritidian Unit of Guam National Wildlife Refuge. Findings – As experienced today, the Ritidian landscape heritage embodies the complex outcomes of a 3,50…
Rediscovering Ancient Inhabited Islands of the Pacific
This special issue brings together a set of geoarchaeological studies in the diverse coastal zones of the Pacific, encompassing a deep history of human occupation from the Pleistocene through the Holocene and from the equatorial tropics to the near‐polar regions. These papers build on recent geoarchaeological work on this theme (e.g., Izuho et al., 2009; Vasilevsky, Grischenko, & Orlova, 2010; Itoh et al., 2011; Carson, 2012a; Seeto, Nunn, & Sanj…
Semiconductor theory in migration: Population receivers, homelands and gateways in Taiwan and Island Southeast Asia
People migrate to, from and through regions that may be defined alternately as receivers, homelands or gateways. We propose to consider all three of these components as a unit, in an analogy with semiconductors that could amplify, alter or covert the flow of migrations. We examine two migrations related to Taiwan, beginning with a flow from coastal south-east China to Taiwan by 4000 bc and then continuing with another migration from Taiwan into I…
Foragers, fishers and farmers: Origins of the Taiwanese Neolithic
The Neolithic of Taiwan represents the first stage in the expansion of Austronesian-speaking peoples through the Pacific. Settlement and burial evidence from the Tapenkeng (TKP) or Dabenkeng culture demonstrates the development of the early Taiwanese Neolithic over a period of almost 2000 years, from its origin in the pre-TPK of the Pearl River Delta and south-eastern coastal China. The first TPK communities of Taiwan pursued a mixed coastal fora…
Coastal Connectivity: Long-Term Trading Networks Across the South China Sea
Long-distance coastal interactions have shaped much of world history, most evident in social and economic ties through sea-lanes and trade-routes that connect to other regions and potentially throughout the world. In this way, separate coastal communities on distant shores of the same sea, lake, river, or ocean can share more in common with each other than with their adjacent inland neighbors. The South China Sea presents one case in point, where…
The Pottery Trail From Southeast Asia to Remote Oceania
A set of unique circumstances created a durable archaeological record of ancient human migration from Southeast Asia to Remote Oceania, useful as a global model of population dispersals. Finely made pottery with a very specific decorative signature is found in multiple locations in the Philippines and western Oceania, constituting a shared cultural trait that can be traced, both geographically and chronologically, to a specific homeland. Especial…
Refining Earliest Settlement in Remote Oceania: Renewed Archaeological Investigation at Unai Bapot, Saipan
Renewed archaeological investigation at Unai Bapot in Saipan refines the documentation of chronological change during the earliest period of human occupation of the Mariana Islands. First site use was in the range of 1600 to 1420 BC, and site abandonment occurred shortly after AD 1670. In more than 2 m of continuous stratigraphy, abundant examples of pottery occur in stratigraphic order in seven distinct occupation layers with minor internal vari…
The first settlement of Remote Oceania: The Philippines to the Marianas
The authors compare pottery assemblages in the Marianas and the Philippines to claim endorsement for a first human expansion into the open Pacific around 1500 BC. The Marianas are separated from the Philippines by 2300km of open sea, so they are proposing an epic pioneering voyage of men and women, with presumably some cultivated plants but apparently no animals. How did they manage this unprecedented journey
Palaeohabitat of first settlement sites 1500–1000 B.C. in Guam, Mariana islands, western Pacific
Re-envisioning long-distance Oceanic migration: Early dates in the Mariana Islands
Dates as early as 1500 bc now can be confirmed for first human settlement of the remote Mariana Islands, more than 2000km from any contemporary populated area. These findings bear directly on comprehending long-distance human migration, and they alter orthodox views of how people first colonised the Pacific Islands. Remote Oceanic settlement has previously been understood as the legacy of Lapita pottery makers entering the Bismarck Archipelago ab…
Coastal Connectivity: Long-Term Trading Networks Across the South China Sea
Long-distance coastal interactions have shaped much of world history, most evident in social and economic ties through sea-lanes and trade-routes that connect to other regions and potentially throughout the world. In this way, separate coastal communities on distant shores of the same sea, lake, river, or ocean can share more in common with each other than with their adjacent inland neighbors. The South China Sea presents one case in point, where…
The Pottery Trail From Southeast Asia to Remote Oceania
A set of unique circumstances created a durable archaeological record of ancient human migration from Southeast Asia to Remote Oceania, useful as a global model of population dispersals. Finely made pottery with a very specific decorative signature is found in multiple locations in the Philippines and western Oceania, constituting a shared cultural trait that can be traced, both geographically and chronologically, to a specific homeland. Especial…
The first discovery of Neolithic rice remains in eastern Taiwan: Phytolith evidence from the Chaolaiqiao site
Times of Plenty, Times of Less: Last-Millennium Societal Disruption in the Pacific Basin
Learning from Paleo-Landscapes: Defining the Land-Use Systems of the Ancient Malayo-Polynesian Homeland
Paleo-landscape investigations contextualize how people have inhabited and coevolved dynamically with their landforms, resource zones, and social-ecological niches during measured time intervals and through extended chronological sequences. Toward illustrating this research potential, changing paleo-landscapes 2500-1500 BC reveal the ancient conditions of the places where people lived in both Taiwan and the northern Philippines, in this case expl…
Paleo‐Terrain Research: Finding the First Settlement Sites of Remote Oceania
A paleo‐terrain approach can situate ancient sites within their original landscape settings, as illustrated in a case study of the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific. This example combines computer‐aided terrain modeling with site‐specific excavations to reconstruct the shapes and configurations of landforms during the period of first human settlement of Remote Oceania, 1500–1000 B.C. The results support new understanding of humanity's first …
Foragers, fishers and farmers: Origins of the Taiwanese Neolithic
The Neolithic of Taiwan represents the first stage in the expansion of Austronesian-speaking peoples through the Pacific. Settlement and burial evidence from the Tapenkeng (TKP) or Dabenkeng culture demonstrates the development of the early Taiwanese Neolithic over a period of almost 2000 years, from its origin in the pre-TPK of the Pearl River Delta and south-eastern coastal China. The first TPK communities of Taiwan pursued a mixed coastal fora…
Resolving the enigma of early coastal settlement in the Hawaiian Islands: The stratigraphic sequence of the Wainiha Beach Site in Kaua'i
Archaeological excavation has documented stratified cultural deposits at the Wainiha Beach Site in Kaua'i (Hawaiian Islands), beginning with the occupation of a residential structure dated around A.D. 1030–1400. After about A.D. 1400, the excavated area contains abundant evidence of widespread repeated temporary activities ending in the post‐Contact era (post‐A.D. 1778). The presence of an early permanent residence followed by a later period of t…
Negritos in Taiwan and the wider prehistory of Southeast Asia: New discovery from the Xiaoma Caves
Taiwan is known as the homeland of the Austronesian-speaking groups, yet other populations already had lived here since the Pleistocene. Conventional notions have postulated that the Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers were replaced or absorbed into the Neolithic Austronesian farming communities. Yet, some evidence has indicated that sparse numbers of non-Austronesian individuals continued to live in the remote mountains as late as the 1800s. The crani…
Inhabiting Remote Tropical Seashores at 1500–1100 b.c: Water, Practicalities, and Rituals in the Mariana Islands
When people first inhabited the Remote Oceanic region of the world at 1500 b.c., they generated archaeological sites attesting to their practical coastal adaptations in tandem with their ceremonial traditions, wherein water figured vitally in daily living and ritual performance. Of eight known first-settlement sites in the Mariana Islands, Ritidian in Guam uniquely incorporates one residential habitation plus two caves related to water collection…
Semiconductor theory in migration: Population receivers, homelands and gateways in Taiwan and Island Southeast Asia
People migrate to, from and through regions that may be defined alternately as receivers, homelands or gateways. We propose to consider all three of these components as a unit, in an analogy with semiconductors that could amplify, alter or covert the flow of migrations. We examine two migrations related to Taiwan, beginning with a flow from coastal south-east China to Taiwan by 4000 bc and then continuing with another migration from Taiwan into I…
Hawaii's Past in a World of Pacific Islands
Hawaii's Past in a World of Pacific Islands. By James M. Bayman and Thomas S. Dye. Society for American Archaeology Press, Washington, DC. 2013. ISBN 978-0-932839-54-1 (Paperback US $19.95), 164pp
Integration of Coastal Geomorphology, Mythology, and Archaeological Evidence at Kualoa Beach, Windward O‘ahu, Hawaiian Islands
Coastal geomorphology, mythic traditions, and archaeological evidence are integrated for a case study at Kualoa Beach in windward O‘ahu, Hawaiian Islands. The creation of coastal landforms and the effects of high-sea events appear to be encoded in the language of myth and folklore. Archaeological deposits can be understood in relation to several natural and cultural processes of deposition, disturbance, and erosion over an uninterrupted sequence …
Let's catch octopus for dinner: Ancient inventions of octopus lures in the Mariana Islands of the remote tropical pacific
When people first lived in remote tropical seashores, they developed novel adaptations for living in these extreme environments, including the use of a specialized octopus lure device. The evidence for this fishing tradition now can be traced back as early as 1500–1100 BC in the Mariana Islands of Western Micronesia. New research has examined the artefacts of these compound lure devices, especially concerning the cut and drilled dorsum pieces of …
Peopling of Oceania: Clarifying an Initial Settlement Horizon in the Mariana Islands at 1500 Bc
Radiocarbon ( 14 C) has been instrumental in clarifying how people came to inhabit the expanse of Pacific Oceania, now supporting an “incremental growth model” that shows a number of long-distance sea-crossing migrations over the last few millennia. A crucial step in this narrative involved the initial settlement of the remote-distance Oceanic region, in the case of the Mariana Islands around 1500 BC. The Marianas case can be demonstrated through…
Cultural spaces inside and outside caves: A study in Guam, western Micronesia
Pollen, Starch, and Biosilicate Analysis of Archaeological Deposits on Guam and Saipan, Mariana Islands, Northwest Pacific: Evidence for Chamorro Subsistence Crops and Marine Resources
Recent advances in the study of crop fossils have been made at sites across much of the Pacific by the application of a range of microfossil techniques, namely analysis of pollen, phytoliths, and starch. Compared with Melanesia and Polynesia, however, the application of this in Micronesia is limited. Here we report on microfossil analysis of Micronesian archaeological deposits from the Mariana Islands, from two sites on Guam: Tumon and Ipan, and …
Radiocarbon Dating of Algal Bioclasts in Beach Sites of Guam
Direct radiocarbon dating of algal bioclasts of Halimeda sp. demonstrates accurate age estimates in relation to archaeological layers in three beach sites of Guam in the western Pacific region. These case studies illustrate the technical requirement of identifying intact (non-eroded) bioclasts for dating, as well as the methodological parameters for interpreting the relationship between depositional context of these bioclasts in relation to the a…
Calcrete formation and implications for buried archaeological deposits in the Mariana Islands, western Pacific
Calcrete zones of cemented sands are found repeatedly at beach sites in the Mariana Islands, western Pacific region, with mid‐ to late‐Holocene artifacts and midden sealed within and beneath these layers. Three site‐specific cases demonstrate that the cementation process of the calcareous sand material post‐dated the deposition of artifacts and midden. Archaeological efforts must be prepared for deep excavation through zones of cemented sand. Als…
Food and ritual resources in hunter-gatherer societies: Canarium nuts in southern China and beyond
Collapses of island societies from environmental forcing: Does history hold lessons for the future
Societies that develop on islands in oceans, distant from continental shores and one another, are unusually vulnerable to fundamental change (collapse). It is argued that a common cause of such change is the effect of external (climate-driven) environmental forcing on food resources, especially those on which coastal-dwelling island peoples invariably depend. Relative changes in sea level that were comparatively rapid are implicated in several in…
Resolving the enigma of early coastal settlement in the Hawaiian Islands: The stratigraphic sequence of the Wainiha Beach Site in Kaua'i
Archaeological excavation has documented stratified cultural deposits at the Wainiha Beach Site in Kaua'i (Hawaiian Islands), beginning with the occupation of a residential structure dated around A.D. 1030–1400. After about A.D. 1400, the excavated area contains abundant evidence of widespread repeated temporary activities ending in the post‐Contact era (post‐A.D. 1778). The presence of an early permanent residence followed by a later period of t…
Walpole: Ha Colo, une Ile de l'Extreme, Archeologies et Histoires (review)
Radiocarbon Chronology of Prehistoric Campsites in Alpine and Subalpine Zones at Haleakalā, Maui Island, USA
A chronological synthesis of prehistoric campsites in alpine and subalpine zones (∼2–3 km asl) at Haleakalā, Maui Island, USA, is based on relative stratigraphy from 24 test excavations, associated artifacts of known or probable time periods, and 12 radiocarbon dates. The results indicate intensive use of the unfavorable high-altitude environment in the range of AD 1400–1600, with very limited use slightly earlier. Numerous campsites were used re…
Integration of Coastal Geomorphology, Mythology, and Archaeological Evidence at Kualoa Beach, Windward O‘ahu, Hawaiian Islands
Coastal geomorphology, mythic traditions, and archaeological evidence are integrated for a case study at Kualoa Beach in windward O‘ahu, Hawaiian Islands. The creation of coastal landforms and the effects of high-sea events appear to be encoded in the language of myth and folklore. Archaeological deposits can be understood in relation to several natural and cultural processes of deposition, disturbance, and erosion over an uninterrupted sequence …
Times of Plenty, Times of Less: Last-Millennium Societal Disruption in the Pacific Basin
Correlation of environmental and cultural chronology in New Caledonia
A case study in New Caledonia explores the changes in the natural and cultural setting at the end of the Lapita period in the first millennium B.C. After the mid‐Holocene highstand, sea level fell about 1.5 m, thereby enlarging coastal plains, altering previous mangrove and marshy settings, and transforming nearshore marine environments. Many of these changes occurred gradually over several centuries, but the termination of finely decorated Lapit…
Refining Earliest Settlement in Remote Oceania: Renewed Archaeological Investigation at Unai Bapot, Saipan
Renewed archaeological investigation at Unai Bapot in Saipan refines the documentation of chronological change during the earliest period of human occupation of the Mariana Islands. First site use was in the range of 1600 to 1420 BC, and site abandonment occurred shortly after AD 1670. In more than 2 m of continuous stratigraphy, abundant examples of pottery occur in stratigraphic order in seven distinct occupation layers with minor internal vari…
New Radiocarbon Dates from the Bapot-1 Site in Saipan and Neolithic Dispersal by Stratified Diffusion
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 expansion in Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific, particularly the role of long-distance dispersals. This paper presents new 14C results and a ΔR estimate from the Bapot-1 site on Saipan Island, which indicate human arriv…
Calcrete formation and implications for buried archaeological deposits in the Mariana Islands, western Pacific
Calcrete zones of cemented sands are found repeatedly at beach sites in the Mariana Islands, western Pacific region, with mid‐ to late‐Holocene artifacts and midden sealed within and beneath these layers. Three site‐specific cases demonstrate that the cementation process of the calcareous sand material post‐dated the deposition of artifacts and midden. Archaeological efforts must be prepared for deep excavation through zones of cemented sand. Als…
Palaeohabitat of first settlement sites 1500–1000 B.C. in Guam, Mariana islands, western Pacific
The first settlement of Remote Oceania: The Philippines to the Marianas
The authors compare pottery assemblages in the Marianas and the Philippines to claim endorsement for a first human expansion into the open Pacific around 1500 BC. The Marianas are separated from the Philippines by 2300km of open sea, so they are proposing an epic pioneering voyage of men and women, with presumably some cultivated plants but apparently no animals. How did they manage this unprecedented journey
Radiocarbon Dating of Algal Bioclasts in Beach Sites of Guam
Direct radiocarbon dating of algal bioclasts of Halimeda sp. demonstrates accurate age estimates in relation to archaeological layers in three beach sites of Guam in the western Pacific region. These case studies illustrate the technical requirement of identifying intact (non-eroded) bioclasts for dating, as well as the methodological parameters for interpreting the relationship between depositional context of these bioclasts in relation to the a…
Ethnohistoric and Geoarchaeological Landscape Chronology at K awaihae, L eeward H awai‘i I sland
The royal court of the K amehameha D ynasty in K awaihae, H awai‘i I sland, presents an unequalled opportunity to examine the ethnohistoric rendering of a cultural landscape, in comparison to the geoarchaeological record of physical transformation of this same landscape. Beneath the surface, earlier occupation layers predate the historic royal precinct of the A . D . 1790s through 1820s. Drawing on results of 19 controlled excavations, point‐spec…
Household economy and gendered labor in the 17th centurya.d. on Guam
The gendered division of labor in household economies is well known in documentary accounts of many societies, although archaeological evidence for it is often elusive. Our study compares ethnohistorical accounts of household organization with archaeological patterns at a 17th-century village on the island of Guam in the Marianas archipelago to determine if these different sources of evidence provide similar insights. We investigated archaeologic…
Re-Examining Anomalous Early Dates of Settlement in Leeward Hawai'i Island
Anomalous dates prior to 1000 yr BP have been reported for near-surface site deposits at Puapua'a in the dry and rocky zone of leeward (west) Hawai'i Island, compared to archipelago-wide earliest cultural layers generally in buried contexts 1000–800 yr BP. Redating and closer examination cannot validate these early dates in cultural association. In the thin sedimentary deposits, preserved cultural materials mostly postdate 600–400 yr BP, but some…
Earliest settlement in the Marianas—a response
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Re-envisioning long-distance Oceanic migration: Early dates in the Mariana Islands
Dates as early as 1500 bc now can be confirmed for first human settlement of the remote Mariana Islands, more than 2000km from any contemporary populated area. These findings bear directly on comprehending long-distance human migration, and they alter orthodox views of how people first colonised the Pacific Islands. Remote Oceanic settlement has previously been understood as the legacy of Lapita pottery makers entering the Bismarck Archipelago ab…
Coastal Connectivity: Long-Term Trading Networks Across the South China Sea
Long-distance coastal interactions have shaped much of world history, most evident in social and economic ties through sea-lanes and trade-routes that connect to other regions and potentially throughout the world. In this way, separate coastal communities on distant shores of the same sea, lake, river, or ocean can share more in common with each other than with their adjacent inland neighbors. The South China Sea presents one case in point, where…
The Pottery Trail From Southeast Asia to Remote Oceania
A set of unique circumstances created a durable archaeological record of ancient human migration from Southeast Asia to Remote Oceania, useful as a global model of population dispersals. Finely made pottery with a very specific decorative signature is found in multiple locations in the Philippines and western Oceania, constituting a shared cultural trait that can be traced, both geographically and chronologically, to a specific homeland. Especial…
Hawaii's Past in a World of Pacific Islands
Hawaii's Past in a World of Pacific Islands. By James M. Bayman and Thomas S. Dye. Society for American Archaeology Press, Washington, DC. 2013. ISBN 978-0-932839-54-1 (Paperback US $19.95), 164pp
Paleo‐Terrain Research: Finding the First Settlement Sites of Remote Oceania
A paleo‐terrain approach can situate ancient sites within their original landscape settings, as illustrated in a case study of the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific. This example combines computer‐aided terrain modeling with site‐specific excavations to reconstruct the shapes and configurations of landforms during the period of first human settlement of Remote Oceania, 1500–1000 B.C. The results support new understanding of humanity's first …
Natural-cultural landscape heritage at Ritidian, Guam
Purpose – Landscapes bear potential as heritage resources, unifying natural and cultural history that can be experienced today in special preserved areas. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Geoarchaeological investigation 2006-2011 explored this potential at the Ritidian Unit of Guam National Wildlife Refuge. Findings – As experienced today, the Ritidian landscape heritage embodies the complex outcomes of a 3,50…
Rediscovering Ancient Inhabited Islands of the Pacific
This special issue brings together a set of geoarchaeological studies in the diverse coastal zones of the Pacific, encompassing a deep history of human occupation from the Pleistocene through the Holocene and from the equatorial tropics to the near‐polar regions. These papers build on recent geoarchaeological work on this theme (e.g., Izuho et al., 2009; Vasilevsky, Grischenko, & Orlova, 2010; Itoh et al., 2011; Carson, 2012a; Seeto, Nunn, & Sanj…
Semiconductor theory in migration: Population receivers, homelands and gateways in Taiwan and Island Southeast Asia
People migrate to, from and through regions that may be defined alternately as receivers, homelands or gateways. We propose to consider all three of these components as a unit, in an analogy with semiconductors that could amplify, alter or covert the flow of migrations. We examine two migrations related to Taiwan, beginning with a flow from coastal south-east China to Taiwan by 4000 bc and then continuing with another migration from Taiwan into I…
Foragers, fishers and farmers: Origins of the Taiwanese Neolithic
The Neolithic of Taiwan represents the first stage in the expansion of Austronesian-speaking peoples through the Pacific. Settlement and burial evidence from the Tapenkeng (TKP) or Dabenkeng culture demonstrates the development of the early Taiwanese Neolithic over a period of almost 2000 years, from its origin in the pre-TPK of the Pearl River Delta and south-eastern coastal China. The first TPK communities of Taiwan pursued a mixed coastal fora…
Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies (42 works) · Geography (40 works) · Archaeology (37 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (29 works) · Geology (20 works) · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (20 works) · History (18 works) · Oceanography (13 works) · History (11 works) · Isotope Analysis in Ecology (9 works)