A Colonial Shipwreck in Saipan,Northern Mariana Islands

Previous underwater cultural heritage investigations conducted in the western Pacific's Northern Mariana Islands largely focused on the submerged World War Two remains, despite the islands’ rich colonial history. The island chain was the setting of numerous historical occupations including indigenous Chamorro populations, Spain, Germany, Japan and the United States, all of which created a lasting maritime heritage legacy on land and under water. This paper presents the first colonial shipwreck investigation to be undertaken by archaeologists and fills a gap in our history and knowledge of the Mariana Islands’ pre‐World War Two era.     

The Archaeology of Rural Settlement and Class in a Pre-WWII Japanese Plantation on Tinian,Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

A large body of literature today exists on the events of World War II in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands located in the Western Pacific, written mostly by the victors of the conflict and their descendants. In contrast, no first-hand Japanese accounts have been translated into English from the pre-war period of sugarcane plantations in these islands, between 1914 and 1944. To fill this void in the literature, archaeologists working on the island of Tinian have begun to contract Japanese historians to conduct interviews with former Okinawan residents of the pre-war plantations and synthesize information from primary historical documents. What has become evident by this exercise is that many memories of the pre-war plantation system in the islands reflect a spirit of relative egalitarianism among the Okinawan laborers, while the rural archaeological record suggests evidence of an emerging economic class structure.     

Prehistory in the northwest tropical Pacific: The Caroline,Mariana, and Marshall Islands

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.     

Geophysical and Archaeological Investigation of the Survivor‐Camp of the Antelope (1783) in the Palau Islands,Western Pacific

Survivor‐camps were an unavoidable and particular category of terrestrial shore‐camp when European scientific, mercantile and imperial interests began to impinge significantly on the islands of the Pacific Ocean. In 1783 the packet Antelope was wrecked in the Palau Islands and the account of the ‘new’ archipelago, first published in 1788, was, after Cook's voyages, the most popular Pacific text in the late‐18th century. The results of archaeological and geophysical research at the camp reported here contribute to a nuanced account of early culture contact and of survivor‐camp behaviour, demonstrating the significance of shore‐camp remains for understanding maritime societies. © 2010 The Authors     

Prehistoric population history: from the Late Glacial to the Late Neolithic in Central and Northern Europe

Summed probability distributions of radiocarbon dates are used to make inferences about the history of population fluctuations from the Mesolithic to the late Neolithic for three countries in central and northern Europe: Germany, Poland and Denmark. Two different methods of summing the dates produce very similar overall patterns. The validity of the aggregate patterns is supported by a number of regional studies based on other lines of evidence. The dramatic rise in population associated with the arrival of farming in these areas that is visible in the date distributions is not surprising. Much more unexpected are the fluctuations during the course of the Neolithic, and especially the indications of a drop in population at the end of the LBK early Neolithic that lasted for nearly a millennium. Possible reasons for the pattern are discussed.     

Archaeological Explorations of Cultural Identity and Rural Economy in the North of Ireland: Goodland,County Antrim

Renewed examination of an enigmatic settlement site perched atop a cliff above Murlough Bay in Goodland Townland, County Antrim, Northern Ireland calls into question long held ideas about Gaelic rural economy on the eve of the Ulster Plantation by reintroducing the complex cultural and political relationships between the north of Ireland and the Scottish isles. Long interpreted as temporary post-medieval booley huts associated with seasonal transhumance, recent re-evaluation of the site suggests instead that Goodland represents a permanent seventeenth-century Highland Scottish village. Although the medieval linkages between the north of Ireland and the Scottish isles have long been acknowledged, twentieth-century sectarianism has subjugated awareness of the Highland (Roman Catholic) Scots focusing upon the legacy of the in-migration of Protestant Lowland Scots during the Ulster Plantation. Material evidence at Goodland re-introduces the Highland Scot to the contested landscape of contemporary Ulster identity, while also facilitating analysis of continuity, change, and cultural complexity in the rural economy of early modern Ireland.     

'Taming the Lagoon': Aquaculture Development and the Future of Customary Marine Tenure in Kiribati, Central Pacific

ABSTRACT The atolls and low‐lying limestone islands of Kiribati (Micronesia) illustrate the challenges of economic development based on natural resources exploitation. For that reason, the widely scattered island nation has relied heavily on foreign aid and remittances sent by merchant seamen. However, it is becoming apparent that excessive reliance on external support can no longer be considered secure in the medium to longer term, notably with cutbacks in aid assistance and advances in marine technology. In attempts at achieving ‘self‐reliance’, successive governments have always perceived marine resources development, particularly living resources, as a means of attaining greater economic independence. Recently, efforts have been underway to promote inshore and aquaculture development by smallholders. Seaweed farming, and especially black pearl production, are new commercial ventures. Giant clam mariculture remains an option. While it is too early to measure the success of some of these projects, their establishment may have important implications for reviving marine tenure by encouraging smallholders to reassert their traditional rights to inshore resources. Customary marine tenure (CMT) has declined significantly as a result of colonial intrusion. Today, the impact of population growth, urbanization, more efficient extractive technologies and expanding market opportunities calls for more effective village‐based control of threatened resources. Close monitoring of aquaculture projects will be required to minimize potential conflicts over traditional marine ownership.     

Political reconciliation in Timor Leste,Solomon Islands and Bougainville: the dark side of hybridity

In recent years, the study and practice of political reconciliation has experienced a turn to hybridity. This turn has been defined by the increased rate at which liberal international and local peacebuilding practices, and their underlying ideas, have become merged, integrated or co-located in time and space. While hybrid approaches to reconciliation have been praised as an effective means of engaging local populations in peacebuilding operations, little attention has been paid to examining whether or not they also bring unintended negative consequences. Drawing on the cases of Timor Leste, Solomon Islands and Bougainville, this article examines the potentially dark side of hybridity. It demonstrates that, in each of these cases, hybrid approaches to political reconciliation have brought both positive and negative consequences. On the positive side of the equation, hybridity has seen imported international approaches to reconciliation adapted to meet local demands and ensure resonance with local populations. On the negative side, however, the misappropriation and instrumentalisation of local practices within hybrid approaches has served to damage their legitimacy and to jeopardise their contributions to reconciliation. The article thus concludes that the existence and extent of this dark side necessitates a re-evaluation of how hybrid approaches to political reconciliation are planned and implemented.     

Paleodietary analysis of the prehistoric population of the Canary Islands inferred from stable isotopes (carbon,nitrogen and hydrogen) in bone collagen

Nitrogen and carbon isotope compositions were measured in the bone collagen from a total of 86 prehispanic samples of the Canary Islands, and hydrogen in 70, all of them with enough amount of bone collagen, and adequate N and C content. These samples belong to prehistoric population of El Hierro (n = 27), Tenerife (n = 18), and Gran Canaria (n = 41). Isotope compositions were also obtained for prehistoric and modern food resources that were likely consumed by these people. Marked differences were observed among the three islands regarding the three isotopes analyzed: the δ¹⁵N values were highest among the population of Gran Canaria (10.8‰ ± 0.9‰), who also showed the highest δD values (7 ± 8‰). The population of El Hierro showed the highest δ¹³C values (−18.6‰ ± 0.7‰). These data suggest a high consumption of marine products by the population from El Hierro, and also an important consumption of terrestrial meat or marine, piscivore fish, by the population from Gran Canaria, together with domesticated C₃ plants (barley and/or wheat), fruits of Ficus carica and other wild species, and goat products. Additionally, marked differences were observed between men and women, which suggest that women consumed a more vegetal-based diet, a finding which is in agreement with the higher proportion of teeth with carious lesions among women.     

Stability in the South Pacific surface marine C reservoir over the last 750 years. Evidence from American Samoa, the southern Cook Islands and the Marquesas

Although minor climatic and sea-level changes have been documented for the South Pacific during the late Holocene, our understanding of the consequent impact of these changes on the marine ¹⁴C reservoir, and therefore the ¹⁴C content of shellfish, is limited. Ultimately, this has implications for documenting the chronology of human movement and adaptation in this region. In this paper we compare marine reservoir (ΔR) data obtained from tightly controlled archaeological proveniences with known-age, pre-AD 1950 shells from the southern Cook Islands, American Samoa, and Marquesas Islands. Results indicate that there has been no significant change in the near-shore marine reservoir in these three locations over the last ca. 750 years. Furthermore, known-age, pre-AD 1950 shell samples provide more precise ΔR values for use in sample calibration than archaeological paired shell/charcoal samples. This is attributed in part to the limitations of assigning provenance and age to material from archaeological sites. On the basis of these results we conclude that the known-age, pre-AD 1950 shell derived ΔR values can be used to calibrate shell ¹⁴C results from deposits of late Holocene age.     

Saints and Sinners: a tephrochronology for Late Antique landscape change in Epirus from the eruptive history of Lipari,Aeolian Islands

Assessing the impact of past human activity on landscape change in the Mediterranean has always presented challenges, requiring sound chronological frameworks for observed environmental change. The current research, focused on the environs surrounding the ancient city of Butrint (southern Albania) during Late Antiquity, c. 4th–6th Century AD, establishes a tephra-based chronology for landscape change through the discovery of ash horizons from a little known eruption on the island of Lipari (Aeolian Islands). Recovered glass shards were geochemically fingerprinted to a 6th Century AD event on the island, dated through local archaeological sequences and corroborated by hagiographic evidence. The presence of this marker horizon at Butrint shows a continuation of open water, estuarine conditions throughout Late Antiquity and the Early Medieval period (during which time Butrint ceases to function as an urban centre), disproving the widely held notion of increased soil erosion/deposition as a result of post-Roman landscape degradation. The study also shows that it is following the medieval revival of the town in the 13th Century that marked environmental change takes place, as estuarine areas silt, giving rise to marsh and wetland. The study highlights the importance of using a range of dating techniques to constrain landscape change, while the presence of the 6th Century Lipari tephra in Epirus, derived from an eruptive event larger than previously suspected, provides a useful regional dating marker for future landscape studies.     

Archaeological wells in southern France: Late Neolithic to Roman plant remains from Mas de Vignoles IX (Gard) and their implications for the study of settlement,economy and environment

Abstract

A study of plant remains from seven archaeological wells at Mas de Vignoles IX, near Nîmes, southern France, was used to shed light on a current gap in the archaeological record caused by erosion and modern agriculture. The analysis also explored the reliability of these sources for palaeoenvironmental and palaeoeconomical information. Significant results on the spatial organization of human habitation, economic activities, and on the environment and its exploitation were obtained for the Middle Neolithic to Roman periods. Furthermore, the Neolithic wells also provided the first early finds of fig seeds in France. The abundance of weed and ruderal plants up to the Iron Age is consistent with data from other studies and their dramatic decrease during the Roman period may have resulted from radical changes in land management. The study marks the first time, in southern France, that a group of wells from a single site have provided a complete record throughout the later prehistoric and Roman periods.