Swiddening Practices in the Micronesian Past: Macrocharcoal Quantification From a Gardening Site in Pohnpei |
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| Authors: | Maureece J Levin Molly Shelton William S Ayres |
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| Institution: | 1. Stanford Archaeology Center, Stanford, California, USA;2. Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA |
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| Abstract: | A recent publication (Levin and Ayres 2015 Levin, M. J., and W. S. Ayres. 2015. Managed agroforests, swiddening, and the introduction of pigs in Pohnpei, Micronesia: Phytolith evidence from an anthropogenic landscape. Quaternary International. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.12.027.Crossref], PubMed], Web of Science ®] , Google Scholar]) presented evidence for cyclical swiddening over a 700-year sequence at an old gardening site on Temwen Island, Pohnpei, Micronesia, using phytolith and microcharcoal evidence. Here, we corroborate this evidence by quantifying macroscopic charcoal from flotation occurring at the same site. Notably, the macrocharcoal provides evidence for burning in the immediate local area rather than the regional evidence that microcharcoal can provide. This method allows for a more robust interpretation of gardening microenvironments. |
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| Keywords: | historical ecology islands micro- or macrobotanical paleoenvironment Pacific |
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