Archaeological Identification of Stone Fish-weirs Mentioned to Freycinet in 1819 on the Island of Guam

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn 1819, when the French corvette L'Uranie anchored off Apra Harbor in the Micronesian Island of Guam, its captain Louis Claude de Freycinet was told of the former use there of stone fish-weirs. This reference has long puzzled archaeologists and historians who assumed Freycinet was misinformed or such features were no longer in existence, given the frequent typhoons that affect the region. Recent archaeological surveys of Apra Harbor tidal flats, however, have identified low-walled coral enclosures at the mouth of two freshwater estuaries. At first. these were hypothesised to have been built to foster shellfish production under the Japanese occupation of Guam during World War II. However, controlled excavation of small sites adjacent to one of these complexes yielded late Latte Period pottery and wood charcoal radiocarbon dated to AD 1645–1725. This historic timeframe is within the plausible memory of the oldest generation of Freycinet's informants. These archaeological findings, combined with interviews, research of historical accounts and ethnographic comparisons of fishing practices in Micronesia and further afield suggest that Chamorro fishermen may have used the weirs to feed local populations and visiting sailors during the seasonal arrival of the Manila galleons for a long period after Ferdinand Magellan's visit in 1521. This conclusion has practical and contemporary implications for Chamorro today.