Eastern Micronesia Research Articles

A new parasite discovery in Micronesia: eggs of the nematode Toxocara canis at archaeological sites on Ebon Atoll, Marshall Islands extend the known dog presence by c.600 years

ABSTRACTLittle is known of helminth parasites in Micronesia in archaeological contexts. This study presents a parasitological analysis of soil and sediment samples from Ebon Atoll in the Marshall Islands, eastern Micronesia. Microscopic eggs of the dog (Canis lupus familiaris) nematode Toxocara canis, which could have adversely affected the health of local people as well as their dogs, were found at two sites, in one example in habitation layers dated to 1830–1625 calBP (95% CI), extending the date for the known presence of dogs in the Marshall Islands by at least 600 years. This study represents the first confirmed evidence of pre‐European helminth parasites in Micronesia. As similar Melanesian and Polynesian studies have previously been reported, the study also completes the initial, pre‐contact helminth record for the three main island regions of Oceania.

Predicting coral-reef futures from El Ni\xf1o and Pacific Decadal Oscillation events

El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events modulate oceanographic processes that control temperature and productivity in tropical waters, yet potential interactions with low frequency climate variability, such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), are poorly understood. We show that ENSO and PDO together predicted (i) maximum sea-surface temperatures (SST), which were associated with coral bleaching and declines in coral cover, and (ii) maximum chlorophyll-a concentrations, which were associated with high densities of coral-predatory Acanthaster starfish, across the tropical north Pacific Ocean since 1980. Asynchrony between the positive PDO and negative ENSO (i.e., La Niña) was associated with peaks in annual SST. By contrast, synchrony between the positive PDO and positive ENSO (i.e., El Niño) was associated with peaks in chlorophyll-a. Both conditions led to ecological disturbances and significant loss of coral cover, however, spatial models revealed where impacts to reefs were expected under varying climate scenarios. The 2015/17 ENSO event was coupled with a positive PDO and resulted in high SST and Acanthaster abundances in eastern Micronesia, while positive coral growth occurred in western Micronesia. Our novel approach for forecasting coral growth into the future may be applicable to other oceanic regions with differing oceanographic modulators.

Sustainable Extractive Strategies in the Pre-European Contact Pacific: Evidence from Mollusk Resources

Mollusk remains from archaeological and more recent historical contexts provide good proxies to assess environmental change, as well as human impact, both negatively and positively, as reflected, for example, by resource management practices. Rigorous testing of various hypotheses to explain change or relative stability in mollusk distribution in archaeological assemblages requires an understanding of ecological and biological (life history) characteristics of the represented species, as well as access to ethnographic and ethnoarchaeological data on the interaction between people and mollusks. A growing interest in contemporary indigenous resource management among Pacific Island communities has led some archaeologists to seek evidence for sustainable use of resources in the past, to complement the more widespread research conclusions that depict mollusk resource depression and/or shifts in species composition as consequences of negative human impact. Based on fieldwork in Kiribati, eastern Micronesia, and the application of Optimal Foraging Theory, this paper adds support to recent ethnographic, ethnoarchaeological, and archaeological case studies for the sustainable use of mollusks.

Two millennia of mollusc foraging on Ebon Atoll, Marshall Islands: Sustained marine resource use on a Pacific atoll

ABSTRACTSmall, remote islands, such as low coral atolls, with nutrient‐poor, biogenic soils for food crops and vulnerability to extreme weather, have long been considered marginal environments for human habitation. Yet, four decades of archaeological research in the atoll archipelago of the Marshall Islands, eastern Micronesia have demonstrated sustained human occupation there for over two millennia. Here, we present a fine‐grained analysis of mollusc remains from four recently excavated archaeological sites (4476 total MNI / 14843 total NISP) combined with mapping and analysis of extant benthic habitats, on Ebon Atoll, Marshall Islands. We examine spatial and temporal variability in mollusc foraging practices from prehistoric village sites and ephemeral camp sites across the windward–leeward exposure gradient. Our analysis demonstrates that foragers targeted a rich assemblage of taxa from different habitats, reflecting a foraging strategy that was adapted to local environmental conditions. Human foraging over 2000 years documented no observable human impacts to molluscs or nearshore intertidal marine ecosystems, challenging previous notions of atolls as marginal, exceptionally difficult settings for human habitation.

Marine Reservoir Correction for the Southern Marshall Islands for the Past 2500 Years

AbstractA robust marine radiocarbon (14C) reservoir correction (ΔR) is essential for calibrating14C dates of marine mollusks and fish bones routinely found in archaeological sites as discarded food remains and bones of terrestrial animals (including humans) with an appreciable marine diet. New ΔR values are reported for the atoll archipelago of the Marshall Islands, eastern Micronesia. Atolls consist of biogenetic material—mostly coral and foraminifera—that can be directly dated for establishing sequences of atoll emergence and islet development. After sectioning and examination using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to screen for sample diagenesis, 6 pristine branch coral samples were selected from the modern oceanside beach, 3 archaeological sites, and islet developmental facies from Ebon Atoll (4º34′N, 168º41′E). Each sample was analyzed by U-series and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)14C showing no substantial temporal ΔR variations and yielding a weighted mean ΔR of 41±42 yr1spanning ~500 yr before earliest human colonization (the period when islets first became habitable) through the entire 2000-yr occupation sequence. Reliable published ΔR values for Micronesia and Δ14C data for Palmyra Island, together with our results for Ebon Atoll, indicate that the Pacific North Equatorial Counter Current is almost stable for the past 2500 yr.

Ancient bones in honor of the goddess Sinlaku: New findings on the island of Kosrae, Eastern Micronesia

Ancient bones in honor of the goddess Sinlaku: New findings on the island of Kosrae, Eastern Micronesia

Roasting breadfruit in the Pacific: A combined plant macroremain and phytolith analysis from Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia

ABSTRACTIn eastern Micronesia, breadfruit is an important staple crop and has probably been part of the diet since initial settlement. This paper uses combined macroremains and phytolith analysis to identify breadfruit production from a historical feature on Temwen Island, Pohnpei, Micronesia. Charred breadfruit exocarp material was recovered, indicating breadfruit roasting. Phytolith analysis from this feature does not provide direct evidence of breadfruit, but does reveal other taxa that are not present in flotation samples, demonstrating the utility of analysing multiple lines of botanical data. Thus, this project presents new botanical evidence for breadfruit and a method for approaching a more comprehensive study of cooking practices.

Gross and Microscopic Lesions in Corals from Micronesia.

The authors documented gross and microscopic morphology of lesions in corals on 7 islands spanning western, southern, and eastern Micronesia, sampling 76 colonies comprising 30 species of corals among 18 genera, with Acropora, Porites, and Montipora dominating. Tissue loss comprised the majority of gross lesions sampled (41%), followed by discoloration (30%) and growth anomaly (29%). Of 31 cases of tissue loss, most lesions were subacute (48%), followed by acute and chronic (26% each). Of 23 samples with discoloration, most were dark discoloration (40%), with bleaching and other discoloration each constituting 30%. Of 22 growth anomalies, umbonate growth anomalies composed half, with exophytic, nodular, and rugose growth anomalies composing the remainder. On histopathology, for 9 cases of dark discoloration, fungal infections predominated (77%); for 7 bleached corals, depletion of zooxanthellae from the gastrodermis made up a majority of microscopic diagnoses (57%); and for growth anomalies other than umbonate, hyperplasia of the basal body wall was the most common microscopic finding (63%). For the remainder of the gross lesions, no single microscopic finding constituted >50% of the total. Host response varied with the agent present on histology. Fragmentation of tissues was most often associated with algae (60%), whereas necrosis dominated (53%) for fungi. Two newly documented potentially symbiotic tissue-associated metazoans were seen in Porites and Montipora. Findings of multiple potential etiologies for a given gross lesion highlight the importance of incorporating histopathology in coral disease surveys. This study also expands the range of corals infected with cell-associated microbial aggregates.

The rat and the octopus: initial human colonization and the prehistoric introduction of domestic animals to Remote Oceania

Remote Oceania was colonized initially in three migratory phases: the western archipelagos of Micronesia plus eastern Melanesia out to west Polynesia in the period 3500–2800 cal BP (all dates hereafter are cal BP), central and eastern Micronesia 2200–2000 BP and east and south Polynesia 1100–700 BP. The early and late migration phases are best-known archaeologically. During these phases a number of plants and animals were introduced. Of the latter, the pig (Sus scrofa), dog (Canis familiaris), fowl or chicken (Gallus gallus) and rats (Rattus spp., especially R. exulans) were most deliberately associated with human settlement. The pattern of introductions appears to be only partly in agreement with an implication of widespread early distribution derived from the orthodox colonisation model of ‘transported landscape’ coupled with sophisticated seafaring. Within the two main migrations the pattern of introductions is similar. Excepting in the movement to West Micronesia, all four taxa were transported into the islands nearest their proximate sources at, or soon after, the beginning of migration, but their introduction to more remote islands was partial and patchy. Evaluation of invasibility, invasiveness and transportability characteristics amongst the four taxa suggest that island size and complexity, propagule pressure and seafaring capability were important factors in differential distribution and survival. Seafaring capability was especially important because it determined the extent of accessibility to islands near and far and the degree of propagule or introduction pressure that was exerted. Framing the archaeological data within a model of invasion biology offers a richer and more systematic approach to the complexities of introduction than adopting a culture-historical perspective.

Analysis of Plant Microfossils in Archaeological Deposits from Two Remote Archipelagos: The Marshall Islands, Eastern Micronesia, and the Pitcairn Group, Southeast Polynesia

ABSTRACT Pollen and starch residue analyses were conducted on 24 sediment samples from archaeological sites on Maloelap and Ebon Atolls in the Marshall Islands, eastern Micronesia, and Henderson and Pitcairn Islands in the Pitcairn Group, Southeast Polynesia. The sampled islands, two of which are “mystery islands” (Henderson and Pitcairn), previously occupied and abandoned before European contact, comprise three types of Pacific islands: low coral atolls, raised atolls, and volcanic islands. Pollen, starch grains, calcium oxylate crystals, and xylem cells of introduced non-Colocasia Araceae (aroids) were identified in the Marshalls and Henderson (ca. 1,900 yr B.P. and 1,200 yr B.P. at the earliest, respectively). The data provide direct evidence of prehistoric horticulture in those islands and initial fossil pollen sequences from Pitcairn Island. Combined with previous studies, the data also indicate a horticultural system on Henderson comprising both field and tree crops, with seven different cultigens, ...

Walpole, a "Mystery Island" in southeast New Caledonia? In A Pacific Odyssey: Archaeology and Anthropology in the Western Pacific. Papers in Honour of Jim Specht

Walpole Island, the southernmost island of Melanesia, is a spectacular raised limestone formation 135 km south of the Loyalty Islands within the New Caledonian archipelago. Occupied by enormous numbers of seabirds when the first westerners landed, this rocky spot was mined for guano. Workers frequently reported archaeological finds that indicated prehistoric occupation and an early collection of artefacts was sent to the Australian Museum in Sydney. Over the last 30 years, research on the archaeological heritage of the island has been carried out through the study of museum collections and excavations. This paper reports the results of recent stratigraphic excavations, and synthesizes current archaeological knowledge about the human occupation of Walpole spanning at least 2,500 years. SAND, CHRISTOPHE, 2004. Walpole, a “Mystery Island” in southeast New Caledonia? In A Pacific Odyssey: Archaeology and Anthropology in the Western Pacific. Papers in Honour of Jim Specht, ed. Val Attenbrow and Richard Fullagar, pp. 109–122. Records of the Australian Museum, Supplement 29. Sydney: Australian Museum. Records of the Australian Museum, Supplement 29 (2004): 109–122 ISBN 0-9750476-3-9 www.amonline.net.au/pdf/publications/1407_complete.pdf During the last two decades, Melanesian and Polynesian prehistory has come of age (Kirch, 2000). Jim Specht was a pioneer with an insatiable drive to explore new directions in Pacific prehistory. Amongst numerous other projects, he initiated modern archaeological studies of the pre-European settlement on Norfolk Island (Specht, 1984). Before discovering Norfolk on the 5th October 1774, James Cook put a new archipelago on the European map—New Caledonia (Beaglehole, 1961). One week previously he had passed just out of sight of a small uplifted coral island, at the southeastern tip of the Grande Terre. Its name, given a few decades later, is Walpole. Very few people know of this island at the southernmost point of Melanesia. Although Walpole appeared as a “mystery” early in the literature (see Sand 2002: 14 for a review), it is not normally listed in studies of the Pacific “mystery islands”, which focus only on Polynesia and eastern Micronesia (Bellwood, 1978: 352–353; Kirch, 1988; but see Di Piazza & Pearthree, 2001: 165). A historical connection links Walpole to the Australian Museum in Sydney, where the oldest archaeological collection from the island is stored. In this paper I summarize the historical and archaeological data of Walpole and propose a tentative chronology. “Mystery Islands”: a short review When European navigators started to systematically explore the Pacific, they visited uninhabited islands with signs of former human occupation, like Pitcairn in East Polynesia, and Norfolk off eastern Australia. These abandoned islands were mostly in Polynesia (Kirch, 1984: table 9), although some east Micronesian islands were also identified (Terrell, 1986: fig. 28). The “mystery” of their pre-historic settlement and abandonment led to early research (e.g., Emory, 1928, 1934). As Kirch (1984: 89–92, 1988) pointed out, although all these “mystery islands” were grouped on the basis of isolation, resource scarcity and absence of occupation at

Marshallese royal marriages; Generalized exchange in eastern Micronesia

Marshallese royal marriages; Generalized exchange in eastern Micronesia

Micronesian Prehistory: An Archeological Overview

The majority of archeological work in Micronesia has occurred in the last 5 years. Prehistoric peoples moved into this area from two separate areas-insular southeast Asia and eastern Melanesia. The high islands of western Micronesia were settled at least 4000 years ago. Settlement in eastern Micronesia occurred at least 2000 years ago. On high islands, complex, stratified societies developed, each with distinctive material remains. Atolls have proved to be significant sources of archeological materials and figure prominently in the prehistory of the area.

Whalers and Missionaries at Herschel Island

Relations between missionaries and whalers at the 19th century arctic whaling outpost on Herschel Island are described. The impact of the liquor trade on these relations, when contrasted with the case of the 19th century beach communities in eastern Micronesia, suggests how the apparent divisiveness of an issue may reflect phenomena relating to the psychology of social judgment which also underlie certain aspects of ethnicity and ethnocentrism.

Characteristics of Micronesian

The geographical and linguistic limits of Micronesia do not quite coincide. Micronesian is spoken outside its geographical area and non-Micronesian types are used inside it. Linguistically Western Micronesia shows affinities with Indonesia, Eastern Micronesia with Polynesia, and the central nucleus (Caroline and Marshall Islands) with Melanesia. The structure of Micronesian may be studied in representative types of languages: Palau, Saipan Chamorro, Ponpe, Ebon, and Gilbertese. The resemblances between these in the pronominal category are the only ones which have so far been investigated.