European Settlement Research Articles

Metals in sediment of the upper Great Lakes: Spatial distribution, temporal trends, anthropogenic enrichment, and risk assessments

Thirteen elements including Al, Ag, As, Co, Cu, Cd, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Se, Zn, and Pb were measured in 107 surface grab sediment samples and 175 segments of eight cores from Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron, using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Concentrations in Ponar grabs vary considerably among metals and among locations, ranging from the highest median for Fe in Lake Superior (42,000 mg/kg) to the lowest median for Ag in the main Lake Huron (0.05 mg/kg). The inventory at coring sites ranged from 7 × 106 mg/m2 of Fe to 3 mg/m2 of Ag. The background concentrations were estimated from deeper core segments, and enrichment factors (EFs) were calculated with Fe or Al as the reference element. The results show that Al, Fe, Co, Cr, and Mn did not enrich, Ag, Cu, and Ni were present higher than expected from natural sources alone, while Pb, Cd, Se, Zn, and As have been enriched at most sites after European settlement in the region. EFs of most metals are higher for Lake Michigan than the other lakes. However, EF comparison among sampling sites revealed intrinsic problems of this approach for the assessment of human interference. Preliminary risk assessment, conducted by calculating risk quotients, revealed environmental risks of some metals in each lake; however, the results should be interpreted with caution because the approach used is considered to be conservative.

Remembering Colonial Algeria’s Desert in the “Grand Sud”

While the majority of French colonists in Algeria lived on the Mediterranean coast in cities such as Algiers and Oran, or in not-too-distant inland towns like Constantine, those who settled further afield in communities bordering or in the Sahara Desert, like Aflou, Batna, Biskra, or Khenchela, had a vastly different experience of colonial life. These settlers were often isolated outsiders, subdued by the remote terrain. In French Algerian memorial books destined to fulfill French colonial nostalgia, repeated iconic images of recognizable destinations and events overlap and solidify in the memory of Algeria’s former French inhabitants, the Pieds-Noirs. Within these same memorial texts, the desert, which occupies 80% of Africa’s largest country, has always been present. Photographs from the 1850s onward, attempting to capture the country for its French occupiers, depict the desert as a peaceful and quiet landscape with exotic indigenous figures, traditional houses, and little evidence of Europeans in the frame. Locations are hard to pinpoint, outside of the occasional oasis, and the sand dune landscapes would have been shifting. This article examines how colonial photographs and sparsely written textual souvenirs of the desert provide a contrapuntal image of colonial Algeria as a place of the unknown. Using Dylan Trigg’s work on place and memory, I explore the juxtaposition of the predominant nostalgic vision of European settlement and images of the desert that highlight what the French Empire never possessed.

Resilient Urban Communities: A Case Study of the Cvjetno Housing Estate, a Modern Period Predecessor in Urban Planning in Croatia

The paper analyzes the concept of resilience in the context of the Cvjetno housing estate in Zagreb, Croatia, a recognized cultural and historical complex. While extensive literature exists on the estate’s architectural and historical significance, limited research explores its resilience. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the Cvjetno estate’s planned resilience to natural hazards and socioeconomic challenges. It investigates the estate’s design, historical context, and physical characteristics through archival documents, historical records, and field research. The analysis focuses on the estate’s planned resilience to natural disasters, particularly flooding from the nearby river Sava and seismic risks due to its location in a seismically active area. Based on the literature on resilient communities, the study draws on dimensions, characteristics, and qualities of resilience, and explores how the Cvjetno estate exemplifies these traits. Future research could explore and compare similar mid-20th century European settlements to enhance the understanding of urban resilience during the modern era.

The golden-backed tree-rat (Mesembriomys macrurus) (Peters 1876): reproduction, growth, development and behaviour in captivity

The golden-backed tree-rat (Mesembriomys macrurus) is a large semi-arboreal rodent that has suffered a significant reduction in range since European settlement. Seven (three male, four female) founding adults for a captive colony were captured on the Mitchell Plateau, Western Australia, and transferred to Alice Springs, Northern Territory. The reproduction, growth, development and behaviour of M. macrurus in captivity were recorded. Twenty-three litters were born with litter size of 1–3 (median litter size: 2; overall sex ratio parity). There was no apparent seasonality in breeding. Oestrous cycle (9.9 ± 0.4 days) and gestation (46.8 ± 2.8 days) were estimated from known births and birth dates determined from calculated growth curves. Mean weight at birth was 17.2 g (±1.3, n = 12) and growth of the young was rapid, with head length reaching the asymptote from 54 days and head-body length from 83 days. Young were weaned at about 40 days and adult pelage complete by 98 days. Reproductive maturity occurred from 5 to 6 months for females and in males testes became scrotal from 76 days. Developmental stages and captive behaviour were also recorded. These results are compared with reproduction and growth of the closely related black-footed tree-rat (M. gouldii) and brush-tailed rabbit-rat (Conilurus penicillatus).

Mapping available water capacity as a soil production capital metric in Australia

This study aims to identify a key soil property influencing farmland prices as a soil production capital indicator for soil security. There is generally a strong relationship between farmland price and production capital, as well as with biomass production. From a soil-centric point of view, under dryland agriculture in Australia, we hypothesise that soil available water capacity (AWC) is a key soil property influencing farmland prices and consequently can act as a soil production capital indicator. Here, we relate soil AWC of Australia to median farmland prices using digital soil maps of AWC. The results revealed that AWC from 0 to 100 cm is significantly associated with farmland prices (r = 0.31, p-value<0.05), providing a linear regression to estimate the soil production capital. As long as the AWC (mm) is above 67.6, the coefficient suggests that a 1 mm increase in AWC (mm) results in an increment of 293.6 $/ha in farmland prices in Australia. Additionally, an assessment of the anthropological impact on soils was conducted through phenosoil-genosoil differentiation analysis. We concluded that despite the shared formation characteristics of each pedogenon, soils with the highest AWC were not necessarily chosen for agricultural purposes since European settlement. Furthermore, our findings indicate that phenosoils in Queensland and Tasmania have higher levels of insecurity, likely due to intensified and inappropriate farming that may result in AWC reductions. This analysis provides another perspective to quantify the capital dimension of soil security, valuing its critical role in sustainable food systems and ecosystem services.

Niche separation of three species of tree-rat (black-footed tree-rat, M. gouldii, golden-backed tree-rat, Mesembriomys macrurus, and brush-tailed rabbit-rat, Conilurus penicillatus) on the Mitchell Plateau, Western Australia

Context Distribution and abundance of the three northern Australian tree-rat species, Conilurus penicillatus, Mesembriomys macrurus and M. gouldii, have contracted significantly since European settlement. All three species were recorded from the Mitchell Plateau, Western Australia, in the 1980s, enabling their niche separation to be assessed. Despite this study being conducted in 1987, the results remain relevant for conservation strategies for these species. Aims To determine the ecological separation among three tropical tree-rat species by documenting habitat preferences, habitat use and diet. Methods Live-trapping, radiotracking and spotlighting were used to assess relative abundance, habitat preference and movements of each species at nine sites on the Mitchell Plateau. Diet was determined using scat analysis; vegetation communities were described and characterised by pattern analysis. Key results C. penicillatus (number of individuals trapped (n) = 24) was most abundant, followed by M. macrurus (n = 8) and M. gouldii (n = 2). Mature open forest with a well-developed understorey was preferred by the predominantly arboreal M. gouldii (1 site), M. macrurus occupied more varied habitats (four sites), especially ecotones between vine thicket and open eucalypt forest and the boulder edges of the plateau, and C. penicillatus occupied the greatest variety of habitats (four sites) in open eucalypt woodland with a diverse shrub layer and ground cover almost absent to very dense, tall grass. Diet analysis identified M. gouldii as a frugivore (fruits, some flowers), M. macrurus as an omnivore (seeds, fruits, flowers, termites, other invertebrates), and C. penicillatus as a generalist (monocot and dicot leaves, seeds, flowers, fruits, some arthropods). Conclusions The largest of the species, M. gouldii, appeared to have the narrowest ecological niche, preferring more stable, structurally diverse, mature open forest that is infrequently burnt. The mid-sized M. macrurus occupies a broader range of habitats, particularly ecotones between vine thickets and eucalypt forest/woodland and woodland. C. penicillatus preferred open eucalypt woodland with a variable understorey. Implications With a changing climate, increased fire frequency, habitat degradation by introduced herbivores and predation by cats across the tropical savanna distribution of these threatened tree-rats, this study provides data to underpin actions that may ensure their survival.

Reintroduction to the edge of its range: quenda (Isoodon fusciventer) to Wadderin Sanctuary in the eastern wheatbelt of Western Australia

Context Quenda (bandicoots, Isoodon fusciventer) have shown a major decline in range since European settlement, contracting to the more mesic coastal and forest zones in south-west Western Australia. Key actions to recover this species include broad-scale fox control, cat control and reintroductions. Most reintroductions have been to coastal and forest habitats. Aims To monitor the reintroduction of quenda to fox-free habitat of Wadderin Sanctuary in the wheatbelt of Western Australia, close to the eastern and drier margin of the species’ former range. Methods Relative abundance of the population was monitored over a 12-year period by regular standardised trapping throughout the sanctuary. Key results Quenda were reintroduced in 2010 and have persisted for &gt;12 years. They were protected from fox predation by an exclusion fence, but were subject to a low level of cat predation for the first 8 years. Quenda showed both a ~20% drop in mean body condition over time and a trend of decreasing number of pouch young per female over time, likely a result of a succession of dry years and intra-and inter-specific competition for food resources. However, despite this, the index of abundance suggests that quenda numbers substantially increased, aided by high annual recruitment, in years following removal of the feral cat. Conclusions Quenda appear resilient at this site despite consecutive years of very low rainfall and apparent competition for food resources. Implications Quenda seem able to persist on the drier margin of their former range when protected from high levels of predation.

Late Pleistocene to Holocene vegetation changes in southeastern Patagonia (49° S): landscape changes related to disturbances

ABSTRACTSoutheastern Patagonia's (49° S) post‐glacial history inferred from high Andean lake sediments provides new insights regarding Late Pleistocene and Holocene vegetation dynamics at the eastern margin of the Southern Patagonian Icefield. The fossil records of pollen, charcoal and geochemical data from tephra layers from Laguna Chiquita and Laguna Gemelas Este were analysed to reveal past landscape dynamics related to vegetation changes, fire and volcanic events from ca. 15 200 cal a bp to the present. Nothofagus forest expanded over shrubland communities sometime between 15 200 and 4600 cal a bp, along with at least three disturbance sources related to the volcanic eruptions of Lautaro, Aguilera and Hudson, important local fire episodes, and neoglacial advances. Major charcoal deposition reveals moderate fire activity during the Late Pleistocene related to an open landscape characterised by a grass/shrub steppe. Local glacier advances may have affected the Laguna Gemelas Este sedimentation. Tephra deposition events do not correlate to vegetation changes inferred from the Laguna Gemelas Este and Laguna Chiquita pollen records. Late Holocene eastern Andean forest changes and fire activity at 49° S match other southern palaeoenvironmental records (50–52° S) suggesting that changes in the Southern Westerly Wind latitudinal position and intensity drove major palaeovegetation and fire dynamics before the European settlement. In the last centuries, fire and vegetation changes have been closely related to an increase in local ignition sources and the introduction of alien species.

Do Australian 19th Century Gold Discoveries have Implications for Interpreting Early Gold Mining Elsewhere?

Eight discovery histories of well-documented Australian goldfields indicate the bonanza recoveries available to “first-movers” into previously unmined areas. These have implications for how we interpret goldfields elsewhere that have been repeatedly re-worked since Antiquity and where earliest exploitation has left no clear record. Australian gold was first mined after European settlement in the 19th century, and the manual techniques in the initial stages were not substantially better than available to Bronze Age miners. Dry blowing was used extensively in both arid and seasonally dry regions, often as an initial step followed by transport to a water source. The ease of gold recovery from placers conferred a huge competitive advantage over lode gold, which required crushing and grinding. Hence, early production was generally dominated by free gold recovered from proximal settings including non-alluvial placers (residual, eluvial, colluvial, and hillslope areas). Earliest returns were often prodigious: 5 to 50 grams of gold or more per miner per day in the discovery phase, and 1-5 grams while unworked ground remained. Commonly these high returns were prolonged by “rolling rushes” in which multiple nearby gold occurrences were discovered. Nevertheless, production waned rapidly (within 2-15 years) unless major lodes or large distal placers were discovered. Early returns are not a good predictor of overall productivity: more than 90 percent of gold was recovered in the initial burst of activity on some fields. Colluvial and proximal alluvial placer mining overwhelmingly dominated early production in most Australian goldfields but leave minimal archaeological evidence. That was probably the case elsewhere in the world, where gold was first mined in the Bronze Age or earlier, and we should heed this when interpreting their earliest mining phases.

МУЗИЧНА ПЕДАГОГІКА ПІВНІЧНОЇ АМЕРИКИ ЗА ЧАСІВ КОЛОНІЗАЦІЇ

The article dwells upon the evolution of music pedagogy in North America during the Colonial period. The study aims to highlight the development of music education in North America during this time and to identify the significant influences of European cultural heritage on the music pedagogy of the Indigenous peoples of North America. The authors have employed the following methods: systematization, analysis, and synthesis of historical, scientific, and pedagogical sources to generalize information on the outlined topic; historical and genetic analysis examines the impact of European notation systems and teaching methods on Indigenous traditions as well as the changes that occurred in musical practices during colonization; comparative analysis compares European and Indigenous musical traditions, particularly in the areas of vocal performance and pedagogical methods; cultural and contextual analysis addresses the social, cultural, and other conditions that accompanied music pedagogy during the Colonial period. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of how European musical practices were introduced and adapted within the colonial context, reflecting the complexities of cultural exchange and adaptation. The study focuses on transmitting European musical traditions, including instructional methods, notation systems, and musical repertoire, as they encountered the diverse cultural landscape of the American colonies. The article examines the role of music in colonial education, emphasizing its significance in religious instruction and socialization. It shows how hymns, psalms, and folk tunes were used in schools and religious settings to impart moral values and foster community cohesion. The impact of various European settlers is analyzed to reveal how their musical heritage influenced local pedagogical practices. Challenges such as geographical isolation, limited resources, and interactions with Indigenous populations are discussed to understand the adaptability of European music education practices in the colonial environment. The article also highlights the contributions of colonial educators and musicians who played a crucial role in shaping the musical education landscape. Future research prospects involve exploring contemporary educational practices in the context of historical influences and cultural changes, which will contribute to developing new approaches to music education that consider the diversity of cultural and social contexts. Key words: music pedagogy of North America, Colonial period, Indigenous peoples, European colonizers, musical traditions, cultural conflicts, assimilation, historical influence.

Application of Satellite Data for Estimating Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Potential

Rooftop solar photovoltaics can significantly contribute to global energy transitions by providing clean, decentralized energy without the need for new land, thereby avoiding land-use conflicts. It serves as a valuable complement to other renewable-energy sources and is expected to play a crucial role in future electricity systems. Due to the spatiotemporal variability in the solar radiation on roof surfaces, it is essential to determine the potentials of the rooftop photovoltaics and its variations in specific regions. In Germany, this potential was assessed in 5 km × 5 km zones, as well as at the federal-state and national levels. High-quality satellite and reanalysis data were used to determine the power output of the solar photovoltaics. Additionally, high-resolution (2 m × 2 m) European Settlement Map data, calibrated with solar cadastre data, were utilized to evaluate different scenarios. The results show that the potential is concentrated in larger urban areas and the southwestern part of Germany due to the availability of rooftop space and solar radiation. Overall, the national rooftop areas are substantial across all scenarios, ranging from 2100 to 4500 km2. The applied methods and scenarios provide a straightforward way to reveal the spatiotemporal variability and define realistic ranges of the solar photovoltaic potential without requiring detailed information about each building. However, assessing the rooftop photovoltaic potential remains challenging and uncertain due to the lack of large-scale, high-resolution data on building characteristics and the complexity of the solar radiation distribution in urban environments.

Tracking glass beads: communities and exchange relationships across the Atlantic in the seventeenth century

Minimally invasive compositional analyses of glass trade beads have revolutionised the study of these highly portable and socially significant items. Here, the authors interrogate new and legacy compositional data to investigate how Indigenous communities in eastern North America, particularly Wendat confederacy members, obtained beads from European traders and connected to broader interregional exchange systems c. AD 1600–1670. Diagnostic chemical elements in glass compositions reveal down-the-line exchange and population movement into the Western Great Lakes region prior to the arrival of European settlers, which highlights active Indigenous participation in transatlantic economic networks during a historical period of dynamic reorganisation and interaction.

Creating power from failure: policing stock theft in colonial East Africa

In Dr. Keebet Benda-Beckmann’s scholarship that has transformed the field of legal pluralism, she highlights the importance of understanding how colonization impacted systems of power. This article extends Benda-Beckmann’s forum shopping framework to analyze colonial Tanganyika’s thwarted attempts to establish law and order, particularly when it came to cattle. Laws criminalizing stock theft were among the first imposed in British East Africa, and disputes rose to the surface of four decades of annual police and prison reports, in anxious correspondence between police commissioners and European settler farmers, in reports from the governor to London, and in meetings of farmers’ associations. In line with other case studies of legal pluralism, stock theft in this context of indirect rule shows how law-making and law-enforcing were not solely the domain of the state and police, but largely shaped by settler famers—and indigenous resistance to their theft of land and resources. Stock theft and attempts to stop it constituted state power and expanded the capitalist state and policing strategies, many of which traveled to other parts of the British Empire and outlived formal colonial rule. The colonial police gained their power not despite their failure to stop stock theft but because of it.

A declaration of commitments toward agroecology pluralities: A critical gaze on the U.S. Agroecology Summit 2023

First paragraphs: The U.S. Agroecology Summit was held May 22–25, 2023, at the Elms Hotel in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. One of the first agroecology convenings of its kind, the summit was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and organized by researchers across prominent U.S. universities. The gathering brought together scholars, researchers, farmers, activists, and movement leaders to create a “roadmap for agroecological research in the U.S.” This declaration, written, edited, and affirmed by us, the undersigned subgroup of summit participants, aims to archive and communicate the challenges we grappled with during and after this gathering while also advocating for an unwavering commitment toward agroecological pluralities. Like all lands commonly known as the United States, the location for the convening, the Elms Hotel, is on stolen Indigenous land. The rolling hills of Northwest Missouri where the convening took place are the historical hunting, foraging, and fishing grounds, and farming areas of the region’s original peoples, which include the Ioway, Missouria, Osage, Otoe, and Sac and Fox nations. Through a series of treaties in the 1800s, all tribes were forcibly and systematically removed from what became Missouri to make way for white European settlers. None of the aforementioned tribes currently have a land base in Missouri, nor are there any federally or state-recognized tribes remain­ing in the state. Approximately 50 miles to the west and across the Missouri River, the state of Kansas is now home to the nearest federally recognized Tribal Nations: the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas, Prairie Band Potawatomie, and Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska. There was no representation from these tribes or any other local or regional Black, Indigenous, or communities of color in the summit’s organizing committee. Subsequently, the summit’s conceptual framings, design, and decision-making lacked grounding in the histories, ethics, and practices of local Indigenous and other regionally based frontline communities. . . .

Synergies of affordances and place-based relationality in Forest School practice: implications for socio-emotional well-being.

Research shows that the human-nature relationship positively impacts human well-being. Forest School (FS) practice offers young children a structured program of nature connection through activities, aiming to enhance their self-esteem and social skills. FS is now adapted in countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand where a unique cultural interface occurs between European settlers and Indigenous peoples. Responding to socio-cultural diversities, geographical contexts, and the traditional ecological knowledges, FS needs to go beyond play pedagogy and incorporate theoretical perspectives that promote human-nature relationship in local context-specific environments. We argue that the synergies between Western perspectives on affordances perceived in person-environment relationship and Indigenous place-based relationality perspective provide a more suitable approach for developing reciprocal relationships between FS participants and land/place/nature. We propose that the synergies between affordances perceived in FS and place-based relationality cultivated in participants will enhance social and emotional well-being. We call for specific research investigating such synergies supporting participant well-being. Future research on FS practice should be directed toward initiating and exploring co-designed studies by Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers incorporating methodologies that study participant experience as well as evaluating the impact of FS programs embedding affordances and place-based relationality perspectives.

Two Cheers for Biden’s Ukraine Policy

US President Joe Biden’s approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been a qualified success. Under his leadership, the United States helped to ensure that Kyiv did not fall to Russia during the early stages of the war while also avoiding a catastrophic horizontal or vertical escalation of the conflict. These are non-trivial successes for which the president and his team of advisers deserve credit. However, Biden has fallen short when it comes to laying down markers for the post-war settlement in Europe. American leadership will be necessary to construct a stable security order once the current war is over, yet the United States under Biden has failed to articulate what such an arrangement should look like. The US should adopt a policy of retrenchment and offshore balancing toward Europe, with the European members of NATO taking primary responsibility for deterring future Russian aggression.

Temporal changes in spatial scale and autocorrelation structure of forest openings based on taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional turnover

ContextDuring European settlement, Illinois grasslands were converted for agricultural purposes. Remaining natural areas in southern Illinois include natural xeric forest openings, with communities representative of remnant grasslands and adjacent hardwood forests. Previous research in these openings shows plant communities are driven by edaphic conditions. ObjectivesThe first objective aimed to characterize spatial scale and autocorrelation structure of these openings based on climatic, environmental, and diversity variables. The second objective was to predict taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional turnover between 1988 and 2019, using climatic and environmental variables. MethodsSurveys were conducted to calculate taxonomic, phylogenetics and functional trait metrics and analyses of these dimensions of diversity. Randomization tests were used to assess phylogenetic and functional clustering and over-dispersion at each site. Spatially-explicit climatic and environmental variables were included from earlier surveys and data repositories. Global Moran's I and spatial autocorrelograms were used to assess spatial structure of climatic, environmental, and diversity variables and generalized dissimilarity modeling was used to characterize taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional turnover based on environmental variables. ResultsSoil depth was the only environmental variable which exhibited significant global spatial autocorrelation. Overall, sandstone sites were phylogenetically over-dispersed while loess sites were phylogenetically clustered. Climate variables and diversity metrics exhibited significant spatial structure during surveys. Generalized dissimilarity models showed that geographic distance between openings was the most influential driver of turnover across surveys. ConclusionsPrevious glacial events explained the spatial structure of soil depth across sites, due to Quaternary loess deposition in loess sites. High diversity values were clustered in the southeastern portions of the study area. Functional generalized dissimilarity models best predicted turnover in these openings compared to taxonomic and phylogenetic models.

Between Assimilation and Identity: The Dynamics of the Jewish Community in Indonesia

This research examines the existence and dynamics of the Jewish community in Indonesia, which has deep historical roots dating back to the arrival of early European explorers and settlers. The Jewish community in Indonesia is unique and rarely discussed in the context of the country's religious plurality. Despite their relatively small numbers compared to the majority religion, their existence brings important perspectives on assimilation and identity dynamics. This research fills a knowledge gap by investigating the specific dynamics of the Jewish community in the context of assimilation and identity, expanding the understanding of the history of antisemitism and representation as well as Jewish national loyalties and identity in Indonesia. Through qualitative methods and a case study approach, data was collected through in-depth interviews and document analysis to capture the historical perspectives and adaptations of the community. The results show that the Jewish community, although small, has successfully assimilated while maintaining their religious and cultural identity in a social environment dominated by other religions. This research provides new insights into the study of religious plurality, particularly in the context of Muslim-majority Indonesia. It illustrates how assimilation and identity preservation can occur simultaneously, offering a more complex and dynamic perspective than previously recognized. The findings also emphasize the importance of interfaith education and interreligious dialogue as factors that influence the ability of religious minorities to maintain their identities. The results of this study have significant implications for the understanding of religious diversity in Indonesia and how small communities can contribute to the national discourse. The theoretical benefits of the findings enrich the study of religious minority dynamics in plural societies, highlighting that flexibility and adaptation are important aspects in the survival of religious and cultural identities. Practically, the findings can inform the development of more inclusive policies that protect the rights of religious and faith minorities in Indonesia.

Legacy impacts and recovery of δ15N, δ13C and C/N storage in soils due to historic land use

Physical and chemical modifications within soils have been proposed as a marker of the Anthropocene, as soils can preserve modifications due to past land use for long periods of time. Soils are the primary terrestrial reservoir of C and N and are especially important for sequestration and emission of C related to land use changes. The northeast US has a well-documented sequence of deforestation and reforestation related to land use changes following European settlement, yet the impact of land use and recovery on C and N stocks and isotopes is still poorly constrained. We analyze δ15N, δ13C, and C/N to evaluate changes to soil C and N related to historical land use across an Anthropocene chronosequence comprised of four land use classes that vary in terms of duration of disturbance and recovery time from past agricultural activity. Reforested soils show minimal difference in δ15N and δ13C and display no overall statistical relationship with abandonment length, while modern agricultural soils have higher δ15N values. Differences in total C and N between land use classes are more distinct, as SOC decreases and total N increases with longer land use duration. Historic agriculture increased C and N storage, and recently abandoned land still has the potential to act as a sink to store more organic C. In total, land use imparts clear changes to SOC and N stocks that persist long after abandonment, providing a distinct marker of anthropogenic activities. However, stable C and N isotopes of soils within reforested classes show only slight differences between land use classes, indicating shorter timescales of isotopic resetting of C and N signatures following abandonment.

Early Aboriginal pottery production and offshore island occupation on Jiigurru (Lizard Island group), Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Aboriginal manufacture and use of pottery was unknown in Australia prior to European settlement, despite well-known ceramic-making traditions in southern Papua New Guinea, eastern Indonesia, and the western Pacific. The absence of ancient pottery manufacture in mainland Australia has long puzzled researchers given other documented deep time Aboriginal exchange networks across the continent and the close proximity of pottery-bearing Lapita and post-Lapita maritime communities in the western Pacific with ocean-going watercraft and sophisticated navigation abilities. We report the oldest securely dated ceramics found in Australia from archaeological excavations on Jiigurru (Lizard Island Group) on the Great Barrier Reef, northeast Australia. Comprehensive radiocarbon dating and Bayesian modelling constrains ceramic deposition to between 2950–2545 cal BP and 1970–1815 cal BP. This timing overlaps with late Lapita and post-Lapita ceramic traditions of southern Papua New Guinea. Geological characterisation of the sherds strongly suggests local manufacture as the vessels belong to three temper and clay groups locally sourced to northeast Australia, and most likely to Jiigurru. The oldest occupation layers date to 6510–5790 cal BP, making Jiigurru the earliest offshore island occupied on the northern Great Barrier Reef. The results demonstrate that northeast Australian First Nations communities had sophisticated canoe voyaging technology and open-sea navigational skills and were intimately engaged in ancient maritime networks, connecting them with peoples, knowledges, and technologies across the Coral Sea region.