Sailing at the Edge of Time: Global Perspectives on Island Colonization

The timing and drivers of colonization into previously uninhabited areas is a central theme in archaeological research. Questions of when, who, and from where remain important research topics in many regions as these form a baseline from which we construct explanations of the past. Islands provide a particularly rich setting to study colonization as reaching them often involved unique adaptations, including specialized watercraft, translocated domesticates, and long-distance interaction networks. However, the intricacies of colonization are often contentiously debated, as archaeological, linguistic, paleoenvironmental, and biological perspectives can present substantially different, and sometimes conflicting information, particularly regarding the timing of initial island settlements. This symposium brings together archaeologists from island regions across the globe to discuss current theoretical, substantive, and methodological issues in island colonization research.