The Island Anthropocene

The colonization of islands has generated significant research interest in archaeology. Islands have long been thought of as laboratories for biological evolution and as important case studies for the development of social and political processes. Though the colonization of islands is often viewed in regional and even macro-regional frameworks, this session takes stock of the state of archaeological knowledge on the impetus, timing and nature of island colonizations at the global scale. This session explores whether island colonization is inherently different from the colonization of mainlands due to the fact that islands are circumscribed, often small and have vulnerable environments. This session further considers variations in colonization processes occurring on a diverse array of islands, including large and small islands, oceanic and continental islands, and islands that experienced multiple waves of colonization. Papers that explore the unique nature of the colonization of islands in a biogeographic, spatiotemporal, or social sense are welcome. Important themes for discussion are anthropogenic changes in the landscapes and biotic communities of islands, islands as nodes within networks of trade and interaction, and the impact of climate on ancient island communities and archaeological sites.