Marginalization of the Margins: The Importance of Smaller Islands in Human Prehistory

Summary

Across the world’s seas and oceans, archaeological research focused on islands has traditionally privileged those which are larger in size. Myriad reasons can explain this phenomenon, ranging from the (mis)perception by scholars that prehistoric peoples would have been attracted to the greater number and diversity of resources typically available on larger islands, to the ephemeral aspect of archaeological evidence on smaller land areas along with issues that archaeologists face in terms of logistics and infrastructure that limit access to labor, equipment, and transportation to conduct field activities (e.g., remote atolls in the Pacific). An increasing amount of research, however, is demonstrating that peoples in the past readily occupied and/or accessed the smallest of islands for both terrestrial and marine resources. In some instances, evidence shows an earlier occupation on smaller islands within an archipelago versus larger ones, or an attraction to the former given unique or seasonal resource availability and/or defensive capabilities. In this paper, we describe cases from major aquatic regions around the world which highlight the importance that small islands—defined conservatively as those around or under 100 square km in area—have for understanding long-term human adaptations in what many have considered to be the most marginal of environments.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Life in the Diminutive Realm: Human Adaptations to Smaller Island Environments

Keywords

Spatial Coverage