Ghost of the Navigator: Tracking Initial Human Population Dispersal to the Palauan Archipelago

Summary

While Micronesia was one of the last geographical areas to be colonized by humans prehistorically, the timing, direction, and origins of initial settlement in many ways still remains unclear. The Chelechol ra Orrak site in Palau, which contains the oldest known human remains in Micronesia, (dating back to at least 2800 BP)—and that is one of only two burial sites in the Pacific Islands to pre-date 2500 BP —provides an excellent opportunity for direct study of population dispersals into the region via ancient DNA (aDNA). Initial results from pilot studies using material from Chelechol ra Orrak have yielded results that appear consistent with an origin in Island Southeast Asia. This paper investigates the feasibility of aDNA analysis using newly collected data from three additional burial locations in Palau (Ucheliungs, the Koror Quarry site, and Omedokel), which were added to a new suite of samples collected in situ from Chelechol ra Orrak last field season. Our results are provideing a better understanding of early population relationships and genetic diversity throughout the archipelago and helping to refine population origins for both Palau and western Micronesia.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Primer of the Ancient Mariner: New Perspectives on aDNA Research and the Prehistoric Colonization of Islands

Keywords

Spatial Coverage