Colonization of the Land of Stone Money: Resolving the Unclear Origins of Early Settlements of Yap, Western Caroline Islands

Summary

The prehistoric colonization of remote islands in Micronesia represents some of the most significant series of diasporas in human history. While archaeological and genetic research is shedding new light on the origins and timing of what were clearly multiple and chronologically disparate entries into the western and eastern Micronesian archipelagoes, many of these colonizing ventures are poorly understood. This is particularly true of Yap in the Western Caroline Islands. Unlike the Palau and the Mariana island groups, where robust archaeological and linguistic datasets reveal a relatively clear picture of settlement between ca. 3500-2800 cal BP, limited investigation and conflicting lines of evidence archaeologically, linguistically, and paleoenvironmentally, have resulted in significant gaps in our understanding of human settlement in the western Pacific. Identifying sites in Yap pre-2000 BP, alluded to by paleoecological data, has great potential for altering existing models of colonization and long-distance inter-island interaction in Remote Oceania. This paper presents the results of the first systematic archaeological survey on Yap dedicated to identifying evidence for colonization.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Sailing at the Edge of Time: Global Perspectives on Island Colonization

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14330