Modeling the Early Settlement of Yap, Western Caroline Islands

Summary

In recent decades, increased research on the early human settlement of islands in western Micronesia (northwest tropical Pacific) has resulted in a relatively clear picture of the Palau and the Mariana Islands being settled between ca. 3200-2800 years cal BP. Despite an increased understanding of when the two major archipelagos were settled, human arrival in Yap, a group of four small islands situated between the two other islands groups, remains unclear. New radiocarbon dates from the southern site of Pemrang suggest settlement as early as ca. 2400 cal BP, yet paleoenvironmental and linguistic data suggest settlement could be as early as ca. 3200-3000 cal BP . Clarifying these conflicting lines of evidence is critical to our understanding of human settlement in the region, yet is hampered by a lack of paleoenvironmental and archaeological research. This paper presents the results of a systematic auger survey at Pemrang and uses the location of shell and Calcareous Sand Tempered pottery to model the extent of early settlement in southern Yap.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22568