Two millennia of mollusc foraging on Ebon Atoll, Marshall Islands: Sustained marine resource use on a Pacific atoll. Issue 1 (6th August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: HARRIS, MATTHEW; WEISLER, MARSHALL
• Is Part Of: Archaeology in Oceania. Volume 53:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 41
• Page End: 57
• Publication Date: 2017-08-06
• Subjects: archaeomalacology -- shell midden -- human impacts -- Pacific Islands archaeology -- intertidal ecosystems -- archeomalacologie -- restes de mollusques -- impacts humaine -- archéologie du Iles Pacifique -- écosystèmes marins intertidaux; Archaeology -- Islands of the Pacific -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- Australia -- Periodicals; Physical anthropology -- Islands of the Pacific -- Periodicals; Physical anthropology -- Australia -- Periodicals; Anthropology, Physical -- Southeast Asia -- Periodicals; Anthropology, Physical -- Australia -- Periodicals; Anthropology, Physical -- Pacific Islands -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- Southeast Asia -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- Australia -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- Pacific Islands -- Periodicals; 990
• DOI: 10.1002/arco.5134
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0728-4896

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Small, remote islands, such as low coral atolls, with nutrient‐poor, biogenic soils for food crops and vulnerability to extreme weather, have long been considered marginal environments for human habitation. Yet, four decades of archaeological research in the atoll archipelago of the Marshall Islands, eastern Micronesia have demonstrated sustained human occupation there for over two millennia. Here, we present a fine‐grained analysis of mollusc remains from four recently excavated archaeological sites (4476 total MNI / 14843 total NISP) combined with mapping and analysis of extant benthic habitats, on Ebon Atoll, Marshall Islands. We examine spatial and temporal variability in mollusc foraging practices from prehistoric village sites and ephemeral camp sites across the windward–leeward exposure gradient. Our analysis demonstrates that foragers targeted a rich assemblage of taxa from different habitats, reflecting a foraging strategy that was adapted to local environmental conditions. Human foraging over 2000 years documented no observable human impacts to molluscs or nearshore intertidal marine ecosystems, challenging previous notions of atolls as marginal, exceptionally difficult settings for human habitation.