Cultural spaces inside and outside caves: a study in Guam, western Micronesia

Carson, Michael

doi:10.15184/aqy.2016.233

Cited by 24 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The two skeletons from Ritidian offer a rare view of ancient burial practice in the Marianas region, as similar burial practices have been observed in the Philippines (65,66) and Indonesia (67). While the site and indeed this specific cave revealed multiple cultural occupation layers dating back to the first regional settlement about 3.5 kya, these two burials of RBC1 and RBC2 were found within the layer of ∼2.5 to 2 kya, confirmed by direct radiocarbon date from a bone of RBC2 of 2,180 ± 30 y BP (44). A tarsal bone was provided from each skeleton for ancient DNA analysis.…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 80%

“…The heads and torsos had been removed slightly later. Details of these findings have been reported elsewhere and situated within the larger site chronology and context (44). The two skeletons from Ritidian offer a rare view of ancient burial practice in the Marianas region, as similar burial practices have been observed in the Philippines (65,66) and Indonesia (67).…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 59%

“…At the Ritidian Site in northern Guam ( SI Appendix , Fig. S1 ), two skeletons clearly predating the latte period were found outside a ritual cave site ( 44 ). These individuals, RBC1 and RBC2, were buried side-by-side in extended positions, with heads and torsos removed ( SI Appendix , Fig.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…S2 ). Direct radiocarbon dating of a bone from RBC2 produced a result of 2,180 ± 30 calibrated years BP ( 44 ), which is thus some 1,000 y after the initial settlement of Guam, but also some 1,000 y before the latte period. Here we report the analysis of ancient DNA retrieved from these remains; our results contribute to the debate over the starting point for the first voyages that led to human settlement of the Marianas, and we provide additional insights into the role of the Marianas in the larger view of the peopling of the Pacific.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ancient DNA from Guam and the peopling of the Pacific

Pugach

Hübner

Hung

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Humans reached the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific by ∼3,500 y ago, contemporaneous with or even earlier than the initial peopling of Polynesia. They crossed more than 2,000 km of open ocean to get there, whereas voyages of similar length did not occur anywhere else until more than 2,000 y later. Yet, the settlement of Polynesia has received far more attention than the settlement of the Marianas. There is uncertainty over both the origin of the first colonizers of the Marianas (with different lines of evidence suggesting variously the Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea, or the Bismarck Archipelago) as well as what, if any, relationship they might have had with the first colonizers of Polynesia. To address these questions, we obtained ancient DNA data from two skeletons from the Ritidian Beach Cave Site in northern Guam, dating to ∼2,200 y ago. Analyses of complete mitochondrial DNA genome sequences and genome-wide SNP data strongly support ancestry from the Philippines, in agreement with some interpretations of the linguistic and archaeological evidence, but in contradiction to results based on computer simulations of sea voyaging. We also find a close link between the ancient Guam skeletons and early Lapita individuals from Vanuatu and Tonga, suggesting that the Marianas and Polynesia were colonized from the same source population, and raising the possibility that the Marianas played a role in the eventual settlement of Polynesia.

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Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 59%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ancient DNA from Guam and the peopling of the Pacific

Pugach

Hübner

Hung

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Beta-# Material Peopling of Oceania 1743 styles, shell and stone tools, shell ornaments, food middens, house structural ruins, ancient beachfront habitats, and other aspects of Ritidian (Carson , 2014c(Carson , 2017a(Carson , 2017b(Carson , 2017c, House of Taga (Carson 2014a;Carson and Hung 2015), and Unai Bapot (Carson 2008;Carson and Hung 2017).…”

Section: Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peopling of Oceania: Clarifying an Initial Settlement Horizon in the Mariana Islands at 1500 Bc

Carson

2020

Radiocarbon

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Radiocarbon (14C) has been instrumental in clarifying how people came to inhabit the expanse of Pacific Oceania, now supporting an “incremental growth model” that shows a number of long-distance sea-crossing migrations over the last few millennia. A crucial step in this narrative involved the initial settlement of the remote-distance Oceanic region, in the case of the Mariana Islands around 1500 BC. The Marianas case can be demonstrated through delineation of stratigraphic layers, dating of individual points or features within those layers, redundant dating of samples in secure contexts, localized and taxon-specific corrections for marine samples, and cross-constraining dating of superimposed layer sequences. Based on the technical and methodological lessons from the Marianas example, the further steps of the incremental growth model will continue to be refined across Pacific Oceania. Many of these issues may be relevant for broader research of ancient settlement horizons in other regions.

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A review of the rock art of Palau, Micronesia in local and regional contexts

Liston

Hoerman

Sasao³

et al. 2021

Archaeology in Oceania

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The style and iconography of the ten rock art sites known so far in Palau, Micronesia, including two newly discovered rock painting sites, are described and linked to their geographic locations, archaeological associations, oral traditions and local iconographies. Following a brief review of rock art in Micronesia and parts of Island Southeast Asia and New Guinea, Palau's eight rock painting sites and two rock engraving sites are regionally contextualized. We found no apparent relationships with rock art elsewhere in Micronesia but stylistic similarities with eastern Indonesia and West Papua painting traditions are clear. This may suggest the Palau paintings were created early in the archipelago's cultural sequence. Palau's rock paintings are clearly within the Austronesian painting tradition while the single well‐recorded carving site does not conform with the Austronesian engraving style. Palau's rock art is also closely aligned to the Oceanic Rock Art Tradition.

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Cultural spaces inside and outside caves: a study in Guam, western Micronesia

Abstract: Abstract

Cited by 24 publications

References 10 publications

Ancient DNA from Guam and the peopling of the Pacific

Ancient DNA from Guam and the peopling of the Pacific

Peopling of Oceania: Clarifying an Initial Settlement Horizon in the Mariana Islands at 1500 Bc

A review of the rock art of Palau, Micronesia in local and regional contexts

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