The power of archaeology to address interpretation biases in modern geomorphology

Modeling Holocene coastal ecosystem availability and site distribution patterns for Borikén, Puerto Rico

“…While accurate, modern DEMs alone are not equitable to past topographic and bathymetric surfaces as they do not address the island's long history of human activity and high population density along the coast nor the tectonic and sedimentary processes that have influenced the island's coastlines. We acknowledge that better resolution will be achieved with sediment coring and assessment of the deep impacts of modern development and of large scale agriculture, particularly since the 17th Century (Rivera-Collazo et al, 2021;Wallman et al, 2018), which still remain to be conducted. To slightly mitigate the error of modern land use, we filtered out areas of modern human activity that were identified in the latest available National Land Cover Dataset for Puerto Rico (Homer et al, 2004(Homer et al, , 2007.…”

“…The presence of a complex lapidary and microlapidary industry with sophisticated and specialized bead and amulet work suggests differential use of, and regulated access to, inland and coastal resources. The distribution of sites suggests territoriality, with settlements near river floodplains and river mouths with good access to productive lands and diverse natural resources – such as rich tropical woods, clay, rock outcrops, and other forest resources – combined with strategic outposts that allowed for observation of the sea, possibly to oversee and control maritime routes (Rivera-Collazo et al, 2021). The absolute chronological boundaries are ambiguous, but the accepted dates place the Early Ceramic between 400 BCE (2.6 kya) and 600 and 800 CE (1.4–1.1 kya) (Curet, 2003; Napolitano et al, 2019; Reid et al, 2018).…”

“…Coastal environments remain integral to indigenous identities up to today (García-Quijano et al, 2015; Lloréns and Stanchich, 2019; Valdés Pizzini, 2006). Recent paleoecological and paleogeomorphological studies have demonstrated the value of multi-proxy, high-resolution datasets for research on Late Holocene RSL change, related environmental changes, and impact on human activities within their local, contemporaneous landscapes (Cohen et al, 2016; Rivera-Collazo et al, 2021; Siegel et al, 2015; Urrego et al, 2018).…”

“…research on Late Holocene RSL change, related environmental changes, and impact on human activities within their local, contemporaneous landscapes (Cohen et al, 2016;Rivera-Collazo et al, 2021;Siegel et al, 2015;Urrego et al, 2018). Holocene sea-level changes are the product of large scale climatic processes at a global scale.…”

“…The decision of Early Ceramic Period groups to reside preferably on the eastern coasts could have initially been strongly influenced by strategies reflecting social and political relations with other places east of Borikén and the importance of inter-island maritime networks flowing on the sea in between the islands. However, the geomorphological and ecological characteristics of the east coast during that time period could have also played a strong role on the longevity and stability of these settlements with pottery of the Saladoid and Huecoid ceramic series (see Rivera-Collazo et al, 2021). More localized research efforts to examine the geomorphological contexts and specific ecological makeup of these areas is needed.…”