Tropical islands of the Anthropocene: Deep histories of anthropogenic terrestrial-marine entanglement in the Pacific and Caribbean.

Islands are useful model systems for examining human-environmental interactions. While many anthropogenic effects visible in the archaeological and paleoecological records are terrestrial in nature (e.g., clearance of tropical forests for agriculture and settlement; introduction of nonnative flora and fauna), native peoples also relied heavily on marine environments for their subsistence and livelihood. Here we use two island case studies-Palau (Micronesia) and the Lesser Antilles (Caribbean)-and approach their long-term settlement history through a "ridge-to-reef" perspective to assess the role that human activity played in land- and seascape change over deep time. In particular, we examine the entanglement of terrestrial and marine ecosystems resulting from anthropogenic effects and cultural responses to socio-environmental feedback. We suggest that on the humanized tropical islands of the Anthropocene, mangroves, near shore and littoral areas, and coral reefs were major sites of terrestrial-marine interface chronicling and modulating anthropogenic effects.

No evidence for widespread island extinctions after Pleistocene hominin arrival.

The arrival of modern humans into previously unoccupied island ecosystems is closely linked to widespread extinction, and a key reason cited for Pleistocene megafauna extinction is anthropogenic overhunting. A common assumption based on late Holocene records is that humans always negatively impact insular biotas, which requires an extrapolation of recent human behavior and technology into the archaeological past. Hominins have been on islands since at least the early Pleistocene and Homo sapiens for at least 50 thousand y (ka). Over such lengthy intervals it is scarcely surprising that significant evolutionary, behavioral, and cultural changes occurred. However, the deep-time link between human arrival and island extinctions has never been explored globally. Here, we examine archaeological and paleontological records of all Pleistocene islands with a documented hominin presence to examine whether humans have always been destructive agents. We show that extinctions at a global level cannot be associated with Pleistocene hominin arrival based on current data and are difficult to disentangle from records of environmental change. It is not until the Holocene that large-scale changes in technology, dispersal, demography, and human behavior visibly affect island ecosystems. The extinction acceleration we are currently experiencing is thus not inherent but rather part of a more recent cultural complex.

Colonial Legacies Influence Biodiversity Lessons: How Past Trade Routes and Power Dynamics Shape Present-Day Scientific Research and Professional Opportunities for Caribbean Scientists.

AbstractScientists recognize the Caribbean archipelago as a biodiversity hotspot and employ it for their research as a natural laboratory. Yet they do not always appreciate that these ecosystems are in fact palimpsests shaped by multiple human cultures over millennia. Although post-European anthropogenic impacts are well documented, human influx into the region began about 5,000 years prior. Thus, inferences of ecological and evolutionary processes within the Caribbean may in fact represent artifacts of an unrecognized human legacy linked to issues influenced by centuries of colonial rule. The threats posed by stochastic natural and anthropogenically influenced disasters demand that we have an understanding of the natural history of endemic species if we are to halt extinctions and maintain access to traditional livelihoods. However, systematic issues have significantly biased our biological knowledge of the Caribbean. We discuss two case studies of the Caribbean's fragmented natural history collections and the effects of differing governance by the region's multiple nation states. We identify knowledge gaps and highlight a dire need for integrated and accessible inventorying of the Caribbean's collections. Research emphasizing local and international collaboration can lead to positive steps forward and will ultimately help us more accurately study Caribbean biodiversity and the ecological and evolutionary processes that generated it.

Using seafaring simulations and shortest-hop trajectories to model the prehistoric colonization of Remote Oceania.

The prehistoric colonization of islands in Remote Oceania that began ∼3400 B.P. represents what was arguably the most expansive and ambitious maritime dispersal of humans across any of the world's seas or oceans. Though archaeological evidence has provided a relatively clear picture of when many of the major island groups were colonized, there is still considerable debate as to where these settlers originated from and their strategies/trajectories used to reach habitable land that other datasets (genetic, linguistic) are also still trying to resolve. To address these issues, we have harnessed the power of high-resolution climatic and oceanographic datasets in multiple seafaring simulation platforms to examine major pulses of colonization in the region. Our analysis, which takes into consideration currents, land distribution, wind periodicity, the influence of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, and "shortest-hop" trajectories, demonstrate that (i) seasonal and semiannual climatic changes were highly influential in structuring ancient Pacific voyaging; (ii) western Micronesia was likely settled from somewhere around the Maluku (Molucca) Islands; (iii) Samoa was the most probable staging area for the colonization of East Polynesia; and (iv) although there are major differences in success rates depending on time of year and the occurrence of ENSO events, settlement of Hawai'i and New Zealand is possible from the Marquesas or Society Islands, the same being the case for settlement of Easter Island from Mangareva or the Marquesas.

Estimated energetic demands of thermoregulation during ancient canoe passages from Tahiti to Hawaii and New Zealand, a simulation analysis.

Prehistoric colonization of East Polynesia represents the last and most extensive of human migrations into regions previously uninhabited. Although much of East Polynesia is tropical, the southern third, dominated by New Zealand-by far the largest Polynesian landmass-ranges from a warm- to cool-temperate climate with some islands extending into the Subantarctic. The substantial latitudinal variation implies questions about biocultural adaptations of tropical people to conditions in which most of their familiar resources were absent and their agriculture marginal. Perhaps the most basic question, but one which has never been explored, is the extent to which sailing out of the tropics on long-distance colonizing voyages imposed physiological stress on canoe crews and passengers. In this paper we use trajectories of simulated voyages from Tahiti to New Zealand and Tahiti to Hawaii to obtain along-trip environmental parameters which are then used to model the energy expenditure of these long overseas journeys. Results show that travelers to New Zealand are exposed to much harsher environmental conditions, leading to significantly greater in-trip thermoregulatory demands. For both destinations, travelers with larger body sizes exhibit lower modeled heat loss and hence obtain an energetic advantage, with greater gains for females. Such physiological features, notably of Samoans who probably formed the founding population in East Polynesia, may help explain successful voyaging to temperate latitudes.

A probable case of leprosy from colonial period St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Southeastern Caribbean.

OBJECTIVE: To document and differentially diagnose facial pathology found in an isolated skull from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, southeastern Caribbean. To directly date this individual using radiocarbon dating. MATERIALS: Isolated skull recovered from Petite Mustique Island. METHODS: Describe facial pathology occurring in this individual and compare with known diseases or disease processes that impact the craniofacial complex. RESULTS: Features of the rhinomaxillary syndrome are present, indicating a diagnosis of leprosy. Dating places the time of death to the late 18th or early 19th centuries. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of the rhinomaxillary syndrome produces a diagnosis of early-stage leprosy in an individual that correlates with the apparent attempt to locate a leprosarium on Petite Mustique Island in the first decade of the 19th century. SIGNIFICANCE: Location and time corroborate historical records of at least one attempt to locate a leprosarium on Petite Mustique Island. Only directly dated individual with leprosy in the western hemisphere and possibly the earliest yet recorded. LIMITATIONS: This is an isolated find that is archaeologically unprovenienced. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Professional archaeological survey of Petite Mustique.

Temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis at Chelechol ra Orrak, Palau.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the frequency and severity of temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJ-OA) and its causative factors in a skeletal assemblage from the prehistoric site of Chelechol ra Orrak, Palau, western Micronesia. MATERIALS: 50 temporomandibular joint surfaces (mandibular condyles and articular eminences), representing a minimum of 22 adult individuals, 17 of which retain teeth. METHODS: Joint surfaces were macroscopically evaluated for characteristics associated with TMJ-OA and joint morphology. Dental remains were scored for tooth wear and staining. RESULTS: Nine individuals (40.1 %) displayed lesions typical of TMJ-OA. The strongest associations were between tooth wear and TMJ-OA. CONCLUSIONS: Indirect effects of parafunctional dental activity appear to be a factor in TMJ-OA frequency at Chelechol ra Orrak. While betel nut chewing may be one of those activities, it does not appear to be solely driving the presence of TMJ-OA. SIGNIFICANCE: This study highlights the association between a specific parafunctional use of the temporomandibular joint and the potential pathological consequences. It also reinforces the need to carefully evaluate the archaeological context of skeletal remains in order to evaluate specific etiological factors in the presence of TMJ-OA in present and past populations. LIMITATIONS: Sample sizes are limited in this study. This will increase as excavations continue. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Because dental occlusion appears to be associated with TMJ-OA, focus on dental conditions affecting occlusal patterns, such as third molar agenesis, antemortem tooth loss, and malocclusion, and their relationship to TMJ-OA frequency, are recommended.

Reevaluating human colonization of the Caribbean using chronometric hygiene and Bayesian modeling.

Human settlement of the Caribbean represents the only example in the Americas of peoples colonizing islands that were not visible from surrounding mainland areas or other islands. Unfortunately, many interpretive models have relied on radiocarbon determinations that do not meet standard criteria for reporting because they lack critical information or sufficient provenience, often leading to specious interpretations. We have collated 2484 radiocarbon determinations, assigned them to classes based on chronometric hygiene criteria, and constructed Bayesian colonization models of the acceptable determinations to examine patterns of initial settlement. Colonization estimates for 26 islands indicate that (i) the region was settled in two major population dispersals that likely originated from South America; (ii) colonists reached islands in the northern Antilles before the southern islands; and (iii) the results support the southward route hypothesis and refute the "stepping-stone model."

Archaeological assessment reveals Earth's early transformation through land use.

Environmentally transformative human use of land accelerated with the emergence of agriculture, but the extent, trajectory, and implications of these early changes are not well understood. An empirical global assessment of land use from 10,000 years before the present (yr B.P.) to 1850 CE reveals a planet largely transformed by hunter-gatherers, farmers, and pastoralists by 3000 years ago, considerably earlier than the dates in the land-use reconstructions commonly used by Earth scientists. Synthesis of knowledge contributed by more than 250 archaeologists highlighted gaps in archaeological expertise and data quality, which peaked for 2000 yr B.P. and in traditionally studied and wealthier regions. Archaeological reconstruction of global land-use history illuminates the deep roots of Earth's transformation and challenges the emerging Anthropocene paradigm that large-scale anthropogenic global environmental change is mostly a recent phenomenon.

Small scattered fragments do not a dwarf make: biological and archaeological data indicate that prehistoric inhabitants of Palau were normal sized.

UNLABELLED: Current archaeological evidence from Palau in western Micronesia indicates that the archipelago was settled around 3000-3300 BP by normal sized populations; contrary to recent claims, they did not succumb to insular dwarfism. BACKGROUND: Previous and ongoing archaeological research of both human burial and occupation sites throughout the Palauan archipelago during the last 50 years has produced a robust data set to test hypotheses regarding initial colonization and subsequent adaptations over the past three millennia. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Close examination of human burials at the early (ca. 3000 BP) and stratified site of Chelechol ra Orrak indicates that these were normal sized individuals. This is contrary to the recent claim of contemporaneous "small-bodied" individuals found at two cave sites by Berger et al. (2008). As we argue, their analyses are flawed on a number of different analytical levels. First, their sample size is too small and fragmentary to adequately address the variation inherent in modern humans within and outside of Palau. Second, the size and stature of all other prehistoric (both older and contemporaneous) skeletal assemblages found in Palau fall within the normal parameters of modern human variation in the region, indicating this was not a case of insular dwarfism or a separate migratory group. Third, measurements taken on several skeletal elements by Berger et al. may appear to be from smaller-bodied individuals, but the sizes of these people compares well with samples from Chelechol ra Orrak. Last, archaeological, linguistic, and historical evidence demonstrates a great deal of cultural continuity in Palau through time as expected if the same population was inhabiting the archipelago. CONCLUSIONS: Prehistoric Palauan populations were normal sized and exhibit traits that fall within the normal variation for Homo sapiens-they do not support the claims by Berger et al. (2008) that there were smaller-bodied populations living in Palau or that insular dwarfism took place such as may be the case for Homo floresiensis.