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Lack of suitable coastal plains likely influenced Lapita (~2800 cal. BP) settlement of Samoa: evidence from south-eastern Upolu

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dc.contributor.author Cochrane, Ethan E
dc.contributor.author Kane, Haunani H.
dc.contributor.author Fletcher III, Charles
dc.contributor.author Horrocks, Mark
dc.contributor.author Mills, Joseph
dc.contributor.author Barbee, Matthew
dc.contributor.author Morrison, Alexander E
dc.contributor.author Tautunu, Matiu Matavai
dc.date.accessioned 2021-12-01T04:52:43Z
dc.date.available 2021-12-01T04:52:43Z
dc.date.issued 2015
dc.identifier.uri ${sadil.baseUrl}/handle/123456789/917
dc.description pp. 1-10 ; ill en_US
dc.description.abstract Between 3050 and 2700 years ago, humans first colonized the islands of south-west Remote Oceania, a region stretching from Vanuatu to Sāmoa. These colonists created a dense archaeological record of Lapita pottery and other artefacts on island coastlines across the region. There is one striking exception to this pattern: Sāmoa, with only a single Lapita pottery colonization site dating to approximately 2800 years ago. There are two competing explanations for the unique Sāmoan colonization record. First, there was a dense Lapita colonization record, now displaced through sedimentation and coastal subsidence. Second, there were few coastal plains suitable for settlement 2800 years ago resulting in the lack of colonization sites. This article describes the first archaeological and geological research designed to systematically test these explanations. The research focuses on the south-eastern coastal plain of ‘Upolu Island, an area where previous geological research and mid-Holocene sea-level indicators predict the least relative subsidence over the last 3000 years. Auger cores and controlled excavation units sampled the geological sequence and archaeological deposits across 700m of coast. Sedimentary and dating analyses indicate coastal plain formation beginning 1200 years ago with the earliest archaeological deposits, including plain pottery, lithics, shellfish and vertebrate fauna, dating possibly 700 years later. Microfossil analyses identify burning and forest clearance coincident with the earliest archaeological remains. Compared with other Sāmoan archaeological deposits, the cultural materials and ecofacts represent very low-intensity occupation. These results support the proposal that there were few coastal plains suitable for Lapita pottery–bearing colonists approximately 2800 years ago en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher Sage Publications en_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries Article in The Holocene;Volume 26 Issue 1
dc.subject Colonization en_US
dc.subject Lapita en_US
dc.subject Paleoenvironment en_US
dc.subject Polynesia en_US
dc.subject Samoa en_US
dc.subject Sea level en_US
dc.title Lack of suitable coastal plains likely influenced Lapita (~2800 cal. BP) settlement of Samoa: evidence from south-eastern Upolu en_US
dc.type Article en_US


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