Estimating trajectories of colonisation to the Mariana Islands, western Pacific

Antiquity ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 87 (337) ◽  
pp. 840-853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott M. Fitzpatrick ◽  
Richard T. Callaghan
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Western Pacific ◽  
Mariana Islands ◽  
Island Southeast Asia ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Lively Debate ◽  
Early Human

The colonisation of the Pacific islands represents one of the major achievements of early human societies and has attracted much attention from archaeologists and historical linguists. Determining the pattern and chronology of colonisation remains a challenge, as new discoveries continue to push back dates of earliest settlement. The length and direction of the colonising voyages has also led to lively debate seeking to trace languages and artefactual techniques and traditions to presumed places of origin. Seafaring simulation models provide one way of resolving these controversies. One of the most remote of these island groups, the Marianas, is shown here to have been settled not from Taiwan or the Philippines, as has been argued in Antiquity by Hung et al. (2011) and Winter et al. (2012), but from New Guinea or Island Southeast Asia to the south. It represents an incredible feat of early navigation over an ocean distance of some 2000km.

scholarly journals European and Asian contribution to the genetic diversity of mainland South American chickens

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 191558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael B. Herrera ◽  
Spiridoula Kraitsek ◽  
Jose A. Alcalde ◽  
Daniel Quiroz ◽  
Herman Revelo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
South America ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Control Region ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Mitochondrial Control Region ◽  
South American ◽  
Island Southeast Asia ◽  
The Pacific

Chickens ( Gallus gallus domesticus ) from the Americas have long been recognized as descendants of European chickens, transported by early Europeans since the fifteenth century. However, in recent years, a possible pre-Columbian introduction of chickens to South America by Polynesian seafarers has also been suggested. Here, we characterize the mitochondrial control region genetic diversity of modern chicken populations from South America and compare this to a worldwide dataset in order to investigate the potential maternal genetic origin of modern-day chicken populations in South America. The genetic analysis of newly generated chicken mitochondrial control region sequences from South America showed that the majority of chickens from the continent belong to mitochondrial haplogroup E. The rest belongs to haplogroups A, B and C, albeit at very low levels. Haplogroup D, a ubiquitous mitochondrial lineage in Island Southeast Asia and on Pacific Islands is not observed in continental South America. Modern-day mainland South American chickens are, therefore, closely allied with European and Asian chickens. Furthermore, we find high levels of genetic contributions from South Asian chickens to those in Europe and South America. Our findings demonstrate that modern-day genetic diversity of mainland South American chickens appear to have clear European and Asian contributions, and less so from Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. Furthermore, there is also some indication that South Asia has more genetic contribution to European chickens than any other Asian chicken populations.

Early farming in Island Southeast Asia: an alternative hypothesis

Antiquity ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 87 (335) ◽  
pp. 250-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Denham
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Mariana Islands ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Cultural Complex ◽  
Island Southeast Asia ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Bismarck Archipelago ◽  
Early Farming

Several recent articles in Antiqui (Barker et al. 201 la; Hung et al. 2011; Spriggs 2011), discuss the validity of, and revise, portrayals of an Austronesian farming-language dispersal across Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) during the mid-Holocene (approximately 4000-3000 years ago) . In conventional portrayals of the Austronesian dispersal hypothesis (e.g. Bellwood 1984/85, 1997, 2002, 2005; Diamond 2001; Diamond & Bellwood 2003) , and its Neolithic variant (e.g. Spriggs 2003, 2007), farmer-voyagers migrated out of Taiwan approximately 4500-4000 cal BP to colonise ISEA from 4000 cal BP (Bellwood 2002) and the Mariana Islands and Palau by c. 3500-3400 cal BP (Hung et al. 201 1). The descendants of these voyagers subsequently established the Lapita Cultural Complex in the Bismarck Archipelago by c. 3470-3250 cal BP (Kirch 1997; Spriggs 1997) and became the foundational cultures across most of the Pacific from c. 3250-3100 cal BP (Kirch 2000; Addison & Matisoo-Smith 2010; dates for Lapita in Denham et al. 2012). A major problem with this historical metanarrative is the absence of substantial archaeological evidence for the contemporaneous spread of farming from Taiwan (Bulbeck 2008; Donohue & Denham 2010; Denham 2011 ).

A 4000 year-old introduction of domestic pigs into the Philippine Archipelago: implications for understanding routes of human migration through Island Southeast Asia and Wallacea

Antiquity ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (321) ◽  
pp. 687-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip J. Piper ◽  
Hsiao-chun Hung ◽  
Fredeliza Z. Campos ◽  
Peter Bellwood ◽  
Rey Santiago
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Human Migration ◽  
Domestic Pig ◽  
Domestic Pigs ◽  
Island Southeast Asia ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
New Research

New research into the Neolithic of Island Southeast Asia is broadening the old models and making them more diverse, more human – more like history: people and animals can move through the islands in a multitude of ways. The domestic pig is an important tracker of Neolithic people and practice into the Pacific, and the authors address the controversial matter of whether domestic pigs first reached the islands of Southeast Asia from China via Taiwan or from the neighbouring Vietnamese peninsula. The DNA trajectory read from modern pigs favours Vietnam, but the authors have found well stratified domestic pig in the Philippines dated to c. 4000 BP and associated with cultural material of Taiwan. Thus the perils of relying only on DNA – but are these alternative or additional stories?

Early human burials in the western Pacific: evidence for c.3000 year old occupation on Palau

Antiquity ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (298) ◽  
pp. 719-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott M. Fitzpatrick
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Western Pacific ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Human Burials ◽  
The Western Pacific ◽  
Early Human

The author reports the oldest human skeletal assemblage found so far in the pacific Islands: at the site of Chalechol Ra Orrak on Palau, Micronesia.

scholarly journals Obsidian Sourcing and Characterization in the Celebes Region: An Initial Interpretation on the “Celebes Seafaring People”

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leee Anthony M. Neri
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Theoretical Interpretation ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Cultural Affiliation ◽  
Island Southeast Asia ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Exchange Network ◽  
Intense Debate

AbstractThe peopling of Island Southeast Asia is told through the Austronesian migration theory. During the Neolithic Period (ca. 6000–5000 BP), the Austronesians entered the Philippines altering the cultural landscape and heralding the beginning of the Neolithic. The Austronesian people continued expanding through Island Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and as far as Madagascar. It is the most influential multiregional archaeological theory in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Region. Although archaeologists, as a whole, generally support this theory, the operations governing the Austronesian migration is still subject to intense debate. Theories suggest that migration is not as straightforward as commonly presented. In spite of their movement towards the Pacific, some Austronesian population stayed in the Celebes area and may have developed a close-knit exchange system with their neighbors powered by sophisticated ancient maritime technology and shared cultural affiliations. This paper calls this maritime network as the “Celebes Seafaring People.” The “Celebes Seafaring People” hypothesis is the first study to focus on a smaller aspect of a much larger theory, allowing a clearer perspective on the early cultures of this Region. Currently, the hypothesis encompasses three island groups: Northern Mindanao, Philippines; Sabah, Malaysia; and Talaud Islands, Indonesia. This is an initial interpretation of the “Celebes Seafaring People” hypothesis through geochemical analysis of obsidian found in the island groups in the Celebes Region. These group of people may have a complex maritime exchange network and share the same cultural affiliation during the Neolithic Period. Further investigation must done to substantiate such theoretical interpretation.

scholarly journals LC–MS/MS Analysis of Ciguatoxins Revealing the Regional and Species Distinction of Fish in the Tropical Western Pacific

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomasa Oshiro ◽  
Takumi Tomikawa ◽  
Kyoko Kuniyoshi ◽  
Akira Ishikawa ◽  
Hajime Toyofuku ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fish Species ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Western Pacific ◽  
Tropical Region ◽  
Northern Coast ◽  
Coastal Regions ◽  
Main Island ◽  
Tropical Western Pacific ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Fish Samples

Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is one of the most frequently reported seafood poisoning diseases. It is endemic to the tropical region and occurs most commonly in the regions around the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Caribbean Sea. The principal toxins causing CFP are ciguatoxins (CTXs). In the Pacific region, more than 20 analogs of CTXs have been identified to date. Based on their skeletal structures, they are classified into CTX1B-type and CTX3C-type toxins. We have previously reported species-specific and regional-specific toxin profiles. In this study, the levels and profiles of CTXs in fish present in the tropical western Pacific regions were analyzed using the liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) technique. Forty-two fish specimens, belonging to the categories of snappers, groupers, Spanish mackerel, and moray eel, were purchased from various places such as Fiji, the Philippines, Thailand, and Taiwan. Only the fish captured from Fijian coastal waters contained detectable amounts of CTXs. The toxin levels in the fish species found along the coastal regions of the Viti Levu Island, the main island in Fiji, and the toxin profiles were significantly different from those of the fish species present in other coastal regions. The toxin levels and profiles varied among the different fish samples collected from different coastal areas. Based on the toxin levels and toxin profiles, the coast was demarcated into three zones. In Zone-1, which covers the northern coast of the main island and the regions of the Malake Island and Korovau, CTXs in fish were below the detection level. In Zone-2, CTX3C-type toxins were present in low levels in the fish. CTX1B-type and CTX3C-type toxins co-occurred in the fish present in Zone-3. The toxin profiles may have reflected the variation in Gambierdiscus spp.

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