Temporal trends in prehistoric fishing in Palau, Micronesia over the last 1500 years

Abstract

Previous research at the Chelechol ra Orrak site in Palau, Micronesia suggested that fishing may have declined prehistorically over the past two thousand years. Here we discuss the analysis of an additional suite of archaeofish remains recovered from the site that significantly expands the size of the previous assemblage, providing a more robust interpretation of prehistoric fishing in the archipelago. Results indicate that although all phases of occupation show diverse and relatively equitable exploitation of fish taxa, there are statistically significant changes in fishing over time when feeding guild (general ecological niche) is considered. In addition, the number of fish remains declines by an order of magnitude between early (1400–1240 BP) and later (1290–720 BP and 500–0 BP) occupation phases. Although various factors may be responsible for this dramatic decrease, it is generally correlated with settlement changes and possible increasing agricultural production in Palau. Thus, a decline in the overall importance of fishing may account for the changes observed in the archaeofish assemblage over time.

Marginalization of the Margins: The Importance of Smaller Islands in Human Prehistory

“…In the Pacific, some of the gaps in our knowledge of small island colonization and adaptations have been filled by work on atolls or small limestone islands in Micronesia, including the Marshall Islands (e.g., Weisler 2001aWeisler , 2001bWeisler , 2002Weisler et al 2012;Yamaguchi et al 2009), Mwoakilloa (Poteate et al 2016), Fais (Intoh 2008;Intoh and Shigehara 2004), Kiribati (e.g., Thomas 2007aThomas , 2007bThomas , 2009Thomas , 2014, and Palau (e.g., Clark 2005;Clark et al 2006;Fitzpatrick 2003;Fitzpatrick et al 2011). There are also many other similar ones in Polynesia such as the Cook Islands (e.g., Allen and Craig 2009; Allen and Steadman 1990; Allen and Wallace 2007; Kirch et al 1995), the Tuamotu archipelago (e.g., Conte and Dennison 1995), the remote islands of Henderson, Pitcairn (Weisler 1995), and Rapa Nui (e.g., Hunt and Lipo 2011), and even the Arawe Islands of Papua New Guinea (Specht et al 2016), all of which have enhanced our understanding of small island adaptations.…”

Reconstructing prehistoric fishing zones in Palau, Micronesia using fish remains: A blind test of inter‐analyst correspondence

“…This difficulty has long been recognised for the Pacific, as well as other areas (Butler ; Fitzpatrick et al . ; Lambrides & Weisler ; Olmo ; Ono ; Reitz ; Wake ), and is particularly problematic for tropical and subtropical regions where fish families tend to be especially rich in genera and species. In this paper, we investigate the impact of identification level on the reconstruction of specific fishing environments using an archaeofish assemblage from the Chelechol ra Orrak site (c.3000–0 calBP) in Palau's Rock Islands, Micronesia.…”

Archaeomalocological methods, forager decision-making, and intertidal ecosystems: Two millennia of mollusc exploitation on a remote Pacific atoll

“…Kataoka (1996) (Hockey 1987:61). remains (Fitzpatrick et al 2011;Fitzpatrick and Kataoka 2005), and morphometric analysis of the G. gibberulus assemblage, significant evidence was presented for human induced resource depression in the Rock Islands (Clark and Reepmeyer 2012).…”

“…Other researchers have focussed on human responses to environmental or climatic changes (Amesbury 1999(Amesbury , 2007Parkington et al 2013) taphonomy (Faulkner 2010(Faulkner , 2011Gutiérrez-Zugasti 2011b; Sommerville-Ryan 1998), mollusc shells as raw material (Harris et al 2017;Perrette 2011;Spennemann 1993;Szabó and Koppel 2015) and tracking patterns in long-term human interaction with the marine environment (Fitzpatrick et al 2011;. In addition, given that molluscs are important for archaeologists and neo-ecologists alike, studies that combine archaeological data with historical and neo-ecological data have proven utility for understanding how coral reefs have changed over time, and might change in the future (Fitzpatrick and Intoh 2009;Thomas 2001Thomas , 2009Wiley et al 2013).…”

“…Marine resources were a critical component of prehistoric subsistence systems across the Pacific Islands Fitzpatrick et al 2011;Leach & Davidson 1988;Thomas 1999;. Finfish and molluscan remains are ubiquitous in Marshall Islands archaeological sites (Beardsley & Athens 1994;Dye 1987;Weisler 1999bWeisler , 2001b, and ethnographic and linguistic evidence highlights the varied and complex ways that Marshallese interact with the marine landscape Erdland 1914;Kramer & Nevermann 1938;Tobin 2002) The degree of wave exposure has been recognised as a key factor influencing a range of important ecological processes which are critical for structuring faunal composition in tropical intertidal environments (Drumm 2005) and has been related to variation in human behaviour in archaeological contexts.…”