Savanna Anthropogenesis in the Manana Islands, Micronesia: Re-Interpreting the Palaeoenvironmental Data

• Published in: Archaeology in Oceania Vol. 44; no. 3; pp. 125 - 141
• Main Author: Hunter-Anderson, Rosalind L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Sydney 01.10.2009
• ISSN: 0728-4896; 1834-4453

This paper argues that human actions had nothing to do with creating tropical Pacific island savannas, which likely arose during thè Pleistocene, and that geographie factors such as soils, climate, and fire are responsible for their distribution and persistence in the Holocene. Palaeontological observations from the southern Mariana Islands, including charcoal particles, pollen, and spores in palaeosediments from Guam and Saipan, cited by archaeologists as evidence for human-caused savannas, are re-interpreted as a naturai outeome of geo-climatic conditions. Archaeological and ethnographie findings, past climate proxies, and field studies in soil science are also brought to bear on the issue. The data and arguments presented in favor of naturai causation of the Marianas savannas motivate a re-examination of proposais that purport to explain the présence of savannas elsewhere in the tropical Pacific. Implications for future research are drawn.