Prehistory and palaeoecology of Yap, federated states of Micronesia

• Published in: Quaternary international 1999-01, Vol.59 (1), p.17-26
• Main Authors: Dodson, J.R., Intoh, M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1040-6182; 1873-4553
• DOI: 10.1016/S1040-6182(98)00068-8

The island of Yap has an established prehistoric record of about 2000 yr. This is a little younger than might be expected on the basis of that known for other regions of Micronesia, and on linguistic grounds the Yapese language has some features which are indicative of an old Oceanic language. In this paper we review these issues and present two palaeoecological records. These records suggest that a major period of forest destruction, accompanied by fire, took place about 3300 BP, and subsequently a savanna vegetation developed. The latter was most pronounced about 300 BP, when the human population was probably also at a peak. We suggest that the data is consistent with a pattern of human impact about 1000 yr longer than is currently recognised from the archaeological record and that the now extensive savanna is an artefact of human impact on the vegetation and soils of the island.