Inhabiting Remote Tropical Seashores at 1500-1100 b.c.: Water, Practicalities, and Rituals in the Mariana Islands

Michael Carson

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

    Abstract

    When people first inhabited the Remote Oceanic region of the world at 1500 b.c., they generated archaeological sites attesting to their practical coastal adaptations in tandem with their ceremonial traditions, wherein water figured vitally in daily living and ritual performance. Of eight known first-settlement sites in the Mariana Islands, Ritidian in Guam uniquely incorporates one residential habitation plus two caves related to water collection, pictographs, consumption of unusual foods, and use of exceptionally decorative objects. The inter-connected findings clarify what was "special" about the special-use caves, in total articulating a fuller sense of cultural life and landscape than otherwise could be possible.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)269-282
    JournalJournal of Field Archaeology
    Volume42
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2017

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