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Human Adaptive Responses To Catastrophic Landscape Disruptions During The Holocene, Numundo, Png, Jeffrey Parr, William Boyd, Vicki Harriott, Robin Torrence
Human Adaptive Responses To Catastrophic Landscape Disruptions During The Holocene, Numundo, Png, Jeffrey Parr, William Boyd, Vicki Harriott, Robin Torrence
Jeffrey Parr
Prehistoric land use and social activity in West New Britain, PNG, are well documented, although the landscapes – largely shaped by catastrophic volcanic eruptions – in which these took place, and the relationships people had with these landscapes, are poorly understood. We define the evolving landscape at Numundo, from prior to the Witori-Kimbe 2 eruption (W-K2, ca. 3600 BP) to after the Witori-Kimbe 4 eruption (W-K4, ca. 1400 BP), using fossil phytolith and coral evidence at eight archaeological sites to provide environmental evidence of the human responses to periodic catastrophic events. From ca. 5900 to 3600 BP, all the sites …
Interactions Between Human Activity, Volcanic Eruptions And Vegetation During The Holocene At Garua And Numundo, West New Britain, Png, William Boyd, Carol Lentfer, Jeffrey Parr
Interactions Between Human Activity, Volcanic Eruptions And Vegetation During The Holocene At Garua And Numundo, West New Britain, Png, William Boyd, Carol Lentfer, Jeffrey Parr
Jeffrey Parr
This paper reviews recent fossil phytolith analysis from wet tropical West New Britain (Papua New Guinea). The Holocene vegetation has been influenced by spatially and temporally diverse patterns of both prehistoric human settlement and catastrophic volcanic events. We have hypothesized different landscape responses and recovery pathways to events during the last six millennia. Phytolith sequences on the coastal lowlands, the Willaumez Peninsula, and nearby island of Garua provide details of vegetational change and human interactions at different landscape scales since c. 5900 cal yr B.P. During this period four major volcanic eruptions (c. 5900, 3600, 1700 and 1400 cal yr …