The last swatch of our planet that was not occupied by humans was the remote islands of the Pacific. The societies flourished from the Marianas to Rapa Nui. It's been a mystery how the Pacific became home to these groups.
Thanks to a big study published today, there are some answers emerging. The data shows that at least five distinct groups migrated to the islands. Women remained on the island after it was settled. Men came from far away.
Christian Reepmeyer of the German Archaeological Institute was not involved in the study. It shows the complexity of the human past and opens up a lot of new ideas.
The study focused on the northwest part of the country. The 2000-some islands that make up the region could easily fit in the state of Delaware.
The earliest evidence of humans in the region is found in Micronesia, where campsites with shell beads, files from sea urchins, and red pottery were found. The pole-and-thatch dwellings were built to grow crops. The buildings on the capped stone pillars known as latte were built about 1000 years ago.
Archeologists have tried to understand how many groups lived in Micronesia and how they came to be. About 50 ancient individuals from the Southwest Pacific and Polynesia to the east were the only ones who had data for genetics. The genetic history of those regions was assumed to be true for Micronesia, which only had two ancient DNA profiles published.
David Reich and Yue-Chen Lui collaborated with scientists who had worked with people in Micronesia for decades. The researchers used permission from the Indigenous peoples of the islands and collaborated with other local stakeholders to extract the genetic material from the sites. Most of the remains were salvaged during construction on Guam and analyzed after consultation with the Indigenous CHamoru community. Some of the remains were found side by side in a cave. Some of them were exhumed in the 70s to find the remains of a 17th century priest. The study looked at the genetics of 112 modern Micronesians through partnerships with local hospitals, universities and the Pacific Basin Medical Officer Training Program.
The team was able to sequence enough segments to use the lab's methods to trace ancestry. The results show that the islands were populated by a series of founding events and mixes with newcomers. The DNA shows that at least two groups from islands of Southeast Asia settled in the area. Some groups from the south migrated to parts of the island. Migrants came from the east.
Female-inherited mitochondrial DNA remains the same at sites from the ancient to the modern era. The team believes that societies were matrilocal, with women staying in their home groups and men leaving to form families in new lands. Modern times saw Pacific societies remain matrilocal.
Mike Carson is an Archeologist at the University of Guam who was not involved in the project. Evidence from archaeology and linguistics suggest that past people gradually populated Pacific islands in successive migrations.
Frank Camacho, a CHamoru Biologist at the University of Guam, believes that research like this can help people understand their past. We can look at how we are related to other people in the Pacific.
Maile Arvin is a professor of history and gender studies at the University of Utah. She would like the article to discuss the history of colonization and scientific research in the Pacific. The study talks about prehistories of Indigenous people in the Pacific, but it doesn't say anything about what happens in between
Europe and the US continued to occupy territories in the area. She says that ethical research needs more than Indigenous co-authorship. The legacy of colonial science needs to be addressed. The work can add fuel to some of the very problematic ideas about the racial divisions between different Pacific islanders.
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