Exploitation and utilization of tropical rainforests indicated in dental calculus of ancient Oceanic Lapita culture colonists

Monica Tromp (), Elizabeth Matisoo-Smith, Rebecca Kinaston, Stuart Bedford, Matthew Spriggs and Hallie Buckley
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Monica Tromp: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Elizabeth Matisoo-Smith: University of Otago
Rebecca Kinaston: University of Otago
Stuart Bedford: The Australian National University
Matthew Spriggs: The Australian National University
Hallie Buckley: University of Otago

Nature Human Behaviour, 2020, vol. 4, issue 5, 489-495

Abstract: Abstract Remote Oceania, which largely consists of islands covered in tropical forests, was the last region on earth to be successfully colonized by humans, beginning 3,000 years ago. We examined human dental calculus from burials in an ancient Lapita culture cemetery to gain insight into the early settlement of this previously untouched tropical environment, specifically on the island of Efate in Vanuatu. Dental calculus is an ideal material to analyse questions of human and plant interactions due to the ingestion of plant-derived microparticles that become incorporated into the calculus as it forms throughout a person’s life. Most of the microparticles identified here are from tree and shrub resources, including a ~2,900 calibrated (cal) bp example of banana in Remote Oceania, providing direct evidence for the importance of forests and arboriculture during the settlement of Remote Oceania.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41562-019-0808-y

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