A Bioarchaeological Perspective Michael Pietrusewskya, Michele Toomay Douglasa, Marilyn K
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This article was downloaded by: [Professor Michael Pietrusewsky] On: 07 November 2014, At: 13:30 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uica20 Health in Ancient Mariana Islanders: A Bioarchaeological Perspective Michael Pietrusewskya, Michele Toomay Douglasa, Marilyn K. Swiftb, Randy A. Harperb & Michael A. Flemingb a Department of Anthropology, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, USA b Swift and Harper Archaeological Resource Consulting, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, USA Published online: 06 Nov 2014. To cite this article: Michael Pietrusewsky, Michele Toomay Douglas, Marilyn K. Swift, Randy A. Harper & Michael A. Fleming (2014) Health in Ancient Mariana Islanders: A Bioarchaeological Perspective, The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 9:3, 319-340, DOI: 10.1080/15564894.2013.848959 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2013.848959 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions Journal of Island & Coastal Archaeology, 9:319–340, 2014 Copyright © 2014 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1556-4894 print / 1556-1828 online DOI: 10.1080/15564894.2013.848959 Health in Ancient Mariana Islanders: A Bioarchaeological Perspective Michael Pietrusewsky,1 Michele Toomay Douglas,1 Marilyn K. Swift,2 Randy A. Harper,2 and Michael A. Fleming2 1Department of Anthropology, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa,¯ Honolulu, Hawai‘i, USA 2Swift and Harper Archaeological Resource Consulting, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, USA ABSTRACT Previous investigation of health and lifestyle in the Mariana Islands in- dicated that the prehistoric inhabitants living on the smaller islands of this archipelago experienced more stress than those living on the larger islands. This article expands on previous research by using one of the largest datasets (N = 385) now available for examining the health of prehistoric skeletons from the Mariana Islands. A total of 13 indicators of health are investigated, including cribra orbitalia, linear enamel hypoplasia, stature, trauma, infection, and dental disease. There is con- siderable inter-island variability for many of the indicators but, in gen- eral, the highest frequencies of stress are often associated with skeletons from the smaller islands. The sole exception is Rota, the smallest island that reveals levels of stress similar to Guam, the largest island. For sev- eral indicators (e.g., stature, long bone fracture, spondylolysis, alveolar defect) there were no significant differences among islands. Cultural habits such as chewing areca (betel) nut, environmental factors, and Downloaded by [Professor Michael Pietrusewsky] at 13:30 07 November 2014 other cultural differences are examined to explain these differences. Keywords betel nut, bioarchaeology, Chamorro, dental pathology, Mariana Islands, paleopathology Received 24 July 2013; accepted 18 September 2013. Address correspondence to Michael Pietrusewsky, Department of Anthropology, University of Hawai‘i at M¯anoa, 2424 Maile Way, Saunders Hall 346, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. E-mail: [email protected] 319 Michael Pietrusewsky et al. INTRODUCTION volcanic and raised coralline deposits sur- rounded by a fringing reef. The least popu- Previous investigation of health and disease lated northern islands are of recent volcanic in the Mariana Islands suggested that the pre- origin. historic Chamorro on smaller islands such as Guam, at 549 km2,isthelargestis- Rota and Saipan experienced higher levels land of the Mariana Islands and in Microne- of specific as well as non-specific indicators sia followed by Saipan (115 km2), Tinian of stress, including dental enamel hypopla- (101 km2), and Rota (85 km2). Today, the sia,cribra orbitalia,andtreponemal infection climate of the Mariana Islands is classified as than the prehistoric Chamorro living on the marine tropical, or humid tropical, with a largest of the islands, Guam (Pietrusewsky pronounced summer monsoon often associ- et al. 1997). The reason for this island dif- ated with heavy downpours, tropical storms, ference was hypothesized as the smaller is- and typhoons, especially during the second lands’ greater susceptibility to environmen- half of the year (Hanson and Butler 1997). tal perturbations which would affect hu- Although all of the southern islands receive man health because of smaller land mass, high annual rainfall (2000–2500 mm) serious remoteness, lower rainfall, freshwater lens, drought conditions can occur during the dry slightly cooler temperatures, narrow and season, which is often prolonged by the El non-continuous fringing reefs, earthquakes, Nino/Southern˜ Oscillation (ENSO) phenom- volcanic eruptions,andsea-level fluctuations ena.WiththeexceptionofGuam,surfacewa- (Hunter-Anderson 2010). It is also possible ter on the southern islands is scarce, which that small sample size and temporal prove- can lead to serious water shortages. The nience may account for some of the ob- Mariana Islands’ susceptibility to droughts, served differences. This article re-examines severe tropical storms, and cyclones causes the question of inter-island variability in periodic devastation of reef systems and ter- health and lifestyle of precontact Chamorro restrial vegetation, contamination of fresh using recently excavated human skeletal se- water sources with seawater, and damage to ries from Tinian, Saipan, and Rota. Although other resources (Hunter-Anderson 2012). there have been studies of health using skele- tons from the Mariana Islands (e.g., Douglas et al. 1997; Stodder 1997), there have been CHAMORRO PREHISTORY few regional syntheses of accumulated data AND SUBSISTENCE that address the health in the Mariana Islands (e.g., Pietrusewsky et al. 1997, 2010, 2011; When the first Europeans arrived in 1521, Roy 1989). they found the islands inhabited by a sin- gle group of people who spoke Chamorro, an Austronesian language similar to those spoken by people in the Philippines and MARIANA ISLANDS much of Island Southeast Asia (Blust 2000). In addition to linguistic similarities, close cul- Downloaded by [Professor Michael Pietrusewsky] at 13:30 07 November 2014 Located between 13◦ and 21◦ North lati- tural relationships between the Marianas and tude in the northwestern Pacific, the Mariana the Island Southeast Asian late Neolithic cul- archipelago consists of 15 volcanic islands tures have been suggested (Bellwood 1997; and numerous much smaller geologic out- Kirch 2000). Hung et al. (2011) have fur- croppings (Russell 1998) (Figure 1). Guam, ther identified the northern Philippines as Rota,Tinian,andSaipan,locatedinthesouth- a possible source of the earliest human ern group, are the largest islands in the settlements in the Mariana Islands. Based archipelago; places where people have pre- on archaeological and palaeoenvironmental ferred to live in prehistory and the present. evidence, human occupation of the Mari- Geologically, the islands of the southern por- ana Islands began approximately 3500 BP tion of the Mariana chain (Guam, Tinian, (Athens et al. 2004; Hunter-Anderson 2010; Saipan, and Rota) are a combination of Hunter-Anderson and Butler 1995). Recent 320 VOLUME 9 • ISSUE 3 • 2014 Health in Ancient Mariana Islanders Downloaded by [Professor Michael Pietrusewsky] at 13:30 07 November 2014 Figure 1. Map of the Mariana Islands showing the approximate locations of the skeletal series used in the present study. JOURNAL OF ISLAND & COASTAL ARCHAEOLOGY 321 Michael Pietrusewsky et al. mtDNA evidence suggests that the Mariana environmental zones. These alliances may Islands may have been initially settled ap- have extended to the other islands as well proximately 4000 years BP by a small found- (Hunter-Anderson 2012). ing group of people from Island Southeast The precontact subsistence economies Asia (Vilar et al. 2013). These same authors of the Chamorro included reliance on further hypothesize that this initial founding cultivated tree and root crops typical of the population remained genetically isolated un- tropical island environment such as coconut, til approximately 1000 years