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People and Culture in Oceania, 35: 61-84, 2019 Understanding Prehistoric Land Use through Spatial Distribution of Latte Stones in Northern Guam, Mariana Islands Tatsuya Shimasaki* Based on empirical observation, it is traditionally recognized that the prehistoric settlement pattern in the northern part of Guam consists of permanently inhabited villages along the coast and sporadically occupied sites inland. This hypothesis must be confirmed by analysis of substantive archaeological data in order to reconstruct land use patterns of prehistoric society in Guam. In this paper, the spatial distribution of latte stones at different geographical settings in northern Guam is quantified and compared. The latte stone is selected as an analysis target because this distinctive stone’s features might well reflect adherence to a particular place that people chose to utilize intensively during Latte Period (800/1000– 1700CE). As a result, it is shown that latte stones are clustered along the coastal lowlands in contrast to inland, where latte stones are dispersed over a large area. Coastal sites are covered with numerous latte sets at a given site, in contrast to inland sites, which have fewer numbers of latte stones. Thus, the distribution pattern of latte sets is established by its proximity to the shoreline, especially along sandy beaches. This result corresponds with the traditional view of settlement patterns. However, since there are numerous inland sites with latte stones, their functions need to be understood. The results can then be compared with distribution of environmental variables to clarify how the site locations were selected. Keywords: Guam, Mariana Islands, latte stone, Latte Period, archaeology, water source, site distribution, land use, settlement pattern 1. Introduction In the Mariana Islands, the archaeological sites dating to the Latte Period (ca. 800/1000– 1700CE) are numerous and can be easily observed due to the unique stone structures called latte stones, as well as other distinctive artifacts, particularly pottery. Archaeological study of settlement pattern is accepted in Oceania, aimed at identifying behavioral patterns of social and political activities from archaeological remains (Green, 1970: 13). However, the precise settlement pattern * Department of Archaeology and Ethnology, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan, Iyo City Board of Education, Ehime, Japan. [e-mail: [email protected]] 62 T. Shimasaki Figure 1. Location and Geology of the Island of Guam (based on Gingerich, 2003) of the Latte Period on an island-wide scale remains unexplained. Still, in the Mariana Islands, many researchers are concerned with the way land was used in prehistory. As humans interact with the natural environment, their behavior seems to display some patterns in relation to those in the natural environment (Jochim, 1981: 3). Hypothesizing that access to a certain resource was an important driving force for human activities of the past society, people of the Latte Period must have had a tendency to inhabit places where the preferred resources were easily available, and such behavior should be reflected in archaeology. This hypothesis could be tested through a comparison of spatial distributions of both archaeological sites and various resources. The northern half of Guam is ideal for this land use study as the area is an uplifted coral island where potential resources are unevenly distributed. The aim of this paper is to verify the traditional view of the site distribution pattern in northern Guam, permanently inhabited village sites on the coast, and sporadically utilized sites on the plateau by spatial distribution of the visualized and quantified archaeological data in order to understand how land was used during the Latte Period. Thus, the latte stones have been selected as the analysis target to clarify the distribution of Latte Period sites. 2. Environment of Northern Guam The island of Guam is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands in Western Micronesia, with an area of ca. 550 km2. The geology of the island is roughly divided into 2 Spatial Distribution of Latte Stones in Northern Guam 63 domains separated across the middle of the island by the Pago-Adelup fault (Figure 1). The northern half of the island, northern Guam, is karst terrain composed of uplifted coralline reef, while the southern half is an older volcanic landmass. Most of northern Guam forms a flat limestone plateau bordered by sheer cliffs along the coast. A series of narrow coastal lowlands stretch below the cliff line. These are either low-raised coastal terraces composed of limestone substrate or sand flats composed of unconsolidated calcareous bioclasts. In some locations, middle terraces were formed between the upper plateau and the coastal lowlands. Due to porous limestone substrate, there is no perennial surface stream on the plateau. On the other hand, the southern end of the plateau near the Pago-Adelup fault is an intricately dissected area composed of an argillaceous member of the Mariana limestone with several drainage systems and wetlands (Randall and Holloman, 1974; Taborosi et al., 2004; Tracey et al., 1964). 3. Previous Studies on the Distribution of Archaeological Sites in Northern Guam By the time of European contact in the 16th and 17th centuries, most islands of the Mariana archipelago had been inhabited by the Chamorro. According to historical documents written by the Jesuits, 180 villages were located in Guam at both coast and inland (Levesque, 1995). At the end of the Latte Period, around 1700CE, northern Guam had been largely depopulated as a result of Spanish relocation policies (Section 4.3). In 1819, Freycinet (2003: 69, 81–82) witnessed numerous stone mortars scattered over the plateau, but the absence of a water source nearby made him believe that these had not been signs of prehistoric human activities. Thus, site distribution and environment in northern Guam has been a longstanding concern of researchers as reviewed below. Based on result of Hans G. Hornbostel’s survey in the 1920s, Thompson (1940) estimated that there were about 270 “latte sites” in Guam. The sites were more abundant in the lowlands, in well-watered coves, as well as in the central part of Guam, while they were fewer in number on the northern plateau (Thompson, 1932: 15–16). After the devastating ground battle in 1944 followed by the post-war development, Osborne (n.d., 1947) and Reed (1952) plotted archaeological sites on Guam as they had witnessed many sites being disturbed. While Hornbostel and Osborne located several large inland sites, Reed negated large inland sites reported by the former. Between July 1965 and June 1966, Reinman (1968, 1977) had conducted an island-wide survey primarily aimed at understanding the relationship between the various sites and their locations, especially the coast, river valleys, and interior regions (Reinman, 1977: viii). Reinman (1966) reported archaeological sites in nearly all of the surveyed coastal areas and southern interior, with highest density at sandy beaches. However, the northern interior was not surveyed in detail (Reinman, 1968: 42–43). Still, Reinman’s map continues to be the most extensively plotted 64 T. Shimasaki site distribution map on Guam. He implied that freshwater regions were favored for settlement (Reinman, 1966: 47). As the development of Guam intensified in the 1980s, the largely ignored northern interior was surveyed little by little (e.g. Cordy and Allen, 1986; Haun, 1988; Kurashina and McGrath, 1987; Kurashina and Sinoto, 1984). As a result, many researchers tried to correlate the distribution pattern of prehistoric sites with that of natural resources. Kurashina and McGrath (1987) pointed out the contrast between coastal areas and interior areas with regard to the environment, natural resources, and archaeological sites. While there are numerous latte stones and midden deposits on coastal sites, they are scarce inland. They concluded that ecologically, the prehistoric land use was marginal on the northern interior plateau where water is not available. Several projects that surveyed large areas from the shore to the plateau in the 1990s expanded our knowledge of site distribution patterns (e.g. Dilli et al., 1998; Henry and Haun, 1993; Highness and Haun , 1992; Liston, 1996; Olmo et al., 2000). Assuming that most of the sites in the northern interior dated back to the Latte Period, Highness et al. (1991) pointed out that on the plateau, sites are clustered near the fault zones where fertile soil and water is available. Kurashina (1991) discussed prehistoric settlement patterns based on the environmental context to view human adaptive strategy. This study shows island-wide diachronic distribution of sites dating back to the Latte and Pre-Latte Periods by mapping and overlapping distributions of archaeological sites and available freshwater sources in order to show how they are interrelated. However, since most of the plotted archaeological sites are the ones reported by Reinman, the sites in the northern interior were mostly ignored. Meanwhile, in southern Guam, as the sites in the interior uplands have been extensively mapped, numerous prehistoric sites mostly dating to the Latte Period have been reported (e.g. Hunter-Anderson, 1994). Haun and Workman (1993) have compiled data on site distribution along several river systems and reservoirs to conclude that many of the sites in southern Guam are located close to water and arable soil. As a result of these efforts, the general pattern of site distribution on Guam and the Mariana Islands indicate larger sites in coastal areas and smaller sites in the interior (e.g. Russell, 1998: 110). By the 2000s, as the site distribution pattern became clearer in northern Guam, many attempted to interpret the distribution pattern of sites in northern Guam, including the plateau. Olmo et al. (2000) discussed site distribution in northern Guam, focusing on the interior sites by reviewing 35 surveys that had been conducted since 1981, pointing out that previous researchers had underrated the northern plateau and hypothesizing that the northern plateau had served as a resource reservoir to exploit forest species and arable soil.

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