House of Taga
  • Home
  • Prehistory
  • Colonial Period
  • World War II
  • Miscellany
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Prehistory
  • Colonial Period
  • World War II
  • Miscellany
No Result
View All Result
House of Taga
No Result
View All Result
Dr. Mike T. Carson

The longest transoceanic
crossing of their time

Lexi Zotomayor by Lexi Zotomayor
June 2, 2019
in Prehistory
4 min read
0 0
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via e-Mail

Setting up a new community in the Marianas 3,500 years ago necessitated the longest transoceanic crossing of their time.

In a lecture presented by University of Guam archaeology Professor Dr. Michael T. Carson and Australian National University senior research fellow Dr. Hsiao-chun Hung on Saipan at the American Memorial Park in March 2013 reported that they had “solid evidence of a significantly earlier settlement in the Marianas, and it required an even longer distance of migration across the ocean, more than 2000 km from the nearest inhabited area.”

Carson believes that  “that constituted the longest ocean-crossing in human history of its time 3500 years ago.”

He pointed out that there was no other place that was inhabited in the Pacific Islands 3,500 years ago and that the closest inhabited islands were those of the Philippines.

Moreover, their study even moved further back by more than 500 years the migration to the islands as previously reported by other archaeologists. Settlement in Melanesia and Polynesia occurred about 3,000 to 2,800 years ago.

Being the first settlers in the remote Pacific islands, the ancient Chamorros traveled by canoes across the Philippine Sea, paddling a distance of 2,000km.

Research on Tinian

In 2013, Dr. Carson and Dr. Hung were on Tinian conducting an archaeological study near the site of the House of Taga, at the site previously dug by Fr.  Marcian Pellette where he uncovered finely decorated pottery — the earliest pottery of the Marianas — in the 1950s.

In 2011, Dr. Carson and Dr. Hung initially uncovered human remains in six burial sites. When they resumed their work at the site two years later, they found more partial human remains in five burial sites.

“The only burial features were in the upper layer of the site, associated with the latte sets of this area, dated approximately in the range of 1,000 through 300 years ago. All of the bones are staying in Tinian for respectful re-burial as soon as possible,” according to Dr. Carson.

In the lower and older layers at the site they found abundant artifacts and midden, as well as remains of house structures.

The research was primarily to find out more about the most ancient habitation layer dating nearly 3,500 years ago.

In the House of Taga, they found a plethora of broken pieces of pottery, shell and stone tools, ornaments and remnants of food.

For Carson, their work on Tinian was significant for learning about the first settlers of the islands. No other people were living in the remote Pacific Islands, Dr. Carson said, and these ancient sites in the Marianas provide them valuable information regarding this critical period in human history.

Dr. Mike T. Carson and Dr. Hsiao-chun Hung at the House of Taga site on Tinian

The Pottery Trail from Northern Philippines to the Marianas

For several years now, the two archaeologists have been exploring the connection between the Philippines and the Marianas, as they see a so-called “pottery trail”.

Recognizing the uncanny similarity in design motifs between the shards found in the Philippines with those unearthed in the Marianas.

Carson noted that the oldest trace of the design in the Philippines was about 3,800 years ago or earlier, while a similar design pattern first appeared in the Marianas 3,500 years ago, noting that there was no other type of pottery that existed elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region until later.

For Carson, there was a more elaborate version of this design style found in the Lapita pottery uncovered in the Bismarck Archipelago, in New Guinea, that was about 3,400 – 3,300 years old, and were later found elsewhere in Melanesia and West Polynesia about 3,000 – 2,800 years ago.

———————————————————————————–

*Their 2013 study on Tinian was jointly funded by the Chiang Ching Kuo Foundation and the Australia Research Council.

**The lecture held at the American Memorial Park was made possible through the Northern Marianas Humanities Council.

Tags: Prehistory
ShareTweetSend
ADVERTISEMENT
Next Post

WWII veteran Major Rick Spooner shares his war experience on Saipan

Lexi Zotomayor

Lexi Zotomayor

She lived on Saipan, in the Northern Marianas Islands for 11 years as a full-time print journalist, PR specialist, magazine manager and advertising agency's production coordinator. She was active with Stellar Marianas, a non-profit organization that has been empowering young women in the Marianas. In 2014, she was chair of the media relations committee of the 70th Anniversary of the Battles of Saipan/Tinian. For her support of environmental causes, including the campaign for the designation of a vast swath of submerged lands and water in the Marianas as a national marine monument, she was Pew/Ocean Legacy Engaged Citizen Awardee in 2008. She has a BA degree in Asian Studies and was close to completing her MA in Asian Studies when she relocated to Saipan in 2004. She was a recipient of a scholarship grant from the Jose Rizal-Sun Yat Sen Society in 1994.

Related Posts

Obyan Beach latte site
Colonial Period

What Alexander Spoehr found
on Obyan Beach

by Lexi Zotomayor
2 years ago
0
205

Anthropologist and former curator of the Bishop Museum Dr. Alexander Spoehr had concerns about the destruction of archaeological sites on...

Read more
2 groups of early Marianas settlers
Prehistory

2 groups of early Marianas settlers

2 years ago
717
Unai Bapot
Prehistory

Unai Bapot: Oldest settlement
in Remote Oceania

2 years ago
321
Ancient Chamorro teeth
Prehistory

What do Pre-Latte Chamorros, Vikings and Native Americans have in common? Dental modification.

3 years ago
554
Saipan casino sits on a Pre-Contact Period settlement
Prehistory

Saipan casino sits
on a Pre-Contact Period settlement

3 years ago
267
Next Post
WWII veteran Major Rick Spooner shares his war experience on Saipan

WWII veteran Major Rick Spooner shares his war experience on Saipan

WWII veteran-airman: ‘Do something for the country’

WWII veteran-airman:
'Do something for the country'

Fr. Hezel: Gift of faith did not come cheaply

Fr. Hezel: Gift of faith
did not come cheaply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Chamorros from Yap migrated back home in 1946, 1948

Chamorros from Yap migrated back home in 1946, 1948

June 22, 2019
2 groups of early Marianas settlers

2 groups of early Marianas settlers

June 2, 2020
Ancient Chamorro teeth

What do Pre-Latte Chamorros, Vikings and Native Americans have in common? Dental modification.

June 5, 2019
Remarkable prewar Japanese structures on Saipan

Remarkable prewar Japanese structures on Saipan

June 3, 2019
Chamorros from Yap migrated back home in 1946, 1948

Chamorros from Yap migrated back home in 1946, 1948

2
Hornbostels in Manila, 1942-1945

Hornbostels in Manila, 1942-1945

1
WWII veteran-airman: ‘Do something for the country’

WWII veteran-airman:
‘Do something for the country’

0
Obyan Beach latte site

What Alexander Spoehr found
on Obyan Beach

0
Obyan Beach latte site

What Alexander Spoehr found
on Obyan Beach

June 10, 2020
Guam

Guam’s prewar ‘Recorder’

June 9, 2020
House of Taga

Hans Hornbostel goes to Saipan (1924)

June 9, 2020
Gertrude Hornbostel

Trudis Alemån’s liberation
from Santo Tomas camp

June 2, 2020

Ad:

ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
e-Mail us at hafadai@houseoftaga.com

© 2019 House of Taga
Alexie Zotomayor
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No Result
View All Result

© 2019 House of Taga
Alexie Zotomayor
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.