Revisiting the role of high-energy Pacific events in the environmental and cultural history of Easter Island (Rapa Nui)

Pacific islands are spread over thousands of kilometres of the Pacific Basin and are characterised by similar ecological features but very diverse geologic origins, from steep volcanoes to flat coral atolls. Several climatic phases have been shared across the region within the last 1,000 years. Nume...

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Autores: Margalef, Olga|||0000-0002-3036-3182, Álvarez Gómez, José A.|||0000-0002-2814-3172, Pla-Rabes, Sergi|||0000-0003-3532-9466, Cañellas-Boltà, Núria, Rull, Valentí|||0000-0002-9961-105X, Sáez, Alberto|||0000-0003-4215-5038, Geyer, Adelina|||0000-0002-8803-6504, Peñuelas, Josep|||0000-0002-7215-0150, Sardans i Galobart, Jordi|||0000-0003-2478-0219, Giralt, Santiago|||0000-0001-8570-7838
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:203564
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/203564
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1111/geoj.12253
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Easter Island
Historic volcanic eruptions
Lacustrine record
Palaeo-tsunamis
Polynesian societies
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spelling Revisiting the role of high-energy Pacific events in the environmental and cultural history of Easter Island (Rapa Nui)Margalef, Olga|||0000-0002-3036-3182Álvarez Gómez, José A.|||0000-0002-2814-3172Pla-Rabes, Sergi|||0000-0003-3532-9466Cañellas-Boltà, NúriaRull, Valentí|||0000-0002-9961-105XSáez, Alberto|||0000-0003-4215-5038Geyer, Adelina|||0000-0002-8803-6504Peñuelas, Josep|||0000-0002-7215-0150Sardans i Galobart, Jordi|||0000-0003-2478-0219Giralt, Santiago|||0000-0001-8570-7838Easter IslandHistoric volcanic eruptionsLacustrine recordPalaeo-tsunamisPolynesian societiesPacific islands are spread over thousands of kilometres of the Pacific Basin and are characterised by similar ecological features but very diverse geologic origins, from steep volcanoes to flat coral atolls. Several climatic phases have been shared across the region within the last 1,000 years. Numerous and abrupt societal and cultural changes during the same period have been described for islands separated by thousands of kilometres. Conspicuous societal changes have been exclusively attributed to the main climatic patterns (changes in precipitation and temperature). The possible role of tsunamis and the occurrence of large volcanic eruptions as regional societal modulators, however, have traditionally received little attention from archaeologists, mainly due to the difficulty of recognising them in the sedimentary and geomorphological records. We explore the potential influence of the most important high-energy events in the Pacific on Polynesian societal changes, with a special focus on Easter Island. For example, the extreme Samalas eruption in AD 1257 may have been an indirect driver of the sudden population decline, land degradation and decreased food resources on many Pacific islands between AD 1250 and 1300, and the Kuwae eruption in AD 1450 may have triggered the synchronous end of long voyaging expeditions across the Pacific. Important palaeo-tsunamis have had unquestionable impacts on coastal and seafaring societies. A direct effect of the main eruptions of the last millennia (AD 1257 and 1453) on Easter Island has not yet been identified by any record, but we have calculated the likelihood of destructive tsunamis with an estimated period of recurrence for large events of less than a century. This insight is new and needs to be taken into account to complement what we already know about Easter Island's cultural history and archaeological sites, especially those in vulnerable coastal locations. 22018-01-0120182018-01-01Articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501AMhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_ab4af688f83e57aainfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://ddd.uab.cat/record/203564https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1111/geoj.12253reponame:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UABinstname:Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaInglésengMinisterio de Educación y Ciencia CGL2004-00683/BTEMinisterio de Educación y Ciencia CGL2007-60932/BTEopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Aquest material està protegit per drets d'autor i/o drets afins. Podeu utilitzar aquest material en funció del que permet la legislació de drets d'autor i drets afins d'aplicació al vostre cas. Per a d'altres usos heu d'obtenir permís del(s) titular(s) de drets.https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:ddd.uab.cat:2035642026-06-06T12:50:31Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Revisiting the role of high-energy Pacific events in the environmental and cultural history of Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
title Revisiting the role of high-energy Pacific events in the environmental and cultural history of Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
spellingShingle Revisiting the role of high-energy Pacific events in the environmental and cultural history of Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
Margalef, Olga|||0000-0002-3036-3182
Easter Island
Historic volcanic eruptions
Lacustrine record
Palaeo-tsunamis
Polynesian societies
title_short Revisiting the role of high-energy Pacific events in the environmental and cultural history of Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
title_full Revisiting the role of high-energy Pacific events in the environmental and cultural history of Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
title_fullStr Revisiting the role of high-energy Pacific events in the environmental and cultural history of Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
title_full_unstemmed Revisiting the role of high-energy Pacific events in the environmental and cultural history of Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
title_sort Revisiting the role of high-energy Pacific events in the environmental and cultural history of Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Margalef, Olga|||0000-0002-3036-3182
Álvarez Gómez, José A.|||0000-0002-2814-3172
Pla-Rabes, Sergi|||0000-0003-3532-9466
Cañellas-Boltà, Núria
Rull, Valentí|||0000-0002-9961-105X
Sáez, Alberto|||0000-0003-4215-5038
Geyer, Adelina|||0000-0002-8803-6504
Peñuelas, Josep|||0000-0002-7215-0150
Sardans i Galobart, Jordi|||0000-0003-2478-0219
Giralt, Santiago|||0000-0001-8570-7838
author Margalef, Olga|||0000-0002-3036-3182
author_facet Margalef, Olga|||0000-0002-3036-3182
Álvarez Gómez, José A.|||0000-0002-2814-3172
Pla-Rabes, Sergi|||0000-0003-3532-9466
Cañellas-Boltà, Núria
Rull, Valentí|||0000-0002-9961-105X
Sáez, Alberto|||0000-0003-4215-5038
Geyer, Adelina|||0000-0002-8803-6504
Peñuelas, Josep|||0000-0002-7215-0150
Sardans i Galobart, Jordi|||0000-0003-2478-0219
Giralt, Santiago|||0000-0001-8570-7838
author_role author
author2 Álvarez Gómez, José A.|||0000-0002-2814-3172
Pla-Rabes, Sergi|||0000-0003-3532-9466
Cañellas-Boltà, Núria
Rull, Valentí|||0000-0002-9961-105X
Sáez, Alberto|||0000-0003-4215-5038
Geyer, Adelina|||0000-0002-8803-6504
Peñuelas, Josep|||0000-0002-7215-0150
Sardans i Galobart, Jordi|||0000-0003-2478-0219
Giralt, Santiago|||0000-0001-8570-7838
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Easter Island
Historic volcanic eruptions
Lacustrine record
Palaeo-tsunamis
Polynesian societies
topic Easter Island
Historic volcanic eruptions
Lacustrine record
Palaeo-tsunamis
Polynesian societies
description Pacific islands are spread over thousands of kilometres of the Pacific Basin and are characterised by similar ecological features but very diverse geologic origins, from steep volcanoes to flat coral atolls. Several climatic phases have been shared across the region within the last 1,000 years. Numerous and abrupt societal and cultural changes during the same period have been described for islands separated by thousands of kilometres. Conspicuous societal changes have been exclusively attributed to the main climatic patterns (changes in precipitation and temperature). The possible role of tsunamis and the occurrence of large volcanic eruptions as regional societal modulators, however, have traditionally received little attention from archaeologists, mainly due to the difficulty of recognising them in the sedimentary and geomorphological records. We explore the potential influence of the most important high-energy events in the Pacific on Polynesian societal changes, with a special focus on Easter Island. For example, the extreme Samalas eruption in AD 1257 may have been an indirect driver of the sudden population decline, land degradation and decreased food resources on many Pacific islands between AD 1250 and 1300, and the Kuwae eruption in AD 1450 may have triggered the synchronous end of long voyaging expeditions across the Pacific. Important palaeo-tsunamis have had unquestionable impacts on coastal and seafaring societies. A direct effect of the main eruptions of the last millennia (AD 1257 and 1453) on Easter Island has not yet been identified by any record, but we have calculated the likelihood of destructive tsunamis with an estimated period of recurrence for large events of less than a century. This insight is new and needs to be taken into account to complement what we already know about Easter Island's cultural history and archaeological sites, especially those in vulnerable coastal locations.
publishDate 2018
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2
2018-01-01
2018
2018-01-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
AM
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_ab4af688f83e57aa
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
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dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://ddd.uab.cat/record/203564
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1111/geoj.12253
url https://ddd.uab.cat/record/203564
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1111/geoj.12253
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia CGL2004-00683/BTE
Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia CGL2007-60932/BTE
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
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eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
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instname:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
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