Timing, magnitude and effects of late Holocene sea level drawdown on island habitability, Aitutaki, Cook Islands

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dc.contributor.authorAllen, MSen_AU
dc.contributor.authorMorrison, AEen_AU
dc.contributor.authorLorrey, AMen_AU
dc.contributor.authorZhao, JXen_AU
dc.contributor.authorJacobsen, GEen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2017-06-21T00:59:09Zen_AU
dc.date.available2017-06-21T00:59:09Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2016-07-06en_AU
dc.date.statistics2017-06-21en_AU
dc.description.abstractGeologist Bill Dickinson argued that prior to late Holocene sea level fall, in many Pacific island settings low-lying islands were awash, shallow nearshore environments were restricted and human settlement was constrained or sometimes impossible. Stable coastlines and islets of modern configuration only developed after the “cross-over date”, when declining high-tide levels fell below mid-Holocene low-tide levels, a regionally variable process. We evaluate evidence from the almost-atoll of Aitutaki, Cook Islands against this model, providing: (1) a local late Holocene sea level reconstruction including nine U/Th-dated microatolls; (2) 22 new AMS dates on human activities, many from small, low-lying offshore islets; and (3) elevation data for 14C-dated cultural deposits on three islets. Our results include an early first millennium sea level position 0.74–0.97 m (± 0.126) above modern height-of-living-corals, an eighth to eleventh century AD minimum relative to the long-term trend, and a sea level rise peaking in the mid-fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. This reconstruction, combined with twelfth century AD Cocos nucifera charcoal, informs on the timing and distribution of human activities across Aitutaki's evolving land and seascapes and sea level impacts. While our findings do not contradict Dickinson's model of sea level constrained island settlement, other explanations cannot be excluded. © 2016, Oceania Publications.en_AU
dc.identifier.citationAllen, M. S., Morrison, A. E., Lorrey, A.M., Zhao, J.X., & Jacobson, G.E. (2016). Timing, magnitude and effects of late Holocene sea level drawdown on island habitability, Aitutaki, Cook Islands: Timing, magnitude and effects of late Holocene sea level. Archaeology in Oceania, 51 (2): 108-121. doi:org/10.1002/arco.5102en_AU
dc.identifier.govdoc8255en_AU
dc.identifier.issn0728-4896en_AU
dc.identifier.issue2en_AU
dc.identifier.journaltitleArchaeology in Oceaniaen_AU
dc.identifier.pagination108-121en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1002/arco.5102en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/8757en_AU
dc.identifier.volume51en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherOceania Publicationsen_AU
dc.subjectSea levelen_AU
dc.subjectOceaniaen_AU
dc.subjectCoastal regionsen_AU
dc.subjectQuaternary perioden_AU
dc.subjectCoralsen_AU
dc.subjectCharcoalen_AU
dc.titleTiming, magnitude and effects of late Holocene sea level drawdown on island habitability, Aitutaki, Cook Islandsen_AU
dc.typeJournal Articleen_AU
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