Examining dynamic interactions between
humans and island environments
This
volume explores the impacts humans have made on island and coastal ecosystems and
the ways these environments have adapted to anthropogenic changes over the
course of millennia. Case studies highlight how island populations developed social
and political strategies to effectively manage their ecosystems, ensuring the long-term
survival of their societies and the persistence of their cultural traditions.
In
case studies from islands in the Pacific, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic, contributors
apply resilience theory, historical ecology, niche construction theory, and
human behavioral ecology to foreground Indigenous resiliency and sustainability.
Modern island and coastal societies face daunting challenges in the decades to
come, including climate change, sea level rise, and the loss of habitable lands
and heritage resources. Sustainability in
Ancient Island Societies argues that the study of past human responses to such
changes, especially practices rooted in Indigenous traditional ecological
knowledge, can inform solutions to manage these threats today.
Contributors: Rebecca
Boger | Emira Ibrahimpasic | Frederique Valentin | Stuart Bedford | Davide
Marco Zori | William Jeffery | Denise Elena | Edith Gonzalez | Mark Horrocks | Anaëlle
Jallon | Sophia Perdikaris | Iarowoi Philip | Takaronga Kuautonga | Lindsey E.
Cochran | Christopher Wolff | Todd Braje | Craig Shapiro | Allison Bain | Dr.
Torben C. Rick | James Flexner | Tim Denham | Jon M. Erlandson | Robert
Williams | Victor D. Thompson | Scott M. Fitzpatrick | Julie Field | Kristina
M. Gill | Sandrine Grouard
A volume
in the series Society and Ecology in Island and Coastal Archaeology, edited by
Victor D. Thompson and Scott M. Fitzpatrick
