Chroniques insulaires dans le Pacifique Sud

Abstract

1 The genetic and cultural diversity of contemporary societies of the South Pacific populations results from incessant contacts between the islands for 3000 years, from the colonization by the Lapita to European colonization 400-300 years ago. In this vast region, the BIFO project focuses on a study area limited to the south and center of Vanuatu, marked by relations with Polynesia at the beginning of the 2nd millennium and the arrival of Europeans in the 18th century. This project aims to characterize mobility(ies) in a diachronic perspective by questioning several temporalities, from the individual to the population. Thus, the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios recorded in dental enamel were measured to explore (1) at the intra-individual scale family mobility (Laser Ablation LA-ICPMS) and (2) at the inter-individual scale historical and cultural mobility (bulk-solution, ICPMS). The corpus includes a total of 46 molars from five islands of the Vanuatu Archipelago (Aniwa, Tanna and Futuna for the South and Efate and Emae for the Central). Half of the subjects (14/30) show 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratio profiles with highly variable amplitudes and sequences suggesting complex family mobilities. These ratios show significant mobility of individuals from the early periods of South Vanuatu and the recent periods of Central Vanuatu. A difference in inter-individual variability exists between the islands. It is independent of the subjects' sex and confirms the complexity of mobility patterns. These observations are consistent with archaeological data indicating the arrival of visitors from Western Polynesia (Tonga, Samoa, Wallis and Futuna) in South and Central Vanuatu as early as 1000 years ago. These mobilities will be analyzed in light of unpublished paleofood data (δ 13 C, δ 15 N) in order to assess the impact of environmental and cultural factors. Show more