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Dating the late prehistoric dispersal of Polynesians to New Zealand using the commensal Pacific rat

Date

Authors

Wilmshurst, Janet M

Anderson, Atholl

Higham, Thomas F. G.

Worthy, Trevor H

Publisher

National Academy of Sciences (USA)

Abstract

The pristine island ecosystems of East Polynesia were among the last places on Earth settled by prehistoric people, and their colonization triggered a devastating transformation. Overhunting contributed to widespread faunal extinctions and the decline of

Keywords

Keywords: carbon 14; accuracy; animal tissue; archeology; article; biodiversity; chronology; controlled study; deforestation; ecosystem; experimental rat; fauna; fossil animal; gnawing; New Zealand; nonhuman; organism colony; Pacific islands; pacific rat; paleoecol Archaeological visibility; Colonization; East Polynesia; Radiocarbon; Rattus exulans

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/1885/50242

Collections

ANU Research Publications

Source

PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Type

Journal article

DOI

10.1073/pnas.0801507105

Restricted until

2037-12-31

Downloads

File

Description

01_Wilmshurst_Dating_the_late_prehistoric_2008.pdf (453.46 KB)