Volcanic disasters and cultural discontinuities in Holocene time, in West New Britain, Papua New Guinea

Abstract An evaluation of the relationship between culture change and the history of volcanic activity from the Witori and Dakataua volcanoes in West New Britain province, Papua New Guinea, demonstrates the importance of studies focusing on long time spans to an understanding of cultural adaptation to volcanic disasters. Using a chronostratigraphy based on several techniques for matching tephras, the cultural responses to five volcanic events are compared and contrasted between the Willaumez Peninsula and Yombon, areas whose environment and proximity to the volcanoes vary significantly. Archaeological analyses of material show that human groups did not immediately adjust to the effects of the most severe volcanic events but abandoned both regions. In contrast, adaptation on a long-term basis may be indicated by the occurrence of a punctuated trend in lithic technology inferred to reflect a decrease in mobility and an increase in the intensification of subsistence practices. This pattern, combined with limited radiocarbon dating, suggests that the length of abandonment decreased after each eruption, probably because of changes in social organization and subsistence practices. The paper demonstrates the value of collaboration between archaeology and geology in the study of long-term human responses to natural hazards.

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