Sustainability in Ancient Island Societies

Examining dynamic interactions betweenhumans and island environments

Thisvolume explores the impacts humans have made on island and coastal ecosystems andthe ways these environments have adapted to anthropogenic changes over thecourse of millennia. Case studies highlight how island populations developed socialand political strategies to effectively manage their ecosystems, ensuring the long-termsurvival of their societies and the persistence of their cultural traditions.

Incase studies from islands in the Pacific, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic, contributorsapply resilience theory, historical ecology, niche construction theory, andhuman behavioral ecology to foreground Indigenous resiliency and sustainability.Modern island and coastal societies face daunting challenges in the decades tocome, including climate change, sea level rise, and the loss of habitable landsand heritage resources. Sustainability inAncient Island Societies argues that the study of past human responses to suchchanges, especially practices rooted in Indigenous traditional ecologicalknowledge, can inform solutions to manage these threats today.

Contributors: RebeccaBoger | Emira Ibrahimpasic | Frederique Valentin | Stuart Bedford | DavideMarco Zori | William Jeffery | Denise Elena | Edith Gonzalez | Mark Horrocks | AnaëlleJallon | 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 | RobertWilliams | Victor D. Thompson | Scott M. Fitzpatrick | Julie Field | KristinaM. Gill | Sandrine Grouard

A volumein the series Society and Ecology in Island and Coastal Archaeology, edited byVictor D. Thompson and Scott M. Fitzpatrick