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Island Colonization and Environmental Sustainability in the Postglacial Mediterranean

Author

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  • Daniel Plekhov

    (Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA)

  • Thomas P. Leppard

    (Department of Anthropology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA
    Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark)

  • John F. Cherry

    (Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA)

Abstract

Island environments present challenges to human colonization, but we have a poor understanding of how environmental difference drives heterogeneous patterns of insular settlement. In this paper, we assess which environmental and geographic variables positively or negatively affect the long-term sustainability of human settlement on islands. Using the postglacial Mediterranean basin as a case study, we assess the impact of area, isolation index, species richness, and net primary productivity (NPP) on patterns of island occupation for both hunter-gatherer and agropastoral populations. We find that models involving area most effectively accounts for sustainability in hunter-gatherer island settlement. The agropastoral data are noisier, perhaps due to culturally specific factors responsible for the distribution of the data; nonetheless, we show that area and NPP exert profound influence over sustainability of agropastoral island settlement. We conclude by suggesting that this relates to the capacity of these variables to impact demographic robusticity directly.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Plekhov & Thomas P. Leppard & John F. Cherry, 2021. "Island Colonization and Environmental Sustainability in the Postglacial Mediterranean," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-20, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:6:p:3383-:d:519992
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Ulrich Brose & Annette Ostling & Kateri Harrison & Neo D. Martinez, 2004. "Unified spatial scaling of species and their trophic interactions," Nature, Nature, vol. 428(6979), pages 167-171, March.
    4. Stephen Shennan & Sean S. Downey & Adrian Timpson & Kevan Edinborough & Sue Colledge & Tim Kerig & Katie Manning & Mark G. Thomas, 2013. "Regional population collapse followed initial agriculture booms in mid-Holocene Europe," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 4(1), pages 1-8, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Michelle J. LeFebvre & Jon M. Erlandson & Scott M. Fitzpatrick, 2022. "Archaeology as Sustainability Science: Perspectives from Ancient Island Societies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-17, August.
    2. Robert J. DiNapoli & Carl P. Lipo & Terry L. Hunt, 2021. "Triumph of the Commons: Sustainable Community Practices on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-23, November.

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