Journal of Field Archaeology ISSN: 0093-4690 (Print) 2042-4582 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/yjfa20 Inhabiting Remote Tropical Seashores at 1500–1100 b.c.: Water, Practicalities, and Rituals in the Mariana Islands Mike T. Carson To cite this article: Mike T. Carson (2017) Inhabiting Remote Tropical Seashores at 1500–1100 b.c.: Water, Practicalities, and Rituals in the Mariana Islands, Journal of Field Archaeology, 42:4, 269-282, DOI: 10.1080/00934690.2017.1326800 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2017.1326800 Published online: 25 May 2017. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 16 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=yjfa20 Download by: [Australian National University] Date: 27 July 2017, At: 00:55 JOURNAL OF FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY, 2017 VOL. 42, NO. 4, 269–282 https://doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2017.1326800 Inhabiting Remote Tropical Seashores at 1500–1100 Rituals in the Mariana Islands B.C. : Water, Practicalities, and Mike T. Carson Micronesian Area Research Center, University of Guam, Mangilao, Guam, USA ABSTRACT KEYWORDS When people first inhabited the Remote Oceanic region of the world at 1500 B.C. , they generated archaeological sites attesting to their practical coastal adaptations in tandem with their ceremonial traditions, wherein water figured vitally in daily living and ritual performance. Of eight known firstsettlement sites in the Mariana Islands, Ritidian in Guam uniquely incorporates one residential habitation plus two caves related to water collection, pictographs, consumption of unusual foods, and use of exceptionally decorative objects. The inter-connected findings clarify what was “special” about the special-use caves, in total articulating a fuller sense of cultural life and landscape than otherwise could be possible. cave ritual; water sources; human-environment relations; landscape archaeology Interrelating Habitation, Cave Rituals, and Water Resources Along the northern coast of Guam of the Mariana Islands, Ritidian’s oldest site dates to 1500 B.C . and offers a precious rare glimpse into what happened when people initially encountered a truly pristine natural environment (FIGURE 1). Ritidian is one of eight sites in the Marianas bearing a record of the first time when people successfully inhabited the Remote Oceanic region of the world (Carson and Kurashina 2012), in this case requiring the longest ever sea-crossing migration of its time, in excess of 2000km from Island Southeast Asia (Craib 1999; Hung et al. 2011). Research at the Ritidian Site in particular has revealed how the first settlers here targeted a narrowly defined seashore niche that existed only for a few centuries (Carson 2014a: 79–104; 2014b). Yet the roles of cave rituals during first settlement have not been evaluated with an ample material record until now. Uniquely at Ritidian, the earliest site layers include one practical habitation area plus two specialized ceremonial cave venues, together illustrating more about the initial settlement period than otherwise has been possible. This situation allows cross-comparisons of the three localities: a residential occupation directly at the ancient seashore, bearing dense dietary food remains and general-utility household debris; a ritual cave area with enigmatic rock art, unusual food remains, and impressive concentrations of highly ornate artifacts; and another ritual cave area with less ornamental offerings, more practical-use items, and layered rock art panels. Critical for comprehending this early site context, the two caves contained freshwater sources prior to 1100 B.C. Thereafter, with lowering sea level and accordingly a lowering freshwater lens, accessibility decreased. The ability to interrelate an open habitation with cave rituals and water resources is indeed a rare occurrence within a single archaeological site complex. Following its discovery, the Ritidian Site’s overall sequence of more than three millennia was summarized elsewhere (Carson, forthcoming), but the initial settlement period deserves closer examination. CONTACT Mike T. Carson mtcarson@triton.uog.edu © Trustees of Boston University 2017 The water resources have not been addressed explicitly until now. The essential role of water tends to be taken for granted by archaeologists, knowing that water must have been available for the inhabitants of any site, but so far only few studies have considered in depth the ancient use of water. Vernon Scarborough (2003) and Steven Mithen (2012) encouraged archaeologists worldwide to consider how water influenced the cultural use of landscapes, and how this influence likely has changed through time in variable ways. This scope of such study may prove invaluable as we deal with recent concerns about sea-level rise and its effect on water tables and with escalating population densities which are over-taxing our world’s usable water sources that have been limited by salinization, coastal flooding, and other factors. Globally, archaeological studies of water sources have focused on the most robust material evidence in the form of reservoirs, irrigation networks, and other devices for manipulating and managing water supplies. Formalized water management has been dated at least as early as 6000 B.C. at the Choga Mami irrigation canal in Iraq (Helbaek 1972; Oates 1972), but artificial constructions are just one aspect of controlling water. For the vast majority of human evolutionary history, people collected water from rainfall, streams, lakes, coastal seepage flows, and other natural sources, resulting in little or no diagnostic archaeological trace. The Ritidian Site presents a situation where people must have been able to access freshwater sources when they first lived there in 1500 B.C. , yet no formal management constructions are evident for the period in question. The site is situated on the coastal margin of an extensive limestone plateau in northern Guam, which contains an aquifer with an estimated capacity to produce more than 225,000,000 liters of water per day. Prior to the drilling of modern wells into the aquifer, however, hand-dug wells supported agricultural fields in Ritidian’s coastal plain during the 1800s (Madrid 2014). Even earlier, before the coastal plain had formed geologically, the inhabitants of the paleo-seashore beginning in 1500 B.C. could not possibly have accessed the same water 303 University Drive, UOG Station Mangilao, GU 96913. 270 M. T. CARSON Figure 1. Ritidian Site in Guam, Mariana Islands, western Pacific. sources that supported a large village of the A.D . 1600s. Instead they collected rainwater and ceiling-drip in caves along the steep limestone escarpment, found portions of the island’s aquifer in cave pools, and tapped into natural freshwater seeps at the dynamic shorelines. The presence of freshwater sources, especially prior to 1100 B.C., characterizes the Ritidian caves, and this has implications for interpreting other palaeo-landscapes with former water sources that now have become transformed or obscured. Prior to 1100 B.C. in Guam and the other largest southern islands of the Marianas, caves embodied otherworldly places as in all time periods, but they also provided the most reliable ways to access the massive aquifers in the enormous limestone plateau formations of these islands. The highest density of accessible ground-level caves occurred naturally along Guam’s northern coast, at and around the Ritidian Site. Most instructively, two of the caves at Ritidian can be articulated with a contemporaneous residential habitation, dated to the beginning of human presence in Remote Oceania in 1500 B.C . This record effectively expands on worldwide studies of caves as places of extraordinary activities apart from regular daily life, for instance as reviewed by Bergsvik and Skeates (2012), Clottes (2003), Moyes (2012), and Taçon (2005). Unlike observations elsewhere in the world, however, the Ritidian caves allow insights into water collection as both practical and ceremonial. Caves in general are understood as ritual or ceremonial venues, due to their unique natural conditions in all cases and their association with peculiar archaeological signatures in some cases. While the exteriors and lighted zones of caves can accommodate a great variety of activities, the interior dark zones are strikingly inhospitable and therefore are either avoided or reserved for a narrow range of rare activities (Goldberg and Sherwood 2006). The Ritidian caves too, show varied cultural deposits in their lighted and twilight zones, as compared to little or no evidence at all in their deep interior dark zones. Human beings are physically incapable of surviving long-term in permanently dark zones or completely enclosed spaces, as seen in studies of the abnormal effects of deep caves on the human senses (Montello and Moyes 2012). In many cultural traditions, people have directed the sensory effects inside caves toward inducing trance or other unusual experiences, outside the realm of normal life. While cave sites may be described as specialized contexts, their precise meanings are notoriously difficult if not impossible to define purely on the basis of the archaeological evidence. Instances of rock art, burial features, and concentrations of rare artifacts all could suggest activities apart from daily residential ones, but these implications are vague and unsubstantiated unless they can be compared with sites outside the caves dated to the same time period as attested inside the caves. This kind of comparison of archaeological records inside and outside caves has been possible at the Ritidian Site. Prior to the findings as reported here, caves in the Mariana Islands have yielded no sign of cultural activity during the first centuries of human presence in the region. A review by Dixon and Schaefer (2014) noted only sparse cultural use of a few caves as early as 500 B.C. The role of caves during first settlement period between 1500–1100 B.C . could not be ascertained until the present Ritidian study. Most caves in the Marianas were altered or destroyed during World War II, but fortuitously no wartime battles occurred at the Ritidian Site. First Settlement at Ritidian Excavations at the Ritidian site have revealed buried layers containing artifacts, midden materials, and environmental indicators of where people lived and how they interacted with their landscape during different time periods. While JOURNAL OF FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY the surface of Ritidian today exhibits an extensive village complex and numerous caves with rock art dating to the A.D. 1600s, these contexts must be recognized as disconnected from the circumstances of the initial cultural horizon dated some millennia earlier. The present work concentrates on the first settlement period of 1500–1100 B.C. , when people at Ritidian inhabited an environment substantially different from today’s conditions, in terms of a higher sea level with direct effects on the water table, shape of the shoreline, and nearshore ecology (FIGURE 2). Prior to 1100 B.C., the regional sea level was about 1.8 m higher than present (Dickinson 2000, 2001; Kayanne et al. 1993), supporting a shallow-water lagoon around the base of the steep limestone cliffline at Ritidian. As well, the freshwater lens and coastal seeps were more elevated and accessible to humans in different locales than at present. The paleo-lagoon environment is evidenced in a subsurface bed of the bioclasts of Halimeda sp. algae, effectively mapping the floor of the palaeo-lagoon over an area of approximately 800 × 100 m, directly dated by radiocarbon and coordinated with its absolute elevation (Carson 2014c). The parameters of the palaeo-lagoon are refined further with the measured elevations of palaeo-tidal notches and the dating of fossil coral reefs in the vicinity (Carson 2011). Archaeological site middens show that the palaeo-lagoon provided a habitat for Anadara sp. clams, but these shellfish thereafter declined rapidly with the onset of sea-level drawdown and change in coastal ecology after 1100 B.C. (Carson 2012). Concurrent with the changing nearshore ecology after 1100 B.C. , the lowering sea level began to affect the distributions of freshwater pools and coastal seeps, thus transforming the relationship between people and their landscapes as reflected in the material culture chronology. First, people abandoned their oldest residential sites and began to live on the new coastal landforms that emerged above the lowering sea level. Second, people needed to harvest different kinds of shellfish and other resources in a changing nearshore habitat. Third, people stopped producing their specialized decorated pottery and finely made shell ornaments, replacing them with thicker, coarser, and less ornate objects. The tightly framed first settlement period of 1500–1100 B.C. is represented in three localities at Ritidian. An ancient shoreline habitation originally had been situated over shallow water in a meadow of Halimeda sp. algae. Two nearby caves were used at the same time, primarily in the external light-zone areas protected by large overhang formations, although the deeper twilight and dark-zone interiors were accessed for drawing pictographs, obtaining water, and other purposes. Ritidian Palaeo-shore Habitation The oldest residential habitation at Ritidian consisted of a small area of less than 20 × 20 m, according to findings in test pits. The cultural layer was encountered at 2.35 m in depth in a single 1 × 1 m test pit, later expanded with an additional test pit. Other test pits at 10 m intervals found no further evidence of this deeply buried layer, hence defining the residential space within those limits. The investigation required two methodological advances. First, the excavation needed to penetrate through more than 1 m of solid calcrete, using a geological hammer to 271 remove blocks of the concreted sands and later dissolving those blocks in light (5%) acid to reveal the pottery fragments, shellfish remains, and other materials encased inside the hardened matrix. Second, for radiocarbon dating of the deep palaeo-lagoon layers lacking reliable charcoal, a local marine reservoir correction (ΔR) was calculated by pairing samples of varied marine shells with charcoal of short-lived coconut endocarp fragments, found in secure contexts in the middle to upper layers (Carson 2010). Whereas some shell taxa produced inconsistent dating results, the samples of Anadara sp. shells and of Halimeda sp. algal bioclasts proved to be reliable and with a rather minor correction of -44 ± 41 years. Continued excavations have validated the same ΔR calculation. The initial habitation layer reflects cultural occupation in a shallow sub-tidal or inter-tidal zone, with radiocarbon results cross-confirming a date range of 1551–1313 CAL B.C. (FIGURE 3). A layer of cultural debris had formed inside a palaeo-lagoon bed of Halimeda sp. algal bioclasts that continued to accumulate over the deposited cultural material. Excavation has not yet been wide enough to identify patterns of post molds or other house structural remains, but the palaeo-lagoon setting would suggest stilt-raised housing over the water. The dense shell midden is consistent with other palaeo-shoreline habitations in the Mariana Islands, where large-format excavations have clarified the patterns of stilt-raised houses, such as at the 92 sq m excavations at the House of Taga Site in Tinian (Carson 2014a: 119–134; 2016: 146–159). The dating at Ritidian is bracketed by underlying pre-cultural corals dating to 2455–2061 CAL B.C. and 1926–1644 CAL B.C. , as well as by a later overcapping layer of branch coral dating to 1359–1040 CAL B.C. and the next cultural layer dating to 1073–843 CAL B.C. definitely post-dating the palaeo-lagoon (TABLE 1) (FIGURE 3). The palaeo-shore habitation layer contained mostly general-utility pottery and dietary shellfish remains. The pottery fragments had been broken from thin-walled earthenware bowls, covered with red slip but otherwise undecorated, except for one instance of a circle-stamped rim. Other artifacts included a set of 21 small Conus sp. shell beads and an unfinished chert adze pre-form. The midden consisted almost entirely of Anadara sp. shells, plus fair amounts of chiton, sea urchin, and limpets. Poorly preserved animal bones were identified as sparse fragments of turtle and fish bones. Ritidian First Cave About 50 m landward (southeast) from the palaeo-shore habitation, people used a limestone cave at least as early as 1491– 1320 CAL B.C. (FIGURE 4). At that time, the ancient lagoon habitat had extended to near the cave entrance, as attested by a bed of Halimeda sp. bioclasts. A small area of about 15 m2 was elevated just slightly above mean tide level and was periodically exposed as dry sand in the area beneath the cave’s external overhang shelter. The cave interior has shown evidence of sparse use of the twilight area at the entrance, clusters of pictographs in the dark zone (FIGURE 5), and possible traces of former freshwater pools in a number of places. At the cave overhang shelter, excavations covering 9.5 m2 found a surprisingly rich cultural layer. A high concentration of unusual decorative objects indicated activities outside the scope of regular habitation, wherein many of these artifacts 272 M. T. CARSON Figure 2. Ancient versus modern conditions at Ritidian. represented the only examples of their kind or were among the few ever known. The food midden consisted of very few of the Anadara sp. shells and other taxa typical of residential habitation debris, instead characterized by Codakia sp. and Tellina sp. bivalves not ordinarily seen in high frequencies at habitation sites. The pottery in the oldest cultural layer included rare variants within the general categories of red-slipped earthenware Table 1 Radiocarbon dates from three early-period localities at Ritidian. Conventional age (years B.P.) Marine reservoir correction (ΔR) −25.4 2810 ± 40 Not applicable −1.1 −0.7 +5.3 3260 ± 30 3420 ± 40 3480 ± 40 −44 ± 41 −44 ± 41 −44 ± 41 1073–1066 B.C. (0.77%) 1057–843 B.C. (94.7%) 1359–1040 B.C. (95.4%) 1551–1247 B.C. (95.4%) 1608–1313 B.C. (95.4%) −3.0 +4.2 3750 ± 30 3860 ± 30 −44 ± 41 −44 ± 41 1926–1644 B.C. (95.4%) 2455–2061 B.C. (95.4%) First Cave 444229 Human bone, superimposed cultural layer 433372 Charcoal, superimposed cultural layer −17.5 −26.3 2180 ± 30 2470 ± 30 Not applicable Not applicable 424685 Anadara sp. shell, superimposed cultural layer 424686 Anadara sp. shell, within earliest cultural layer 433371 Anadara sp. shell, within earliest cultural layer −1.2 −0.7 −1.9 2780 ± 30 3400 ± 30 3480 ± 30 −44 ± 41 −44 ± 41 −44 ± 41 361–168 B.C. (95.4%) 768–476 B.C. (92.4%) 464–453 B.C. (1.2%) 445–431 B.C. (1.8%) 768–457 B.C. (95.4%) 1491–1231 B.C. (95.4%) 1604–1344 B.C. (95.1%) 1331–1320 B.C. (0.3%) Star Cave 418951 Charcoal, superimposed cultural layer −24.0 1670 ± 30 Not applicable 418952 418950 355871 424684 −25.0 −1.9 −1.8 +3.3 1870 ± 30 2570 ± 30 3330 ± 30 3850 ± 30 Not applicable −44 ± 41 −44 ± 41 −44 ± 41 +4.2 3860 ± 30 −44 ± 41 2097–1772 B.C. (95.4%) +4.0 3900 ± 30 −44 ± 41 2143–1842 B.C. (95.4%) +1.3 4300 ± 30 −44 ± 41 2701–2377 B.C. (95.4%) 13 Beta # Material C/12C Ratio (‰) 2 sigma calibration (calendar years) Palaeo-shore Habitation 239577 Carbonized coconut endocarp, superimposed cultural layer 303808 Acropora sp. branch coral, superimposed layer 253681 Anadara sp. shell, within earliest cultural layer 253682 Halimeda sp. algal bioclast, within earliest cultural layer 303807 Acropora sp. branch coral, beneath cultural layer 253683 Heliopora sp. coral, beneath cultural layer Charcoal, superimposed cultural layer Anadara sp. shell, superimposed cultural layer Anadara sp. shell, superimposed cultural layer Halimeda sp. algal bioclast, within or beneath cultural layer 355872 Halimeda sp. algal bioclast, within or beneath cultural layer 414213 Halimeda sp. algal bioclast, within or beneath cultural layer 383491 Barbatia sp. shell, beneath cultural layer A.D. 258–285 (6.0%) A.D. 290–295 (0.4%) A.D. 321–428 (89.0%) A.D. 73–226 (95.4%) 483–191 B.C. (95.4%) 1418–1144 B.C. (95.4%) 2071–1752 B.C. (95.4%) All calibrations are at 2 sigmas (95.4%), using OxCal version 4.2 (Bronk Ramsey and Lee 2013). Charcoal and human bone samples were calibrated with INTCAL13 dataset, and marine specimens were calibrated with MARINE13 dataset (Reimer et al. 2013). A local marine reservoir correction (ΔR) of -44±41 was calculated or Anadara sp. shells and Halimeda sp. algal bioclasts at the Ritidian Site (Carson 2010). JOURNAL OF FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY 273 Figure 3. Ritidian palaeo-shore habitation. Excavation profile. Dates are calibrated at 2 sigmas. bowls typically found in this time range and in the nearby palaeo-shore habitations (FIGURE 6). At least 20 different bowls were decorated, accounting for 2% of the total assemblage as compared to less than 1% at other sites of the same age. Among the decorations, most intriguing are the finely dentate-stamped and circle-stamped designs with white lime infilling (FIGURES 6A–E), comprising a highly distinctive tradition that can be traced to its origins in Island Southeast Asia prior to 1500 B.C. (Bellwood et al. 2011; Carson et al. 2013; Hung et al. 2011). A few pieces displayed paddleimpressed exteriors (FIGURE 6F), made by a groove-carved paddle, otherwise found on less than 20 potsherds of similar age. The assemblage also included one of only three handle pieces ever recovered from this early period, as well as the only clear example of a foot-ring appendage so far identified in the Marianas. Many of the stone, shell, and bone tools displayed unexpected artistic qualities with extra attention paid to their shaping and polishing (FIGURE 7). Among the most exquisite examples are: a tiny polished adze made of crystallized cave flowstone (FIGURE 7B); a coconut grater made of Cypraea tigris shell (FIGURE 7C); and a piece of a harpoon point carved from human bone (FIGURE 7A). At least one polished adze is indicated by the broken pieces of Tridacna sp. (giant clam) shell (FIGURE 7f). Several flakes of chert were removed from cores, including many with cutting-edge wear and one fashioned into a drill-bit piece (FIGURE 7D). A few fragments of human bone displayed cut edges, and one retained a red ochre smudge. Numerous body ornaments consisted of 528 beads, 5 discs, 18 rings, and 2 pendants (FIGURE 8). The most popular items were small Conus sp. shell beads (N = 510) (FIGURE 8A), 274 M. T. CARSON Figure 4. Ritidian First Cave plan map and excavation profiles. Dates are calibrated at 2 sigmas. wherein dozens would have been needed for making a necklace or the decorative space-filling of a skirt or robe. Some of these beads retained red or yellow coloring from their contact with pigmentation. Less common beads of Cypraea sp. shell (N = 18) (FIGURE 8B) may have been sewn into sennit or rattan, positioned to expose their broadest faces. Perforated shell discs included a thin form (N = 3) (FIGURE 8F) and a colorful thick form (N = 2) (FIGURE 8E), likely used for adorning head dressing, belts, or shoulder straps. Only very few Conus spp. rings were large enough to be used as bangles or bracelets (n = 2), while most (n = 16) must have been used in other fashions (FIGURES 8C–D). Two items definitely were unique personal pendants. One such item was a shell plate with a deeply worn suspension hole (FIGURE 8G). Another was a marine mammal tooth (FIGURE 8H), probably from a bottlenose dolphin or pilot whale, modified by: removing the root portion of the tooth; drilling a suspension hole; and creating a slightly serrated edge in one part near the suspension hole. Both of these pendants must be stressed as unique specimens, reflecting personalities. Overall, the body ornaments are attributable to the personal attire and ceremonial regalia worn during special events or perhaps deposited as offerings. These items cannot be associated with burial features as might be expected, but rather they were scattered in separate concentrations throughout the general cultural layer. A few of those concentrations were inside small pits about 15–25 cm in diameter and 20–25 cm deep, capped by large shells such as Lambis sp. (conch shell) and Pinctada sp. (mother-ofpearl) which were marking their locations. Most often, however, no pit outlines could be detected within the bed of paleo-lagoon bioclasts, likely due to the inter-tidal waters prior to 1100 B.C. which were repeatedly washing over this area. Mortuary rituals definitely occurred at this location, but formal burial features are undetectable until a later time, post-dating the earliest materials as described here. Burial pits were cut downward from an upper layer, dated as early as 768–476 CAL B.C. and consistent with the thicker and coarser pottery associated with their layer of origin. A metatarsal bone produced a direct dating of 361–168 CAL B.C. for one burial feature. Notably, these later pits did not contain any of the diagnostic early-period artifacts such as finely decorated pottery or ornaments. Prior to 1100 B.C. , this location was unstable as an inter-tidal or near-tidal zone, and the possibility of mortuary ritual is not yet attested through any material evidence, other than the unusually ornate artifacts inside apparent offering pits. Most of the specialized body ornaments and the finely decorated pottery declined in frequency rapidly or were no longer produced at all after 1100 B.C. at Ritidian or at any other site in the Mariana Islands. These trends suggest that a set of ancestral traditions during the foundational settlement period were no longer practiced after some centuries. The rare Cypraea sp. shell beads in particular date to a precise time range of the first few centuries of settlement after 1500 B.C. The small polished Conus sp. shell beads continued in low frequencies through 500 B.C. and vanished entirely by 200 B.C. These trends paralleled the decline in decorative pottery, most notably with the disappearance of fine dentatestamped and circle-stamped varieties by 1100 B.C. and then the eventual loss of the later expressions of coarse or bold decorations around 500 B.C. In the cave overhang area, excavations showed a spatial patterning in the artifacts, differentiating the southwest JOURNAL OF FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY 275 Figure 5. Black-pigment pictographs in Ritidian First Cave. Scale bar is in 20 cm increments. versus northeast ends of the area. The southwest end contained the most numerous small Conus sp. shell beads, the densest concentration of decorated pottery, and the two unique pendants. The northeast end contained scattered small offering pits, all of the rare Cypraea sp. shell beads, and the artistic-quality tool items. At the far southwest end of the overhang shelter area, in an alcove with a low shelf in the limestone cliff face, small grinding basins there naturally collect ceiling-drip rainwater but also indicate the pounding and processing possibly of nuts, pigments, medicines, or other materials. While most of these grinding basins in the Marianas are found at sites post-dating A.D . 1000, the precise relationship with much older cultural deposits is unclear in this case. The set of activities as documented at the cave exterior can be related to the twilight and dark zones of the cave interior. The cave entrance contains a small twilight area of just a few m2, while the chambers farther from the entrance are much larger and entirely within dark zones. The cave floor is covered by a layer of indurated sandy silt, about 20–30 cm thick, and hardened by the ceiling-drip water. Ceiling-drip in the cave fosters the growth of stalactites and stalagmites, and pools of water are visible in scattered shallow depressions after any rain. One portion of the interior cave wall displays a set of rare black-pigment pictographs in two panels (FIGURE 5). The black color so far has been documented only at this cave and one other at Ritidian (see below), both associated with archaeological layers of the first-settlement period. In both cases, the black pigments were drawn in dark zones, specifically in locations requiring the artist to climb up a narrow ledge along the cave wall. In a tentative relative-order chronology of Marianas rock art (Carson, forthcoming), these darkzone black images could be the oldest. Direct dating has not yet been attempted, due to a policy of avoiding any destructive analysis at this time. Inside the cave, test pit excavations found no cultural materials in the deepest portions of the dark zones. The floor of the farthest chamber would have been 1.6–2.1 m above the higher sea level prior to 1100 B.C. Excavations in this chamber found a lens of silt typical of the fine particles that settle in the bottom of a pool, although direct dating has not yet been possible. Toward the front side of the cave interior, at the interface of the twilight and dark zones, two test pits of 1 × 1 m each revealed the oldest layer composed of Halimeda sp. bioclasts from the palaeo-lagoon at 50–70 cm below the surface. This 276 M. T. CARSON Figure 6. Examples of decorated pottery in the caves. All scale bars are in 1 cm increments. A) Fine-line incised, First Cave; B) Circle-stamped, white lime infill, First Cave; C, D) Dentate-stamped, fine-line incised, white lime infill, First Cave; E) Dentate-stamped, fine-line-incised, circle-stamped, First Cave; F) Carved-paddle impressed, First Cave; G) Wrapped-paddle impressed, Star Cave. layer contained broken pieces of thin red-slipped pottery, one small Conus sp. shell bead, very few shell remains, and fragments of fish, bird, and turtle bones. One pottery fragment displayed distinctive dentate-stamped decoration and white lime infilling, classified with the early-period Marianas assemblage pre-dating 1100 B.C. The excavations revealed that the palaeo-lagoon definitely extended into the twilight opening of the cave prior to 1100 B.C. , and accordingly any freshwater pools or seeps must have been positioned slightly farther into the dark zones of the cave at that time. Later, after the sea level had been lowering for a few centuries, the amount of water decreased inside the cave, and cultural use changed to include burials and other activities after 500 B.C. The caves consistently were places of ritual and ceremony, although the precise behaviors changed. The indigenous Chamorro name for this cave is unknown at present, but it is called the “First Cave” in a controlledaccess hiking tour managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It was referenced as Ritidian Beach Cave in an island-wide geological survey of caves and karst of Guam (Tabarosi 2004, 2006). The appellation of First Cave is gaining more popularity, given the discovery of an archaeological layer dating to the initial settlement period and the palaeo-shore habitation situated nearby. Ritidian Star Cave The Star Cave has been among Guam’s most famous sites, following an unpublished popular interpretation of the cave’s rock art as representing an astronomical calendar, JOURNAL OF FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY 277 Figure 7. Examples of tools in the caves. All scale bars are in 1 cm increments. A) Harpoon fragment, carved human bone, First Cave; B) Polished adze fragment, cave flowstone, First Cave; C) Coconut grater, Cypraea tigris shell, First Cave; D) Chert drill bit, First Cave; E) Adze fragments, Tridacna sp. shell, Star Cave; F) Adze fragments, Tridacna sp. shell, First Cave; G) Scraper tools, volcanic stone, Star Cave. linked to notions of seafaring traditions. The key point of interest is a panel of dull reddish brown thumbprint dots that could represent a counting system or a way of tracking the movement of stars or other celestial objects in relation to the horizon. This particular panel is just one among several in the cave (FIGURE 9), made in diverse colors and imagery, hence its naming as the Ritidian Pictograph Cave in an island-wide geological survey (Tabarosi 2004, 2006). The plentiful rock art panels were produced at different times, and only a few potentially date to the first settlement period. The oldest may be the single black image in an upper portion of a dark-zone cave wall (FIGURE 9A), reminiscent of the black images at Ritidian First Cave. The white-pigment human figures appear to be the most recent and are usually found at sites with deposits post-dating A.D . 1000 and in this case overlaying the bright red handprints that must be older (FIGURE 9B). Similar handprints of the same red pigment are seen in just one other cave at Ritidian, where the cultural deposits date to as early as 1100 B.C. (Carson, forthcoming). The dull reddish brown elements of thumbprints (FIGURE 9E), a lone five-pointed “starfish” shape, a crab image (FIGURE 9C), and varied geometric designs (FIGURE 9D) are so far not documented in any other cave of the Marianas. The twilight and dark zones certainly were the places of ritual events related to the rock art panels, yet so far no corroborating evidence has been recovered through excavations. Two test pits (each 1 × 1 m) in the cave interior found no 278 M. T. CARSON Figure 8. Examples of ornaments from Ritidian First Cave. All scale bars are in 1 cm increments. A) Small Conus sp. shell beads; B) Cypraea sp. shell beads; C, D) Shell rings and fragments; E, F) Perforated shell discs; G) Shell plate pendant; H) Marine mammal tooth pendant. JOURNAL OF FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY 279 Figure 9. Examples of pictographs in Ritidian Star Cave. All scale bars are in 20 cm increments. A) Black figure; B) Bright red handprints, overlain by white human figures; C) Dull reddish brown apparent crab image; D) Dull reddish brown geometric image; E) Dull reddish brown lines of thumbprints. cultural deposits, but instead they revealed thin lensing of silt as can settle at the bottom of a water pool. The inferred base of the possible water pool was about 1.4–1.9 m above the ancient sea level prior to 1100 B.C. The cave interior at present shows only minimal ceiling-drip water in a few spots of active stalactite growth, and no pooling is evident today. 280 M. T. CARSON Figure 10. Ritidian Star Cave excavation profile. Dates are calibrated at 2 sigmas. Ceiling-drip water is abundant at the cave’s exterior overhang area, also containing a succession of cultural layers. The overhang shelter covers about 60 m2 in total, with constant water dripping from each of the dozens of stalactites over the whole surface area. The ground surface has been severely disturbed by unlicensed looting pits and exacerbated by pig rooting, where the remaining intact portion allowed controlled archaeological excavations of a total of 11.5 m2, beneath the densest concentration of dripping stalactites in the middle of the overhang formation. The overhang had sheltered the edge of a palaeo-lagoon prior to 1100 B.C. , evidenced by a bed of Halimeda sp. algal bioclasts (FIGURE 10). Inside the upper portion of the palaeo-lagoon bed, a 10 cm thick horizon contained broken earthenware pottery, shell and stone tool fragments, a few fish and bird bones, and a shell midden. The particular shellfish taxa in this horizon did not include Anadara sp. or similar shells most reliable for radiocarbon dating, but instead was comprised of limpets and other taxa known to produce unreliable dating results (Carson 2010). Charcoal was entirely absent in this context, although pieces of burned coral and shell indicated fires in the vicinity. Dating of the oldest cultural horizon is estimated imprecisely within a few centuries close to 1500 B.C. , guided by a set of dates in stratigraphic positions above and below the cultural materials. In the upper 30 cm of the palaeo-lagoon bed, individual bioclasts produced radiocarbon dates as old as 2143–1842 CAL B.C. and as young as 2071–1752 CAL B.C. , thus indicating that the pottery and other materials must have been deposited into a surface of bioclasts at this time or later, possibly sinking a few centimeters downward into a pre-existing matrix. Definitely beneath this zone and predating the cultural presence here, a Barbatia sp. shell was dated at 2701–2377 CAL B.C. Immediately super-imposed over the palaeo-lagoon bed, a layer of silty sand contained different forms of pottery with less red slip, and this layer produced separate radiocarbon dates in stratigraphic order at 1418–1144 CAL B.C. and 483–191 CAL B.C. (TABLE 1). The oldest cultural horizon showed two forms of pottery. The first and most frequent type was an extremely thinwalled variant of early red-slipped pottery, as thin as 0.5 mm yet approaching 2 mm at base corners, shoulder carinations, and everted lips. These super-thin pieces were broken from small bowls, about 20 cm in diameter and also JOURNAL OF FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY about 20 cm high, with either a rounded or angular shoulder carination. The second type was a flat-based and slightly open-angled bowl, about 25–30 cm in diameter and with walls 4–7 mm thick, showing red slip around the middle and bottom portions, then covered with paddle-marking over the upper exteriors, lips, and interiors. The paddle tool evidently was not the kind of carved paddle seen at Ritidian First Cave, but instead it was wrapped with vines, rattan, or similar material to produce the distinctive patterns, seen only in this one assemblage and in no other in the Marianas (FIGURE 6G). In addition to the pottery, the oldest cultural horizon contained a few pieces of general-utility stone and shell tools. These items included adze fragments of Tridacna sp. shell (FIGURE 7E), a few pieces of chert flaking cores and edgeworn flakes, and two volcanic stone scraper tools (FIGURE 7G). Of these objects, the scrapers are unusual, not known in other sites of this age, and the source material must have come from the volcanic mountains of southern Guam or another area outside the limestone plateau of northern Guam. The food remains in this horizon are curious for the complete absence of Anadara sp. shells that ordinarily would comprise the primary dietary protein in residential habitation middens of this age. Anadara sp. shells occurred in low frequencies in the next super-imposed layer of silty sand of slightly later dating, but the oldest cultural horizon contained primarily the remains of limpets and chitons, among a few others in lesser quantities. These taxa were absent in the lower portions of the palaeo-lagoon bed pre-dating the cultural horizon; they appeared abruptly within the pottery and other materials signifying a cultural association. The pre-cultural context was characterized by Barbatia sp. shells that declined rapidly with the initial cultural horizon. The findings at the Star Cave do not contain the wealth of highly specialized and elaborate objects as seen at Ritidian First Cave, yet they are distinguished as clearly unusual when compared with the contents of the palaeo-shore habitation. The food remains reflect the consumption of foods different from our expectations of the local diet, similar to those at First Cave yet even more exaggerated in this case. The pottery does not include any of the finely decorated varieties that may be suggestive of ritual ceremonies, but the extremely thin-walled bowls here nonetheless indicate specialized use outside the scope of daily activities. Furthermore, the unique finding of wrapped-paddle impressed pottery is perhaps related to the collection of water or other activities that are not yet clearly understood. Conclusions This study has illustrated how practical habitation, water collection, and ceremonial activities are inter-related within the unified setting of a single site complex. While caves can be appreciated cross-culturally as ceremonial places, the role of water collection has not always been a key factor as seen in the Ritidian case. As shown here, these particular caves were integral to the survival of the first peoples inhabiting the area at 1500 B.C. The Ritidian findings accord with the generalization that people traditionally have used the light and dark zones of caves differently, hinting at rules of reserving the dark zones for special circumstances. The most abundant deposits 281 of cultural materials at Ritidian occurred in the light and twilight areas, while the interior dark zones were places of enigmatic rock art and little durable material. As noted, the Ritidian case involved an additional factor of water collection in the twilight to dark zones prior to 1100 B.C. , certainly influencing the scope of activities in those spaces, but this factor alone cannot explain the differential use of zones in other caves lacking water sources. The ancient use of water at Ritidian may be viewed as enhancing ritual behaviors in those settings that just happened to be inside caves. So far at least two global scale surveys (Mithen 2012; Scarborough 2003) have concluded that water sources tend to involve rituals, sometimes formalized in religious temples. Within the scope of the available evidence at Ritidian, the deep cave interiors by A.D . 1000 no longer contained freshwater pools, and the cultural usage in the dark zones by then clearly had changed, producing midden deposits, burials, and different rock art traditions distinguished by their pigments, images, and positions inside the caves. In other words, the loss of a water-collection context may be associated with a change in the ritual aspects of the Ritidian caves. In addition to their water sources and rock art panels, the caves revealed extraordinary pottery, body ornaments, and other rare objects all indicative of special-use contexts. The most exquisitely decorative objects were concentrated at First Cave, while less ornate but curiously unique pottery was found at Star Cave. The food remains do not necessarily resemble feasts of luxury items or conspicuous abundance, but rather they reflect site-specific rules about what kinds of foods could be eaten in these particular contexts. In any case, the dietary preference for Anadara sp. clams at the palaeo-shore habitation was completely absent at Star Cave and greatly subdued at First Cave, where instead different shell taxa were discarded. The new findings from Ritidian have broadened the view of ritual ceremony as part of social life in general. Water was both a practicality and a ritualized element, linked with notions of how to use space around the water sources in caves. By virtue of being situated within the otherworldly settings of caves, these places of water collection also were places of beliefs and ceremonies which changed through time as water accessibility lessened. Although the role of water in the caves changed in later centuries, the caves themselves persisted as distinguished venues for the continued layering of rock art panels, burial interments, and other ceremonial behaviors. Acknowledgements Three anonymous reviewers improved this work with their constructive advice. Research at Ritidian since 2005 has been possible with the professional support, permits, and guidance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with special gratitude owed to Brian Leon Guerrero, Joe Schwagerl, Emily Sablan, Laura Beauregard, Larisa Ford, Gabe Cruz, and all staff at the Ritidian Unit of the Guam National Wildlife Refuge. 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