Colonization of the Mariana Islands and its Implications for Indo-Pacific Prehistory

The Mariana Islands in western Micronesia were colonized by an early population movement from Island Southeast Asia, marking the first human arrival on remote Pacific islands by the longest open ocean voyage anywhere in the prehistoric world. Key early sites in the Mariana Islands will be excavated and analysed, along with detailed analysis of existing archaeological material, to provide new perspectives on the timing and nature of the colonising culture. Improved knowledge of this significant colonization event will inform the pattern of Neolithic migration through insular Asia, and the Micronesian link with Lapita colonization of the west and central Pacific.