2024-04-15 05:54:57
Pacific cities are much older than previously thought, found a new study by specialists from the Australian National University, cited by the electronic edition “Euricolort”.
Scientists have discovered new evidence of one of the first Pacific cities, suggesting that settlements in the area were established much earlier than previously thought.
The research used aerial laser scanning to map archaeological sites on Tongatapu Island in Tonga.
The collected data show that urbanization in the Pacific region is driven by indigenous populations and developed before Western influence, said lead author of the study Philip Parton.
“Earth construction has been done since about the third century in Tongatapu, which is 700 years earlier than previously thought,” says the specialist. “As settlements grew, new ways had to be devised to support the increasing population. A device we call low-density urbanization is ushering in huge social and economic changes. People are interacting more and doing different kinds of work,” Parton adds. .
According to him, the study of urbanization in the Pacific region is complicated due to many difficulties in collecting data, but new technologies are changing this, writes BTA.
“We have been able to combine high-tech mapping with the work of archaeologists in the field to understand what was going on in Tongatapu,” explained Philip Parton. According to him, “this information adds to our understanding of early Pacific societies.”
“Urbanization is an area that has not been much explored until now. When people think of early settlements, they usually think of traditional old European cities with compact housing and cobbled streets. Now it’s a very different kind of city,” says the researcher.
Parton notes that the settlement shows the contribution of the Pacific region to the science of cities. “We can see traces of Tongatapu’s influence spreading into the southwest Pacific centuries later,” he said.
Parton believes that the collapse of low-density urbanization in Tonga is largely due to the arrival of Europeans. “It didn’t collapse because the system was flawed, but rather it had to do with the arrival of Europeans and imported diseases,” he says. The researcher claims that this is just the beginning of early Pacific settlement research activities, and there is likely much more to be discovered.
The data from the study were published in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory.