{"id":161651,"date":"2022-07-07T08:00:03","date_gmt":"2022-07-07T18:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=161651"},"modified":"2022-07-08T09:09:27","modified_gmt":"2022-07-08T19:09:27","slug":"migration-into-micronesia-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/07\/07\/migration-into-micronesia-research\/","title":{"rendered":"New insights into Micronesian migrations discovered by researchers with ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ<\/abbr> ties"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Nan Madol, a prehistoric megalithic complex on Pohnpei Island in the Federated States of Micronesia, where some of the samples used in the aDNA<\/abbr> analysis were collected during archaeological investigations led by J<\/abbr>. Stephen Athens in 1984. (Photo credit: Michael Pietrusewsky, 1987)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ancient DNA<\/abbr> (aDNA<\/abbr>) reveals five streams of migration into Micronesia and matrilocality (patterns of marriage in which the groom resides with the bride\u2019s parents) in early Pacific seafarers. Those new insights, revealed in a June 30 article in Science<\/em><\/a>, were gleaned from research involving four co-authors with University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa ties: Anthropology Professor Emeritus Michael Pietrusewsky<\/strong>; his former students Rona Michi Ikehara-Quebral<\/strong> and Michele Toomay Douglas<\/strong>; and Affiliate Graduate Faculty J<\/abbr>. Stephen Athens<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, 2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Prior to this study, the inhabiting of this vast region had been a mystery. “I am so proud that we have contributed to a better understanding of the bioarchaeology and archaeology of Micronesia, including the Mariana Islands and Pohnpei, the Pacific and beyond,” said Pietrusewsky.<\/p>\n

The work reveals five previously undocumented migrations into Micronesia, and suggests that approximately 3,500 to 3,200 years ago early inhabitants of Remote Oceania, including Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, had matrilocal population structures where migrants joining new communities were almost always men. The practice is different from patrilocal societies where women are the ones to leave their own community. Patrilocal residence is the most typical pattern found in modern human cultures worldwide.<\/p>\n

The five migrations detected included:<\/p>\n