| Abstract: |
Two palaeoenvironmental records from New Caledonia are presented. Both focus on the late Quaternary period which includes the region's known human occupation. There is still sometimes speculation about whether people moved beyond the Solomon Islands and into the southwest Pacific prior to 3,200 BP, and the palaeoecological history of human occupation of New Caledonia is a line of evidence, independent of the archaeological record, that may throw light on this question. Fossil pollen and charcoal analyses imply that human impact at one small coastal swamp, Lac Saint Louis, began at around 3,000 BP, while at a larger inland swamp near Plum, the impact commenced at around 2,500 BP. In both cases, a forested landscape was converted into an open one dominated by ferns, Cyperaceae (sedges) and grass. The 20,000 year long record from Plum enables these changes of the last few thousand years to be assessed against changes since the last glacial maximum. For example, although significant charcoal accumulation occurred at Plum between 16,000 and 12,000 BP, and prior to 3,000 BP at Saint Louis, the associated impact on the vegetation was minor compared to the changes recorded after 3,000 BP. The latter implies that the progressive deforestation of the landscape toward the present was due to sustained high fire frequencies. The palaeoecological evidence is in good agreement with the archaeological record for New Caledonia.
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