Where: Micronesia, Federated States of (9.8° N, 140.5° E: paleocoordinates 9.8° N, 140.5° E)

• coordinate estimated from map

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Holocene (0.0 - 0.0 Ma)

• Thirteen natural strata were recognized. A black organic soil (Layer 2) occurs immediately below the shallow surface deposit of dark gray sand. Layer 2 includes an ashy oven feature. Layers 3 and 5 are dark gray organic soils containing many small coral gravels. Layer 4 is a thin sand appearing only at the south end of the square. At 0.7 m below the surface begins Layer 6, a compacted gray clayey soil with some coral gravel. Layer 6 produced a number of artifacts and faunal remains. Judging from the kind of potsherds excavated, Layer 6 probably is coeval with Layer 3 of FSFA-1 and 2. The charcoal radiocarbon age from Layer 6 is A.D. 1020-1420. From Layer 6 is the point of a composite bone fishhook that resembles ethnographic fishhooks from the Solomon Islands. The organic soil layers continue down to a depth of 1.7 m, where the soil becomes darker and sandier but still yielded abundant artifacts and faunal remains. The deep deposits of alluvial/colluvial soils at FSPO-2 are the result of erosion of inland soils, most likely associated with agriculture. Charcoal from Layer 9 is radiocarbon dated at A.D. 560-770. Potsherds from Layers 11 and 12 correlate with those from Layer 5 of FSFA-2, which is radiocarbon dated at ca. A.D. 100-400. The excavation was continued until a white beach sand (Layer 13) was encountered at a depth of 2.7 m. Layer 13 was culturally sterile except for two sherds at the top of the layer.

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: terrestrial; unlithified, calcareous sandstone

Size class: macrofossils

Collected by M. Intoh in 1991

Primary reference: D. W. Steadman and M. Intoh. 1994. Biogeography and prehistoric exploitation of birds from Fais Island, Yap State, Federated States of Micronesia. Pacific Science 48:116-135 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 194653: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Matthew Clapham on 24.06.2018

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)