Oct. 5 () –
Pacific Island nations suffered severe depopulation due to introduced diseases as a consequence of widespread contact with European ships in the 19th century.
The research, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science by the ANU (Australian National University), indicates that the population decline was much greater than previously thought.
According to the study, the main island of Tonga had a population decline of between 70 and 86 percent once the Europeans made contact.
Researchers from the ANU School of Culture, History and Language, PhD candidate Phillip Parton, and future ARC Fellow Professor Geoffrey Clark found that there were between 100,000 and 120,000 people in Tonga before European contact.
“My co-author and I used airborne laser scanning data to map residences on the main island of Tonga and then used archaeological data I collected as part of my Ph.D. to estimate the population,” Parton said. it’s a statement.
“This better understanding of the past has allowed us to show a significant population decline from 50,000 to 60,000 to 10,000 over a 50-year period on the main island of Tongatapu in the Kingdom of Tonga.
“Because this number is so much larger than anything anyone has previously considered, I used shipping and missionary data to check my estimates and found them to be plausible. Obviously, this shows a great reassessment of the impact of globalization in the 19th century.
“As in many parts of the world, the Pacific Island population suffered severe declines after contact when new pathogens were introduced by Europeans.”
