On the Vanuatu archipelago, researchers have discovered human remains that are 2,800 years old. | Photo: Nathalie Dubois

The South Seas have only recently been settled by humans, though there’s no agreement about exactly when it happened. A study conducted by Eawag and ETH Zurich has now shown that people were already living on the Vanuatu archipelago around 2,800 years ago and were cultivating the crop plant taro. This is the earliest evidence to date of horticulture in the region. The research team analysed a sediment core from a swamp on an island in Vanuatu. In layers dating back 2,800 years, they found wax from taro leaves and biomarkers that are typical of human faecal matter. That was a time when the climate there changed from dry to humid, so perhaps this was what encouraged people to settle.

G. Camperio et al.: Sedimentary biomarkers of human presence and taro cultivation reveal early horticulture in Remote Oceania. Communications Earth & Environment (2024)