Introduction

The relationship between humans and volcanoes has always been dualistic. On the positive side, volcanoes are the sites where fresh rock material is brought to the Earth’s surface. Hence, volcanic deposits rapidly weather to form soils of excellent physical and chemical properties for plant growth. In addition, mountain volcanoes are often locations of safe surface waters, abundant freshwater springs, hot springs, and with volcanic landforms, also serving as natural points of defence or ceremony. These properties draw human settlers to volcanic regions and provide the conditions for them to flourish. On the negative side, volcanoes can also be agents of destruction, with spectacular catastrophes that may destroy cities overnight, such as St. Pierre (Martinique, West Indies), where 30 000 people died on 8 May 1902 from an eruption of Mt. Pelsie.

These dramatic events mean that the most commonly perceived juxtaposition of volcanism and archaeology are cases of catastrophic burial of human towns and cities. These events preserve an unparalleled ‘snapshot’ into the lifestyles, art, and technology of past cultures. Thus, the Italian cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, buried by the AD 79 eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, became a test bed for development of modern archaeological investigative techniques. These sites have not only become invaluable in the reconstruction of Roman arts, technology, lifestyles, and physical attributes, but the scale and drama of the disaster were also a spur for investigation of the eruptive processes involved. The event was fortuitously recorded in unprecedented detail in letters of Pliny the Younger. In addition, examination of the physical and chemical properties of the deposits has led to development of many of the techniques used in modern volcanological study. Of major importance to volcanic hazards evaluation, forensic-medical aspects of eruptions were also preserved at these sites.

Another major Mediterranean example of cultural heritage preserved by volcanic disaster is the Bronze Age city of Akrotiri (Santorini, Grece), buried by tephra falls and pyroclastic flows from the eruption of Thera volcano in the late seventeenth century BC. Investigations into this event have also spawned one of the longest-running controversies in archaeology and anthropology; that is, whether the Thera eruption had a significant enough impact to have caused the decline of an entire civilization and thus change the course of Mediterranean history. Debate has waxed and waned over this issue, with most scholars now accepting that the eruption preceded the decline in the Minoan civilization by around 200 years, negating a simple cause-and-effect relationship.

Elsewhere around the globe, cultural implications of individual large volcanic events have been no less important, with one of the best-studied examples being the mid-third century AD eruption of Volcan Ilopango (El Salvador, Central America). This eruption, devastated >30 000 km2 with pyroclastic flows and tephra fall. Archaeological studies in the greater surrounds show that the eruption led to long-term social changes in the Mayan culture, primarily through the long-term displacement of >300 000 evacuees from the area.

Following these well-known examples, many archaeological studies relating to volcanism have been preoccupied with catastrophic events and their role in the rise and fall of civilizations. Similarly, many geologists have inferred major cultural disasters solely based on estimates of the magnitude of past volcanic events. These hypotheses are often founded on a close or approximate coincidence in time between a large-scale geological event and an apparent cultural change, with little other substantiating evidence.

A fact commonly overlooked with volcano-human relationships, however, is that most eruptions are small, and despite creating short-term inconvenience, their benefits to surrounding populations often outweigh the risk. Similarly, despite ongoing serious volcanic threat, human populations persist in hazardous areas due to either population pressure or the natural resources of some areas. Hence, it is in this intermediate state with damaging but not catastrophic volcanic impacts that most human communities have lived for the longest periods of time. Despite this, only a handful of international works describe examples of long-term coexistence with volcanism, including adaptive strategies of the Aleuts to frequent eruptions along the Aleutian Island chain, and the apparent uninterrupted habitation of the area around the repeatedly explosive Arenal Volcano of Costa Rica.

The most pragmatic overlap of volcanism and archaeology occurs when volcanic deposits, particularly ash layers (tephras), are used for the dating and correlation of anthropogenic remains and horizons. However, beyond aspects of chronology, little research has gone into the potential non-disastrous impacts volcanism may have had on past societies - including the possible development of adaptive technologies, construction mechanisms, strategic resettlement, or agricultural practices to mitigate volcanic hazards. A further poorly known dimension is the potential for volcanic influence on the development of religious practices and artistic expression.

In the southwest Pacific, archaeological studies started relatively late, but they generally followed classical research from Europe and the approach has also been dualistic. Either volcanic impacts were considered as society-changing catastrophes (e. g., Kuwae, Vanuatu), or their potential role was completely ignored in the development, location, migration, or change of cultures (e. g., Tonga). Described here is a range of case studies that overlap the issues of archaeology, anthropology, and volcanology in the southwest Pacific. Few coordinated studies have been carried out between the three discipline areas, resulting in a fragmented perspective of Pacific history. Here it is contended that a holistic approach is essential to bring fresh ideas into the collaborative research of volcanologists and archaeologists. With a clear understanding of the volcanic and related geological history, along with consideration of oral tradition evidence, a higher-quality analysis of cultural development in the southwest Pacific can be achieved.

The main themes presented here are designed to promote debate and propose new research directions for southwest Pacific archaeology and include: instances of overplaying the volcanic card; instances of ignoring the influence of volcanism; and evidence of development of an unsteady equilibrium, through long-term adaptation of humans to coexist with volcanoes in the southwest Pacific.