Island Civilizations

This book is a compilation of results from sessions of the 3rd International Symposium in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, in March 2019, which was hosted by the Museum of Natural and Environmental History, Shizuoka, and Mt. Fuji World Heritage Centre, Shizuoka. The book is the first-ever comparative study of island civilizations in the Pan-Pacific region. The world’s leading professionals illustrate the history of the natural environment, culture, and society in the region from various points of view, including natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanism; ecosystems and biodiversity; and changes in lifestyles. In addition, the book provides a new approach for actions to build sustainable culture and society through discussions of the history of environment and civilization in the Pan-Pacific islands from an interdisciplinary point of view. When and how did people immigrate and develop cultures on remote islands? What was, and will be, the fate of the environment and civilization in the islands? Answers to such questions furnish hints to sustainable civilizations in the Anthropocene, during which humankind has been changing the earth’s environment. This book is composed of a total of 19 chapters, which is related to six specific topics. [1] Chronological approaches of environmental history, [2] Natural disasters and their consequences, [3] Evolution of biodiversity and culture, [4] Changes in livelihoods, [5] Management and utilization of community resources and [6] Implications to future society. The envisaged main readers are researchers including undergraduate and graduate students in a broad range of fields that includes the earth sciences, biology, ecology, archaeology, and anthropology.