Island archaeology provides ecological and behavioral analogs for off-planet exploration and colonization

Abstract

Human exploration and colonization of the solar system will involve the physical presence of humans, their materials, and accompanying translocated species in novel environments. This process will entail a series of scenarios (from short-term, behavioral adjustments to longer-term, ecological impacts) that are impossible to recreate faithfully; either because of their intrinsic infeasibility, or because of ethical constraints associated with human test subjects. Necessarily, we must instead rely on analogs or models. We argue that the best model for solar system colonization is that provided by island settlement by humans during the Holocene. Despite the behavioral and ecodynamic outcomes of the human colonization of islands being relatively well-understood, there has been no systematic attempt to utilize this information to inform space exploration. The outcomes of such an attempt are likely to provide a more concrete understanding of future off-planet human activity and the associated implications.