Traditional agricultural systems have been a fundamental research focus of Pacific archaeologists for decades. In many island groups, it has been demonstrated that whole landscapes have been transformed to facilitate increased agricultural production. High-resolution digital elevation models (DEM) derived from recent LiDAR survey data from Efate, Central Vanuatu, have now revealed that much of that island was completely modified by human activity prior to European contact. There are a range of substantial and more minor linear mound and circular features associated with agricultural development and innovation, of which researchers and contemporary populations are largely unaware. Detailed analysis of the features across one alluvial plain provides some quantification of the scale of landscape modification. These new data radically change perceptions of the Efate landscape and contribute to a range of debates including traditional Pacific Island food production, its surplus and sustainability, sociopolitical development, environmental change and depopulation.

中文翻译：

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岛屿景观的人为转变：L iDAR 在 E 命运岛上揭示的农业发展证据，瓦努阿图中部，西南太平洋

几十年来，传统农业系统一直是太平洋考古学家的基础研究重点。在许多岛屿群中，已经证明整个景观已被改造以促进农业生产的增加。来自瓦努阿图中部埃法特最近的 LiDAR 调查数据的高分辨率数字高程模型 (DEM) 现在显示，该岛的大部分地区在欧洲人接触之前已被人类活动完全改变。有一系列与农业发展和创新相关的实质性和更次要的线性丘和圆形特征，研究人员和当代人群在很大程度上不知道这些特征。对一个冲积平原的特征进行详细分析，可以对景观改造的规模进行一些量化。