Conférence du Pr. Scott Fitzpatrick du Dpt of Anthropology University of Oregon

Scott Fitzpatrick est un expert universitaire de l'archéologie des îles et des régions côtières, en particulier dans le Pacifique et les Caraïbes. À l'université de l'Oregon, il est professeur d'anthropologie et directeur associé du musée d'histoire naturelle et culturelle. Les recherches de Scott se concentrent sur la façon dont les humains se sont rendus sur les îles à la préhistoire en utilisant différentes techniques de navigation et de navigation maritime et les méthodes utilisées pour la construction des bateaux. Il s'intéresse également à ce qui s'est passé une fois que les hommes ont atteint les îles et à l'impact qu'ils ont eu sur les environnements anciens. Il est le co-rédacteur fondateur du Journal of Island & Coastal Archaeology, un rédacteur associé d'Archaeology in Oceania, et fait partie des comités de rédaction du Caribbean Journal of Science et du Journal of Archaeological Science : Reports.

Scott Fitzpatrick is an academic expert in the archaeology of islands and coastal regions, particularly in the Pacific and Caribbean. At the University of Oregon, he is a professor of anthropology and associate director of the Museum of Natural and Cultural History. Scott’s research focuses on how humans got to islands prehistorically using different seafaring and navigational techniques and the methods used for boat construction. He is also interested in what happened once humans reached islands and the impact they had on ancient environments. He is the founding co-editor of the Journal of Island & Coastal Archaeology, an Associate Editor for Archaeology in Oceania, and on the editorial boards for the Caribbean Journal of Science and Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

For millennia, humans have been inextricably linked to the sea. The coastal zone—less of a boundary than a malleable interface between two distinct biospheres—holds vital clues for understanding not only the roots of our ancient past, but the ways in which we have chosen to protect (or neglect) these material remains. It is well documented that the world’s coastlines are under increasing threat from the fluid realm for which we have had such important historical connections and dependency. The great irony, however—manifested as a burgeoning leviathan comprising sea level rise, catastrophic storms, erosion, development, and many other natural and cultural processes—is that our species’ short-sightedness is now leading to modern events which are erasing evidence of our own existence from the archaeological record. In this presentation I use several case studies to highlight how the desire for intensive marine resource use and occupation of littoral zones across deep time to the present-day has greatly influenced both our success and decline as a species.