Editing History of the Marshall Islands (section)

==Prehistory==
[[File:HH1883 pg102 Canoe Marshall Inseln.jpg|thumb|German illustration of a Marshallese oceangoing ''[[walap]]'', {{circa|1883}}<ref>{{harvnb|Mückler|2016|p=107}}</ref>]]

Linguistic and anthropological studies have suggested that the first [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] settlers of the Marshall Islands arrived from the [[Solomon Islands (archipelago)|Solomon Islands]].<ref name="weisler113">{{Harvnb|Weisler|p=113|2000}}</ref> [[Radiocarbon dating]] of [[earth oven|''um'' earth ovens]], post holes, and trash pits at [[Bikini Atoll]] suggests that the atoll may have been continuously inhabited from 1200 BCE to at least 1300 CE,<ref>{{Harvnb|Streck|p=256|1990}}</ref> though samples may not have been collected from secure [[Stratigraphy|stratigraphic]] contexts and older driftwood samples may have affected results.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kirch|Weisler|p=292|1994}}</ref> Archaeological digs on other atolls have found evidence of human habitation dating around the 1st century CE,<ref name="weisler113" /> including earth ovens at the [[Laura, Marshall Islands|Laura village]], [[Majuro]], with a date range of 93 BCE to 127 CE<ref>{{Harvnb|Weisler|p=114|2000}}</ref> and [[Kwajalein Atoll|Kwajalein]] with a range of 140 BCE to 255 CE.<ref>{{Harvnb|Shun|Athens|p=236|1990}}</ref>

[[File:Stick chart-BHM 1920.530.0032-P8260228.JPG|thumb|A Marshallese [[Marshall Islands stick chart|stick chart]]. Most were made from a grid of coconut frond midribs with small shells representing the relative location of islands.<ref name="Finney479"/>]]

The Marshallese sailed between islands on [[proa]]s made from breadfruit-tree wood and coconut-fiber rope.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hezel|p=92|1983}}</ref> They navigated by using the stars for orientation and initial course setting, but also developed a unique [[piloting]] technique of reading disruptions in [[Swell (ocean)|ocean swells]] to determine the location of low coral atolls below the horizon.<ref>{{Harvnb|Finney|p=475|1998}}</ref> The Marshallese recognized four different types of swells coming from the cardinal directions, and noticed that swells refracted around the undersea slope of atolls. When refracted swells from different directions met, they created noticeable disruption patterns, which Marshallese pilots could read to determine the direction of an island.<ref>{{Harvnb|Finney|pp=476–478|1998}}</ref> When interviewed by anthropologists, some Marshallese sailors noted that they piloted their canoes by both sight and feeling changes in the motion of the boat.<ref name="Finney479">{{Harvnb|Finney|p=479|1998}}</ref> The Marshallese preferred to sail between July and October, because Pacific [[trade winds]] made the swells harder to read during the rest of the year.<ref>{{Harvnb|Finney|p=476|1998}}</ref> Sailors also invented [[Marshall Islands stick chart|stick charts]] to map the swell patterns, but unlike western navigational charts, the Marshallese stick charts were tools for teaching students and for consultation before embarking on a voyage; navigators did not take charts with them when they set sail.<ref>{{Harvnb|Finney|p=443|1998}}</ref> The Marshallese made three types of charts: mattang charts, which were instructional tools for teaching the principles of piloting, and meddo and rebbelib charts, which represented the relative positions of actual swells and islands.<ref name="Finney479"/>

The Austronesian settlers [[Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia|introduced Southeast Asian crops]], including [[coconut]]s, [[Cyrtosperma merkusii|giant swamp taro]], and [[breadfruit]], as well as domesticated chickens throughout the Marshall Islands. They possibly seeded the islands by leaving coconuts at seasonal fishing camps before permanently settling years later.<ref>{{harvnb|Reséndez|2021|pp=107–108}}</ref> The southern islands receive heavier rainfall than the north, so communities in the wet south subsisted on prevalent taro and breadfruit, while northerners were more likely to subsist on [[pandanus]] and coconuts. Southern atolls probably supported larger, more dense populations.<ref name="weisler113" /> Archaeological digs have found [[adze]]s and [[chisel]]s made from [[tridacna]] and [[Cassis (gastropod)|cassis]] shells as well as ornaments, jewelry, beads, fishhooks, and fishing lures made from shell and coral.<ref>{{Harvnb|Shun|Athens|p=237|1990}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Weisler|pp=118–129|2000}}</ref>

When Russian explorer [[Otto von Kotzebue]] visited the Marshalls in 1817, the islanders still showed few signs of western influence, aside from a few scraps of metal and stories of passing ships. He observed that the Marshallese lived in thatched-roof huts, but their villages did not include the large-ornate meetinghouses found in other parts of Micronesia. They did not have furniture, except for woven mats, which they used for both floor coverings and clothing. The Marshallese had pierced ears and tattoos. Kotzebue noted that the Marshallese tried to keep women away from foreigners, similar to other [[Micronesians]] and unlike [[Polynesians]]. On the islands he visited, Kotzebue learned that Marshallese families practiced infanticide after the birth of a third child as a form of [[Human population planning|population planning]] due to frequent famines. He also noted that Marshallese [[Iroijlaplap|iroij]] (chieftains) held considerable authority and rights to all property, though he had a more favorable view of the condition of Marshallese commoners than of Polynesian commoners.<ref name="Hezel9294">{{Harvnb|Hezel|pp=92–94|1983}}</ref> The Marshalls' two island groups, the [[Ratak]] and [[Ralik]] chains were each ruled by a paramount chief, or iroijlaplap, who held authority over the individual island iroij.<ref name="Fortune287">{{harvnb|Fortune|2000|p=287}}</ref>