It turns out that there is an island in Fiji made of shellfish shells. Some crabs discovered it

Off the northern coast of Vanua Levu, the second largest island in the entire archipelago of Fijithere is a small island of 3,000 square meters. In a country made up of more than 300 islands scattered in the Pacific, the fact that there is one so small is not a surprise. But when you remove the mangroves and sand, what you have are shells. More specifically, edible seafood remains. The million dollar question now science is done It is whether that huge amount of shells is the work of people or nature.

Once upon a time there was an island made of seafood remains. The shell deposit reaches 60 centimeters thick above the average high tide level and is between 20 and 40 centimeters thick on average and its composition is between 70% and 90% edible shellfish remains. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the greatest accumulation occurred around 760 AD, with samples spanning from approximately 420 to 1040 AD.

That there is such an abundance of edible species gives a clue to the origin of the island: if it were a natural deposit, what would be expected would be to find an indiscriminate mixture of marine detritus, such as stones or inedible organisms from the seabed.

Why is it important. Because everything indicates that this simple and small island is a “shell midden“, a “conchero” or shell dump created by humans. Or what is the same: the physical proof that there was once a community that lived, worked and fed in the area on the coast of Culasawani. Over the centuries, this accumulation of remains became an island demonstrating that even without wanting to, humans can make land without trying. On the other hand, historically there are not many archaeological studies in Vanua Levu and this site It constitutes a great opportunity to reconstruct ancient settlements and their customs.

Context. The first time the research team was aware of the island was in 2017, in a general reconnaissance. It was the activity of the burrowing crabs that caught the team’s attention: the crustaceans brought material up to half a meter deep to the surface. In 2024 they resumed the investigation and they confirmed it: It was an island separated from the mainland.

The “concheros” are an old acquaintance in the archeology of the Pacific, since they give many clues about how ancient communities lived, what they fed on and how they interacted with the environment. Of course, in this case the shell hole is so large that it has formed an entire island. The mangrove would arrive later, when the settlement had already been abandoned: the relative drop in sea level and the deforestation of inland areas released large quantities of sediment that functioned as a substrate on which to take root.

In detail. To analyze it, the research team extracted 20 sediment cores and excavated four pits measuring one meter by one meter. All the remains of shellfish found in the sediments belonged to edible species, more specifically, the majority of the shellfish that make up them are clams of the genus Anadarain addition to other edible bivalves and gastropods and some ceramic fragments typical of human activity.

The team found no clear evidence of animal bones, fish remains or stone tools, suggesting that these people gathered the shellfish in shallow waters, extracted the meat there and transported the food in ceramic vessels to another site, leaving the shells behind.

Yes, but. In archeology, having the absolute truth is a chimera, but the most solid hypothesis with the evidence found is that it is an island of random human construction. The natural alternative involves a large wave or tsunami, but it is ruled out: it would carry away all types of marine organisms, not just those that are eaten.

There is still one pending issue: where exactly the people who processed that seafood in the place lived. The team’s next step is to explore the mainland area near Culasawani to find the associated village and better understand how the entire system worked. And they are racing against the clock: what barely peeks through the mangroves is tremendously vulnerable to rising sea levels, a threat about which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has already warned.

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Cover | Zunnoon Ahmed and Eduardo Gorghetto