Dale F . Simpson Jr.
Dale F. Simpson Jr. (Ph.D., M.A., Postgrad Diploma, B.A.) is an American anthropological archaeologist who specializes in Pacific anthropology but is well–versed in North and South American archaeology. Dale has conducted anthropological investigations in the U.S., Canada, Russia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Hawaii, and Australia. He has researched Rapa Nui since 2001, and has extensively presented and published about Easter Island anthropology, archaeology, geochemistry, material culture studies, and monumental architecture. Dale has conducted and participated in multiple educational outreach programs throughout the world, including on Rapa Nui and in Australia and the U.S. Since 2009, he has held both full–time and adjunct instructor positions at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and Malcolm X College in Chicago, Illinois teaching introduction to anthropology, cultural anthropology, discovering archaeology, and people and cultures of the Pacific. From 2013–2017, Dale was a Centennial Scholar at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, where his Ph.D. concentrated on ancient interaction of Rapa Nui as documented by the movement of archaeological basalt from geological sources to domestic and ceremonial sites. He was a host on History Channel’s FOUND program and a contributor for Science channel’s What on Earth program. During his youth, Dale was an accomplished Cub and Boy Scout, an All–American and Illinois state champ in Greco–Roman wrestling, and an all–academic athlete. He loves to visit museums, fish, travel, high–adventure exploration, juggling, and playing Frisbee.
Supervisors: Professor Marshall Weisler, Professor Thegn Ladefoged, and Professor Rob Hoppa
Address: College of DuPage 425 Fawell Blvd. Glen Ellyn, IL. 60137 U.S.A.
Supervisors: Professor Marshall Weisler, Professor Thegn Ladefoged, and Professor Rob Hoppa
Address: College of DuPage 425 Fawell Blvd. Glen Ellyn, IL. 60137 U.S.A.
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Books by Dale F . Simpson Jr.
After island colonization by Maʻohi (Polynesian) wayfinders, who traversed eastern Oceania in large interaction spheres from perhaps as early as 900 until 1500 AD, Rapa Nui (and its geological deposits) became a perfect stage for the ancient Rapa Nui to display their Maʻohi identity. For example, the island’s stone was used to manufacture:
megaliths – moai and pukao (topknots) that represented the island’s chiefly and elite ancestors;
keho – flat laminates used for construction purposes (e.g. ‘Orongo) and tool manufacture;
paenga – dressed (formed) vesicular blocks used in ahu, hare nui (community house), hare paenga (elite home), ana kionga (refugee cave), and umu (stone slab–lined oven) construction;
pae – non–dressed vesicular blocks used in ahu, ana kionga, umu, hare vaka (boat–shaped house), hare oka (circular house), manavai (rock–walled garden), tupa (observation tower), and pipi horeko (land marker) construction; and
artifacts – mataʻa (biface tool), toki (adze and pick), kauteki (composite adze), ohio (axe), hoe (knife), and mangai mā‘ea (fishhook), amongst others.
Thus, to better understand the manufacture of these megaliths, monoliths, and material culture, this art and coloring books highlights a variety of quarries that were used during Rapa Nui pre–contact period. Yet, it is important to further divide Rapa Nui’s geoarchaeological sites into the following categories:
quarry – defined by the presence of extraction pits on the surface (called pu in Rapanui), normally where puku (outcrop) are located;
source – where tool–quality stone or construction materials are merely collected from the surface;
mine – when extraction includes entering vertical cliff faces to create anthropogenic caves; and
workshop – a place where stone is reduced, normally found away from quarries, sources, and mines.
This book was created through a join venture between Rapa Nui Geochemical Project Director Dr. Dale F. Simpson Jr. and independent Rapanui artist Veri Lobos Haoa. Our goals were to recreate Rapa Nui’s quarrying sites according to the geoarchaeological evidence present. Our process included visiting sites and discussing their geoarchaeological attributes, hand drawing of sites in black and white, and digital rendering and coloring of drawings. Descriptions for each site under investigation are also included in English and Spanish.
We hope the youth of Rapa Nui, along with those interested in the island’s culture, will learn about the multiplicity of stone quarries, mines, sources, and workshops that were used during the island’s pre–contact period. We also hope this book will motivate island officials to protect Rapa Nui’s highly valuable, but vulnerable geoarchaeological sites in the future.
Thesis Chapters by Dale F . Simpson Jr.
Rapa Nui (Easter Island) has been the subject of various scientific investigations. Much of this work has been dedicated to moai (statues) and ahu (platforms) and how these megalithic features venerated the island’s chiefly ancestors and supported sociopolitical organisation, ideological communication, economic (re)distribution, and elite management over the island’s ancient political economy. Although moai and ahu have been studied for centuries, archaeological investigation of the island’s many basalt sources and artefacts, including their geological provenance and geochemistry, has been minimal. Consequently, this lack of comprehensive geochemistry for basalt sources and artefacts has restricted the potential of ancient interaction studies on Rapa Nui.
To fill this gap in the archaeological literature, the “Rapa Nui Geochemical Project (RNGP)” was established in 2013. The main goals of the RNGP include: 1) to identify, geologically, the various types of basalt used archaeologically and document the stages of production for artefacts and construction stones; 2) to elucidate spatial and temporal patterns of basalt acquisition, transfer, and use; 3) to delineate economic, ideological, and sociopolitical interaction, including pathways that accompanied and facilitated stone exchange between members of the ancient Rapanui culture; 4) to highlight the attributes of Rapa Nui’s chiefly controlled ancient political economy through documenting the spatial and temporal distributions of archaeological basalt industries; 5) to evaluate economic and sociopolitical interpretations put forward by the ‘ecocide’ or ‘collapse’ narrative (Bahn and Flenley 1992; Diamond 1995, 2005); and 6) to create public archaeology and educational opportunities for the local Rapa Nui community.
Over six years, the RNGP collaborated with more than 30 individuals from 20 institutions from around the globe to conduct field archaeology (four campaigns from 2014–2018), geoarchaeological and material culture documentation (SLR camera and drone photos/videos and artefactual 3D scanning), geochemical analyses (inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry and portable x–ray fluorescence), radiometric dating (14C), artistic site reconstructions, and educational outreach.
RNGP results from six study areas reveal a diversity of operational sequences for basalt tool making which parallels the numerous economic, ideological and sociopolitical pathways used by the ancient Rapanui to acquire basalt for artefact and construction stone creation. The RNGP geochemically identified eight unique basalts during analysis and highlighted how quarries and sources at Ava oʻKiri and Pu Tokitoki provided most of the material used to manufacture the sample of basalt artefacts (adzes, picks, knives, and axes) analysed in this study.
Four pathways for the transfer of basalt were uncovered in this investigation, they included, opportunistic, communal, and confederation and elite (re)distribution. Thus, the complexity of interaction outlined in this Ph.D. thesis refutes economic and sociopolitical propositions put forward by the ‘collapse narrative’ for Rapa Nui’s pre–contact period. Instead, it establishes the common interaction and collaboration within and between mata (clans) and the two island confederations that existed during the island’s past, especially regarding the access to and use of culturally valuable stone such as basalt.
Papers by Dale F . Simpson Jr.
Utilizando colecciones arqueológicas del Museo de Antropología Sebastián Englert, el Proyecto Geoquímico Rapa Nui reveló una diversidad de secuencias operativas en la fabricación de herramientas de basalto que resultaron ser paralelas a las numerosas vías económicas, ideológicas y sociopolíticas utilizadas por los antiguos rapanui para adquirir materias primas. para la creación de artefactos y piedras de construcción.
Este estudio identificó geoquímicamente ocho tipos de basalto, así como determinó que la mayor parte del material analizado provenía de los complejos de canteras de Ava o'Kiri y Pu Tokitoki. Por último, se identificaron cuatro vías para el intercambio de basalto arqueológico: oportunista, comunal, confederación (re)distribución y élite (re)distribución.
Así, la complejidad de la interacción esbozada en esta investigación refuta las proposiciones económicas, ideológicas y sociopolíticas presentadas por la "narrativa del colapso" para el período pre-contacto rapa nui. En cambio, establece la interacción y colaboración comunes dentro y entre los mata (clanes) y las dos confederaciones insulares que existieron durante el pasado de la isla, especialmente con respecto al acceso y uso de piedras culturalmente valiosas como el basalto.
Este trabajo incluye un artículo de prensa, un artículo completo revisado por “peer-review” y una galería en línea de artefactos analizados en este trabajo.
After nine years of research, I’m happy to see this article, supported by a LUPA grant from Chile’s National Service of Cultural Heritage, finally published. Results of this research paint a new picture of cultural interaction on Rapa Nui during the pre-contact period by highlighting the ancient political economy that was responsible for the access, control, exchange and use of archaeological stone on Rapa Nui.
Using archaeological collections from the Sebastian Englert Anthropology Museum, the Rapa Nui Geochemical Project revealed a diversity of operational sequences in the manufacture of basalt tools that turned out to parallel the numerous economic, ideological, and sociopolitical pathways used by the ancient Rapanui to acquire raw materials for the creation of artifacts and construction stones.
This study geochemically identified eight types of basalt, as well as determined that most of the material analyzed came from the quarry complexes of Ava o‘Kiri and Pu Tokitoki. Lastly, four pathways for the exchange of archaeological basalt were identified: opportunistic, communal, confederation (re)distribution, and elite (re)distribution.
Thus, the complexity of the interaction outlined in this research further refutes the economic, ideological, and sociopolitical propositions presented by the "collapse narrative" for the Rapa Nui pre-contact period.
Oceanic island cultures, environments, and legacies.
The second conference, the 1st International Symposium of Rapa Nui – Heritage,Culture, and Society from a Contemporary Perspective, viewed RapaNui from a more current standpoint to understand Chilean state and Rapanui local relations, history, anthropology and representation, and cultural and environmental goals. Together, the two conferences produced 60 papers, conducted multiple field visits, and provided challenging and rewarding experiences, which highlighted the past and present of Rapa Nui, to prepare it for the future.
TAO has now offered educational experiences for more than 250 local island high school students and built a robust collaborative network with the local Museo Antropológico Padre Sebastián Englert (MAPSE), Hotel Explora Rapa Nui, and a variety of governmental and non-governmental
institutions. In 2019, TAO students focused on two distinct projects: (1) the metric and photographic documentation of matā or obsidian blades in the MAPSE collection; and (2) the development of an interactive virtual exploration website for an interior region of the island that is rich with archaeological heritage.
After island colonization by Maʻohi (Polynesian) wayfinders, who traversed eastern Oceania in large interaction spheres from perhaps as early as 900 until 1500 AD, Rapa Nui (and its geological deposits) became a perfect stage for the ancient Rapa Nui to display their Maʻohi identity. For example, the island’s stone was used to manufacture:
megaliths – moai and pukao (topknots) that represented the island’s chiefly and elite ancestors;
keho – flat laminates used for construction purposes (e.g. ‘Orongo) and tool manufacture;
paenga – dressed (formed) vesicular blocks used in ahu, hare nui (community house), hare paenga (elite home), ana kionga (refugee cave), and umu (stone slab–lined oven) construction;
pae – non–dressed vesicular blocks used in ahu, ana kionga, umu, hare vaka (boat–shaped house), hare oka (circular house), manavai (rock–walled garden), tupa (observation tower), and pipi horeko (land marker) construction; and
artifacts – mataʻa (biface tool), toki (adze and pick), kauteki (composite adze), ohio (axe), hoe (knife), and mangai mā‘ea (fishhook), amongst others.
Thus, to better understand the manufacture of these megaliths, monoliths, and material culture, this art and coloring books highlights a variety of quarries that were used during Rapa Nui pre–contact period. Yet, it is important to further divide Rapa Nui’s geoarchaeological sites into the following categories:
quarry – defined by the presence of extraction pits on the surface (called pu in Rapanui), normally where puku (outcrop) are located;
source – where tool–quality stone or construction materials are merely collected from the surface;
mine – when extraction includes entering vertical cliff faces to create anthropogenic caves; and
workshop – a place where stone is reduced, normally found away from quarries, sources, and mines.
This book was created through a join venture between Rapa Nui Geochemical Project Director Dr. Dale F. Simpson Jr. and independent Rapanui artist Veri Lobos Haoa. Our goals were to recreate Rapa Nui’s quarrying sites according to the geoarchaeological evidence present. Our process included visiting sites and discussing their geoarchaeological attributes, hand drawing of sites in black and white, and digital rendering and coloring of drawings. Descriptions for each site under investigation are also included in English and Spanish.
We hope the youth of Rapa Nui, along with those interested in the island’s culture, will learn about the multiplicity of stone quarries, mines, sources, and workshops that were used during the island’s pre–contact period. We also hope this book will motivate island officials to protect Rapa Nui’s highly valuable, but vulnerable geoarchaeological sites in the future.
Rapa Nui (Easter Island) has been the subject of various scientific investigations. Much of this work has been dedicated to moai (statues) and ahu (platforms) and how these megalithic features venerated the island’s chiefly ancestors and supported sociopolitical organisation, ideological communication, economic (re)distribution, and elite management over the island’s ancient political economy. Although moai and ahu have been studied for centuries, archaeological investigation of the island’s many basalt sources and artefacts, including their geological provenance and geochemistry, has been minimal. Consequently, this lack of comprehensive geochemistry for basalt sources and artefacts has restricted the potential of ancient interaction studies on Rapa Nui.
To fill this gap in the archaeological literature, the “Rapa Nui Geochemical Project (RNGP)” was established in 2013. The main goals of the RNGP include: 1) to identify, geologically, the various types of basalt used archaeologically and document the stages of production for artefacts and construction stones; 2) to elucidate spatial and temporal patterns of basalt acquisition, transfer, and use; 3) to delineate economic, ideological, and sociopolitical interaction, including pathways that accompanied and facilitated stone exchange between members of the ancient Rapanui culture; 4) to highlight the attributes of Rapa Nui’s chiefly controlled ancient political economy through documenting the spatial and temporal distributions of archaeological basalt industries; 5) to evaluate economic and sociopolitical interpretations put forward by the ‘ecocide’ or ‘collapse’ narrative (Bahn and Flenley 1992; Diamond 1995, 2005); and 6) to create public archaeology and educational opportunities for the local Rapa Nui community.
Over six years, the RNGP collaborated with more than 30 individuals from 20 institutions from around the globe to conduct field archaeology (four campaigns from 2014–2018), geoarchaeological and material culture documentation (SLR camera and drone photos/videos and artefactual 3D scanning), geochemical analyses (inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry and portable x–ray fluorescence), radiometric dating (14C), artistic site reconstructions, and educational outreach.
RNGP results from six study areas reveal a diversity of operational sequences for basalt tool making which parallels the numerous economic, ideological and sociopolitical pathways used by the ancient Rapanui to acquire basalt for artefact and construction stone creation. The RNGP geochemically identified eight unique basalts during analysis and highlighted how quarries and sources at Ava oʻKiri and Pu Tokitoki provided most of the material used to manufacture the sample of basalt artefacts (adzes, picks, knives, and axes) analysed in this study.
Four pathways for the transfer of basalt were uncovered in this investigation, they included, opportunistic, communal, and confederation and elite (re)distribution. Thus, the complexity of interaction outlined in this Ph.D. thesis refutes economic and sociopolitical propositions put forward by the ‘collapse narrative’ for Rapa Nui’s pre–contact period. Instead, it establishes the common interaction and collaboration within and between mata (clans) and the two island confederations that existed during the island’s past, especially regarding the access to and use of culturally valuable stone such as basalt.
Utilizando colecciones arqueológicas del Museo de Antropología Sebastián Englert, el Proyecto Geoquímico Rapa Nui reveló una diversidad de secuencias operativas en la fabricación de herramientas de basalto que resultaron ser paralelas a las numerosas vías económicas, ideológicas y sociopolíticas utilizadas por los antiguos rapanui para adquirir materias primas. para la creación de artefactos y piedras de construcción.
Este estudio identificó geoquímicamente ocho tipos de basalto, así como determinó que la mayor parte del material analizado provenía de los complejos de canteras de Ava o'Kiri y Pu Tokitoki. Por último, se identificaron cuatro vías para el intercambio de basalto arqueológico: oportunista, comunal, confederación (re)distribución y élite (re)distribución.
Así, la complejidad de la interacción esbozada en esta investigación refuta las proposiciones económicas, ideológicas y sociopolíticas presentadas por la "narrativa del colapso" para el período pre-contacto rapa nui. En cambio, establece la interacción y colaboración comunes dentro y entre los mata (clanes) y las dos confederaciones insulares que existieron durante el pasado de la isla, especialmente con respecto al acceso y uso de piedras culturalmente valiosas como el basalto.
Este trabajo incluye un artículo de prensa, un artículo completo revisado por “peer-review” y una galería en línea de artefactos analizados en este trabajo.
After nine years of research, I’m happy to see this article, supported by a LUPA grant from Chile’s National Service of Cultural Heritage, finally published. Results of this research paint a new picture of cultural interaction on Rapa Nui during the pre-contact period by highlighting the ancient political economy that was responsible for the access, control, exchange and use of archaeological stone on Rapa Nui.
Using archaeological collections from the Sebastian Englert Anthropology Museum, the Rapa Nui Geochemical Project revealed a diversity of operational sequences in the manufacture of basalt tools that turned out to parallel the numerous economic, ideological, and sociopolitical pathways used by the ancient Rapanui to acquire raw materials for the creation of artifacts and construction stones.
This study geochemically identified eight types of basalt, as well as determined that most of the material analyzed came from the quarry complexes of Ava o‘Kiri and Pu Tokitoki. Lastly, four pathways for the exchange of archaeological basalt were identified: opportunistic, communal, confederation (re)distribution, and elite (re)distribution.
Thus, the complexity of the interaction outlined in this research further refutes the economic, ideological, and sociopolitical propositions presented by the "collapse narrative" for the Rapa Nui pre-contact period.
Oceanic island cultures, environments, and legacies.
The second conference, the 1st International Symposium of Rapa Nui – Heritage,Culture, and Society from a Contemporary Perspective, viewed RapaNui from a more current standpoint to understand Chilean state and Rapanui local relations, history, anthropology and representation, and cultural and environmental goals. Together, the two conferences produced 60 papers, conducted multiple field visits, and provided challenging and rewarding experiences, which highlighted the past and present of Rapa Nui, to prepare it for the future.
TAO has now offered educational experiences for more than 250 local island high school students and built a robust collaborative network with the local Museo Antropológico Padre Sebastián Englert (MAPSE), Hotel Explora Rapa Nui, and a variety of governmental and non-governmental
institutions. In 2019, TAO students focused on two distinct projects: (1) the metric and photographic documentation of matā or obsidian blades in the MAPSE collection; and (2) the development of an interactive virtual exploration website for an interior region of the island that is rich with archaeological heritage.
The toki database was created by Dale F. Simpson Jr. through 11 months of archaeological and geological fieldwork on Easter Island, museum research at the Padre Sebastián Englert Anthropological Museum (MAPSE), and geochemical analyses conducted at The Field Museum of Natural History (TFM).
Research was made possible by the University of Queensland’s (UQ)
Centennial Scholarship, International Postgraduate Research Scholarship, a School of Social Science Research Bursary, and a Strategic Planning Fund to UQ’s Archaeology Department.
traced to the large factory fishing boats that harvest tuna and pelagic fish around the island. Unfortunately, not only are these ships possibly over-fishing culturally and economically valuable species, but they are also leaving their fishing by-products to wash up on the island’s coast. Another idea that we have considered is how much of this ocean waste is related to the movement of the “Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch” around the island. But, regardless of this material’s origin, by working together with the island community, we realized that if we wish to make the island a cleaner place, we needed to get our own hands dirty to set an example for current and future generations. We also became determined to get the message out about the sources of ocean pollution coming to Rapa Nui.
geological fieldwork on Rapa Nui for my Ph.D. at the University of
Queensland. While I have been working on the island for more than 13
years, these past five months have opened my eyes to the complexity
and diversity of basalt lithic extraction and manufacture on this most
famous eastern Polynesian outpost. In this working paper, I draw upon
5000 photos, drone and camera videos, the documentation of 91 basalt quarries, and the selection of 167 museum artefacts to highlight
prehistoric quarrying, mining, and lithic material manufacture on Rapa
Nui. I will also talk about the “politricks” of doing scientific research on
the island along with how archaeology can play an important role in
community engagement, education, and development.
Investigación doctorado
Geodinámica/ Volcanismo / Geología
Medio ambiente
Investigación doctorado
Discusiones
While not as famous as Rapa Nui’s moai (statues) and ahu (platforms), basalt adzes and chisels were necessary tools for: 1) forest clearance (for slash and burn horticulture and raw material acquisition); 2) the creation of material culture, structures, and monumental architecture; and 3) canoe building. Therefore, a better understanding of chaînes opératoires, behavior chains and artifact life histories of adze manufacture, distribution and use, can inform on prehistoric economy, social interaction and human(s)-thing(s) entanglement(s) through time.
For my paper, I propose an “entanglement” of Rapanui adzes which argues that prehistoric Polynesians were truly living in the ‘Age of Adzes.’ Using toki and the associated technocomplex, adzes, including their forms, lashings, connections to tattoo and other sacred and secular functions, were a crucial material culture elaboration that linked people to things, things to people, and things to things. I conclude this paper by raising a point about the global entanglement of adzes, as this hard and durable key-stone Polynesian artifact is, and has been, entangled on Rapa Nui, in Polynesia, throughout the Pacific and now the world.
Presented at Entangled: The relationship between humans and things A Masterclass with Professor Ian Hodder
Conversely, more recent work argues against pre-contact collapse and suggests that the voracious appetite of the Pacific rat (rattus exulans) and contact with Europeans played more of a detrimental role to the Rapa Nui environment and the Rapanui community than the community played on itself (Peiser 2005; Hunt and Lipo 2006; Mulrooney et al. 2009).
While this debate against collapse is well known amongst Polynesian archaeologists, the general public however, still identifies Rapa Nui as the cause célèbre of a failed society; this is unfortunate as it is invalid. As an anthropologist, it has been my goal to present the island as an exemplary case of diachronic cultural change, human organization, adaptation and survival, and progress (Simpson 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013). This includes highlighting how the Rapanui community has recovered from a population of 110 people in 1877 to over 5000 in 2012; has protested to earn its right as citizens of Chile in 1966; has seen multiple Rapanui individuals and businesses succeed and prosper; and has provided a future to a new generation of proud Polynesians.
In short, this paper will concentrate on a diachronic perspective of Rapanui progress and will argue against a synchronic understanding of Rapanui culture, history, and development.
By chemically sourcing lava flows, stone quarries, fine- and coarse-grained basalt materials with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, I plan to demonstrate from where lithic material was procured, to compare these findings to what and where material was found in the archaeological record. With this evidence, Geographic Information Systems will help uncover spatial patterning with regards to the distance of procurement from source quarries, and if acquisition and use reflect notions of ancient Rapanui socio-political organization and models of resource obtainment, distribution, and use. My research design also includes 3D scanning of archaeological sites and artefacts, opportunities for public archaeology and educational outreach, and a platform for digital archaeology (RNgeochemPHD) to further disseminate my research and results. "
By chemically sourcing lava fl ows, stone quarries, fine- and coarse-grained basalt materials with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, I plan to demonstrate from where lithic material was procured, to compare these fi ndings to what and where material was found in the archaeological record. With this evidence, Geographic Information Systems will help uncover
spatial patterning with regards to the distance of procurement from source quarries, and if acquisition and use re flect notions of ancient Rapanui socio-political organization and models of resource obtainment, distribution, and use.
My research design also includes 3D scanning of archaeological sites and artefacts, opportunities for public archaeology and educational outreach, and a platform for digital archaeology (RNgeochemPHD) to further disseminate my
research and results.
""
Dale F Simpson Jr. is a member of The College of DuPage's Department of Anthropology and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Queensland (Australia). Funding to attend Harvard's Pacific History Conference was provided by a 2012 College of DuPage's Global Education Initiative Grant.
Where are you living and what are you doing there?
I’m currently in Chicago, Illinois, analysing at the Field Museum of Natural History and finishing my PhD at the University of Queensland [with a dissertation entitled: “Identifying Prehistoric Interaction on Rapa Nui: Development of social complexity in extreme isolation”].
I am also working throughout the USA – and the world. However, my most constant movement is between Brisbane, Australia, Santiago, Chile (where my son lives), and Rapa Nui (Easter Island).
What do you love about where you’re living (and about what you’re doing)?
I love archaeology. I love the people and cultures of the Pacific. I love teaching about a topic that in today’s day and age is more necessary than ever. [Dale has held teaching positions at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois since 2009]. Living throughout the world lets me explore, witness, and enjoy other ways of life. I bring this information back to my students, family, and friends. What I have learned after 20 years of doing this is that the more you learn about other cultures, the more you learn about your own, and yourself.
Is the study you did at Auckland important to what you do now?
The University of Auckland gave me a great background in Pacific anthropology. From my great adviser, [Professor] Thegn Ladefoged [Anthropology], to awesome field and research opportunities in the department, to living in Polynesian Aotearoa, these experiences have helped to propel me to the next island, to the next research question, to the next discovery.
I asked 10 Easter Island experts and scientists about what they see as the biggest mysteries of this island. This is how they answered:
Course Objectives: Anthropology — the study of human beings — is divided into four rather distinct subfields: Archaeology (the study of human behavior through the things that they make or leave behind), Biological or Physical Anthropology (the study of the human body, including its relation to behavior), Linguistics (the study of that very specialized behavior called language), and Ethnology (cross-cultural study of humanity). Typically, Ethnology is what people mean when they use the terms Social Anthropology or Cultural Anthropology. Anthropology 1100: Cultural Anthropology is designed to provide students with a general introduction to the principles and findings of cultural anthropology, including treatments of language, social structure, subsistence, technology, worldview, values, and the relationships between these phenomena.
In this course, we will be concerned both with the experience of indigenous communities and with representations of the Pacific generated inside and outside the region. Pacific prehistory of travel began with Pleistocene movement of Homo sapiens sapiens, continued with Lapita colonization which gave way to the far-flung voyages of Polynesian navigators. Pacific indigenous settlement was then followed by waves of European explorers, missionaries, and colonizers. These movements have produced dramatic, and often tragic, stories of cultural encounter and transformation. The experience of Pacific communities, past and present, has much to teach us about living in communities that contend with global flows of people, culture, and capital. Today island travelers continue to move through national capitals and metropolitan centers from Honolulu to Los Angeles and Auckland, fashioning new forms and identities that extend the boundaries of the Pacific.