CAG on travel: Easter Island and archaeology adventures

Ten years ago my interest in the Pacific began unexpectedly. I had the chance to go on an archaeology excavation with a group from the University of Hawai’i Prehistory Project on Easter Island. I originally went as an archaeologist who had only done South American archaeology, and had no real knowledge about Pacific cultures. I just wanted to explore something as far away as possible!

Ahu Ahanga

My first impressions of Easter Island were that it was so geographically different than I had expected. I was thinking it would be more tropical like Hawai’i, but in reality it was a much more sparse landscape with a much cooler climate. It was still one of the most beautiful places I’d ever seen.

View from Poike volcano

A typical day of excavating and mapping

As an archaeologist you tend to wake up before dawn so that you can hike out to a site for work, and by mid-afternoon you’ve already put in your eight hour day. This left plenty of time after the excavations to explore the main town of Hanga Roa, and the (limited) nightlife.

Cultural show (that we attended about four times)

At that time ten years ago, this mainly consisted of three bars- only one of which tourists frequented. Although archaeologists are known for their partying (sorta), and after a month I think most of us were bored of this and used most of our energy to explore the other wonders of the island. 

View from the cave 

Tangata manu (birdman) cave paintings in 'Cannibal Cave'

Finding the tangata manu (birdman) cave paintings in the ‘Cannibal Cave’ and exploring the stories of the island are what first sparked my interests in the cultural history of the Easter Island people, and shifted my interests more towards anthropology. There were so many questions I had for the descendants of these populations, and it didn’t hurt that the Pacific is absolutely gorgeous. 

Downtime at Anakena Beach

Ahu Tongariki from afar

CAG on museums: Working at the British Museum

The British Museum

As a California girl who has always dreamed of working at the British Museum, once I was there it did not disappoint. While working at with the Department of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, I worked with some of the finest collections and some of the best minds in the museum world. Most days something very exciting happens like a special visitor comes to view the collection, or there is news of an exhibition that is about to be put on. This is exciting if you work in a museum at least. Other days, there is a bit more manual labour involved- but at least it’s in a storeroom that looks like the last scene in Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Me putting away a tiny tiny object

There are lots of visitors to the storerooms and the department, and especially visitors from the Pacific and Australia. The Pacific is my area of anthropological interest. The Pacific and Australian collections are a particularly well-used resource at the British Museum. We have many individuals, indigenous researchers, and groups who come to see a specific part of the collection within a week. Thinking through anthropology, issues of politics in the museum, and collections care on behalf of the public, means that though the Museum is an academic institution, a lot of the work must also benefit the source communities from whom collections originate to create access for wider audiences.

Torres Strait Island dance objects laid out for a visit

Last year when a dance group from the Torres Strait Islands came to our storage site to see dance related collections of masks, ornaments, drums and other related objects, many people in the group had varying responses to the objects that they saw.

Dance performance and acknowledgement of ancestors

After the group saw the objects, they asked to give an acknowledgment of the ancestors and give a dance performance. These kinds of interactions between living communities and their ancestors’ historic objects highlights the importance of access to collections in the museum, and continue to make objects important on a daily basis.