Kauaʻi Community College is combining high-tech innovation with cultural preservation, offering five students paid internships while supporting local nonprofit efforts to protect Indigenous data across the island.

These interdisciplinary projects allow students to gain specialized skills, earn academic credit and explore new career pathways through hands-on experience. They are part of the University of �鶹��ý‘s Office of Indigenous Knowledge and Innovation, which has established several Indigenous Data Hubs (IDH).

In one vital project, students are partnering with the nonprofit I Ola Wailuanui to aid in the restoration of Malaehaʻakoa heiau. Using drone technology, interns created 3D models of the historical site, which are now being used to inform and guide restoration efforts.

“Building pilina (connection) with Malaehaʻakoa and listening to what its needs are for restoration and integration into modern-day functioning has been integral,” said Kauaʻi CC IDH Coordinator Kamalani Chock. “When we interact with the space, we treat the heiau as an ancestor that can help the community cultivate mana (power). What the process of mana cultivation means in the 21st century is what we’re meditating on.”

Digitizing artifacts

A second project involves students digitizing fragile artifacts at Kauaʻi CC’s Kikuchi Center. They are photographing from 360 degrees and transforming those images into a 3D model with an associated texture map, making them accessible for study and public engagement on the .

“I think it’s important to expand the scope of potential career pathways on the island,” Creative Media Program Coordinator Joseph Tremonti said.

“Projects like this allow students to develop skills that can be applied to cultural heritage work, archives, and museum studies—fields where access to fragile materials is often limited. This opens up exciting opportunities for our students.”

Chock, who also teaches agriculture and natural science courses through Nā Pua Noʻeau (a pre-K–college enrichment program), emphasized the importance of connecting education directly to community needs.

“I think the future of education must be holistic,” Chock said. “It can’t be siloed into singular disciplines. Instead, it should recognize how these fields intersect and work together in our communities—especially in ways that support community health and well-being.”

Kikuchi Center, which honors the late archaeologist and Emeritus Professor William “Pila” Kikuchi, is inviting the public to the center’s first artist showcase. Carol Araki Wyban, will present her book and artwork Tide and Current: Fishponds of �鶹��ý at 4 p.m. on September 19 in the Learning Resource Center.

The Kikuchi Center’s opening event will showcase efforts to preserve the legacy of Kikuchi’s work with fishponds. The art inspired by Kikuchi’s research has been exhibited at the Bishop Museum and the Volcano Art Center and will now find a permanent home at the Kikuchi Center.

The Kikuchi Collection

Kikuchi’s career in archaeology and anthropology spanned five decades. Kauaʻi CC Archivist Jason Ford has been leading the efforts to archive and digitize the Kikuchi Collection since 2022. The collection is now partially available online at . These include copies of Kikuchi’s Archeology on Kauaʻi newsletter and fishpond notes. Ford said his team has been prioritizing materials that are most beneficial to local and Pacific Region researchers, and materials with digital display quality.

“With the Kikuchi Collection containing a variety of multimedia materials, there remains a lot of items to be digitized for inclusion in the online repository,” Ford said. “We have made great progress in getting some of Kikuchi’s famous and lesser known research online, thus, making the online repository available to the public sooner rather than later. I know the community has been waiting on the repository, in some cases for decades, and so we are excited to be able to offer this now at this time.”

Inspired by Kikuchi

Wyban’s art highlights the importance of Hawaiian fishponds, which she describes as a vital link to ancient Hawaiian practices of sustainable land and water use. She has worked at maintaining and reviving ancient fishponds across the state, using Kikuchi’s research as a guidebook.

“Fishponds are a window into ancient �鶹��ý and how the Hawaiians developed the land and water in a conscious, sustainable manner,” Wyban said. “They are a resource for the future because they can still be revived and used for food production, education and to teach people the importance of working with nature.”

The opening of the Kikuchi Center marks a significant step in making Kikuchi’s work accessible to the public and promoting ongoing education and research on Hawaiian fishponds.

The placed in the nation’s top 20 in eight subjects, the best performance by UH’s flagship institution in the .

Released April 10, QS’s 2024 version of the rankings listed UH Mānoa among the nation’s best in the following categories:

• Linguistics: No. 10 U.S., No. 22 world
• Hospitality and leisure management: No. 15 U.S., No. 46 world
• Anthropology: No. 19 U.S., No. 51–100 world
• Modern languages: No. 19 U.S., No. 101–150 world
• Geophysics: No. 20 U.S., No. 47 world
• Geology: No. 20 U.S., No. 49 world
• Earth and marine sciences: No. 20 U.S., No. 51–100 world
• Geography: No. 20 U.S., No. 101–150 world

“These rankings are a testament to the excellence of our faculty and the dedication of our entire staff,” UH Mānoa Provost Michael Bruno said. “To the communities that we serve, they affirm that this university represents the very best in scholarship and education. And to our prospective students and their families, the rankings are a strong endorsement of the quality and value of an education from UH ����ԴDz�.&�����ܴ�;

UH Mānoa also placed in the nation’s top 50 in nine additional subjects:

• English language and literature: No. 30 U.S., No. 101–150 world
• Archaeology: No. 30 U.S., No. 151–200 world
• Agriculture and forestry: No. 34 U.S., No. 151–200 world
• Physics and astronomy: No. 39 U.S., No. 151–200 world
• Sociology: No. 42 U.S., No. 201–250 world
• Politics: No. 44 U.S., No. 201–250 world
• Communication and media studies: No. 46 U.S., No. 151–200 world
• Arts and humanities: No. 47 U.S., No. 210 world
• Environmental sciences: No. 49 U.S., No. 251–300 world

UH Mānoa was ranked in four broad subject areas and 24 narrow subject areas. The QS World University Rankings by Subject are calculated using five criteria: academic reputation (survey responses from academics), employer reputation (survey responses from graduate employers worldwide), research citations per paper (citations data sourced from Elsevier Scopus), H-index (measures most cited papers and the number of citations) and international research network (reflects ability to diversify the geography of their international research network).

The 2024 edition of the rankings by global higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds analyzed the performance of more than 16,400 university programs, taken by students at more than 1,500 universities in 96 locations around the world.

Recent rankings

UH Mānoa also received these notable rankings:

• 2024 U.S. News and World Report’s Best Graduate Schools rankings, April 9, 2024
• QS World University Rankings: Sustainability, December 11, 2023
• 2023 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects released by the Shanghai Ranking Consultancy, October 29, 2023

For more information on rankings, see the .

—By Marc Arakaki

One experience can change the trajectory of your life. That’s something that rings true for a group of sixth-grade students from Āliamanu Elementary School who found themselves on a journey that would spark newfound passions and open new possibilities. It all began with a visit to a lab with James M. Bayman, a University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa archaeologist and professor.

Armed with calipers and scales, students analyzed artifacts of Mesopotamia, noting weights, measurements and colors. After recording their findings, students participated in a critical analysis exercise that touched on how the artifacts might have been used by ancient civilizations.

“I thought archaeology was the study of bones of ancient creatures and the geography of pyramids and jungle sites. I learned that it also includes the study of small things like arrowheads,” marveled one student. “I learned that arrowheads were used by ancient people for hunting. Before I thought it was just something they held on to.”

Another student said, “I thought archaeology was like the science you see in movies, like mixing chemicals and stuff, but it is a lot more. I would 100% want to become an archaeologist now.”

Bayman knows firsthand how the power of a single moment can set you on a new course in life. As a young explorer, a curiosity about nature and fascination with ancient societies and cultures was enriched by his discovery of a remote archaeology site in the Southwestern U.S.

“It was enchanting to find a place where past people lived their lives,” said Bayman.

Now, he is paying it forward and sharing the joys and wonders of his field with a new generation of students.

“Our sixth-grade students have worked hard to research the artifacts of Mesopotamia to understand how they told about history. For our students to be able to engage with real artifacts of history is an experience many would not have had without the help of Professor Bayman—for that we are truly grateful. This is a huge step for the Radford Complex Area’s efforts to provide students with learning opportunities beyond the walls of the classroom,” said Sandra Yoshimi, Āliamanu Elementary School principal.

The is in the in the .

Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: The Archaeology of Ancient �鶹��ý by renowned archaeologist Patrick V. Kirch has been reimagined and expanded in a new and updated 2023 edition. The first edition was described nearly 40 years ago as a “pioneering synthesis of ancient Hawaiian civilization from an archaeological perspective.” The new edition is a complete rewrite of the 1985 book and provides readers with a comprehensive and essential resource for understanding the fascinating archaeological history of �鶹��ý.

“This new edition synthesizes a vast array of research and literature accumulated over the past four decades,” said Kirch, professor in the at the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa. “It begins with a historical review of changing archaeological practice in �鶹��ý, then delves into the origins of the Polynesians and Hawaiians, exploring eight centuries of gradual cultural change, which culminated in the unique Hawaiian culture encountered by European explorers in the late 18th century.”

Succeeding chapters of the book, co-authored with Mark D. McCoy, professor of anthropology at Florida State University, review traditional agricultural systems, the archaeology of everyday life, ceremonial and temple sites (heiau), and the cultural transformations that transpired following contact with the Western world. Six final chapters review the main archaeological sites of the principal islands.

This updated edition incorporates nearly four decades of research findings since the book’s initial publication, with significant discoveries including:

1. A revised understanding of when Polynesians first arrived in �鶹��ý—AD 1000 rather than AD 400—based on major improvements in radiocarbon dating.
2. New knowledge regarding when large heiau began to be constructed, and on the multiple functions of heiau as places of astronomical observation and men’s ritualized craft activities.
3. Appreciation of the scale and importance of the vast dryland farming systems on �鶹��ý Island and Maui, and the roles these played in the Hawaiian political economy.
4. Integration of the archaeological record of cultural change with the Indigenous Hawaiian moʻolelo (oral histories), and the recognition that these moʻolelo are real histories, not just “myth.”
5. More nuanced understanding of how the rural landscapes of the islands were transformed in the decades following European arrival.

“The real value of the book is bringing together, in one source, the results of literally hundreds of disparate studies, and making sense of them in a coherent account of the Hawaiian past. Anyone with a desire to know something about the ancient history of a particular place, or about a particular topic such as heiau, can turn to Feathered Gods and Fishhooks for a detailed synthesis along with a comprehensive bibliography of sources,” said Kirch.

Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: The Archaeology of Ancient �鶹��ý is .

During a career in archaeology and anthropology that spanned almost 50 years, the late Emeritus Professor William Kenji “Pila” Kikuchi was an expert on many subjects including the ancient sinkhole called Makauwahi that has been referred to as “the Olduvai Gorge or La Brea Tar Pits of �鶹��ý” because of its rich array of fossils. His collection of work is currently housed at the college, where he taught for 38 years.

In September, a blessing was held at the college’s Learning Resource Center where the collection resides and the new archival Kikuchi Center is being established. There are more than 550 books and personal field journals with 8,000+ items still to be examined.

“Kauaʻi Community College recognizes the valuable contributions Dr. Kikuchi made to our students and within the field of Native Hawaiian archaeology,” said Chancellor Joseph Daisy. “We are honored to care for this important collection and make it accessible as a learning and research resource for our students and the broader community here in �鶹��ý.”

The college has hired Jason Ford to serve as the Kikuchi archivist to process the physical collection, digitize the materials and develop online modules that faculty can embed into curricula. Ford is a recent graduate of the library and information science master’s program at the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa.

The collection will soon be available to the public both physically and online.

For his work including Pāʻulaʻula, a significant Hawaiian royal residence on Kauaʻi that was formerly known as the “Russian Fort Elizabeth,” the (SHA) has recognized University of �鶹��ý at Hilo Professor Peter Mills with the 2022 Public Archaeology Award.

The award, which was presented during SHA’s convention held September 30–October 2 at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, recognizes individuals or groups who reach a broad audience in their local communities and seek to involve these communities in their archaeological efforts.

“What makes the award really special is that it reflects a central role for UH Hilo in sustained efforts to improve heritage management programs in the Pacific by reaching out to descendant communities,” said Mills. “I have greatly benefited from working with so many students with deep passions and connections to cultural stewardship.”

With this award, SHA recognizes the importance of playing an active role in public education concerning Hawaiian archaeology and disseminating research.

“By promoting understanding of Hawaiian cultural sites both for local people and visitors to the Hawaiian Islands, they encourage greater compassion and commitment to these significant places,” reads the SHA awards statement. “Raising public awareness of the importance of these places can help to discourage commercialism and to eliminate collecting, buying, or selling archaeological materials.”

Mills has been a faculty member in UH �ᾱ����’s anthropology department since 1997. He has made profound positive impacts through his commitment to public-oriented scholarship, and has increased access to educational and professional training opportunities, particularly through the development of UH �ᾱ����’s program.

In particular, the Public Archaeology Award recognizes Mills’ work at Pāʻulaʻula, a significant Hawaiian royal residence on the southwest side of Kauaʻi that was commonly known as “Russian Fort Elizabeth” for the last century.

Mills’s work at Pāʻulaʻula extends back to his dissertation research at the University of California, Berkeley, which later developed into his book, �鶹��ý’s Russian Adventure: A New Look at Old History. More recently, Mills and collaborators combined archival documents, maps, photographs and archaeological research to build three-dimensional models of the site and increase community engagement with Pāʻulaʻula.

“His efforts in bringing this history forward has played a role in re-shaping public understanding of Pāʻulaʻula,” noted SHA award statement. “This year, the �鶹��ý Board of Land and Natural Resources voted unanimously to rename Russian Fort Elizabeth State Historical Park to Pāʻulaʻula State Historic Site. This decision is an important commitment to recognizing Pāʻulaʻula’s role in Native Hawaiian history.”

For more, visit the .

—By Susan Enright

In the wake of �鶹��ý Archaeology Week (September 26–October 2), the joins two non-profit organizations to launch the , an open-access title that will soon accept submissions for its inaugural issue.

The new journal will be co-edited by Mara Mulrooney and Jillian Swift, who are both affiliate graduate faculty at UH Mānoa. The two editors developed the publication as a forum to bring together important research and conversations around archaeology, history and heritage management in Polynesia. The editorial board is comprised of UH faculty including Professors Patrick V. Kirch (anthropology, UH ����ԴDz�), Ty P. Kawika Tengan (ethnic studies, UH ����ԴDz�), Seth Quintus (anthropology, UH Mānoa) and Peter Mills (anthropology, UH Hilo), among others.

“The Journal of Polynesian Archaeology and Research will continue the tradition of publishing cutting-edge results of archaeological research in �鶹��ý and throughout Polynesia, as well as providing a forum for discussion and debate regarding archaeological practice in the region,” noted Kirch. “I expect that the journal will be an essential resource for both scholars and the engaged public.”

Free and open access

For more than three decades, both of the journal’s sponsoring organizations—the Society for Hawaiian Archaeology and the Easter Island Foundation—have been committed to promoting research and dialogue on the archaeology of Polynesia. While distribution of previous publications were limited to members, this new journal will be published open-access and freely available to all readers.

This fall, the editors will review manuscripts through the journal submission system (forthcoming) and publish the first issue in 2023 on , UH’s open-access, digital institutional repository for both the university community and researchers around the world.

The Journal of Polynesian Archaeology and Research will replace two journals that will cease publication, Hawaiian Archaeology (published by the Society for Hawaiian Archaeology) and Rapa Nui Journal (published by UH Press in collaboration with the Easter Island Foundation). Throughout the past 30 years, Rapa Nui Journal published more than 33 volumes, and Hawaiian Archaeology published 15 volumes and four special publications. The archive of both publications will also be freely available via eVols.

Egypt, known for the pyramids and the sphinx, is the summer destination for three University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa students who are part of the in the . They will spend five weeks in an ancient Egyptian city in the Nile Delta through July 31. The exotic journey is part of the UH Tell Timai Project, where students participate in archaeological activities at the Tell Timai site, which was a flourishing city from 500 B.C. to about 600 A.D. for the Egyptians followed by Greeks and then the Romans.

“The students will get training in archaeological methods, learn about material remains, and relate material culture to the written records,” said Robert Littman, a classics professor who has spearheaded the project since its inception in 2009. “By working on the remains of an ancient city they will gain greater understanding of the history of mankind.”

To date, more than 50 UH Mānoa students have traveled to Egypt where they assist in high-tech surveys and meticulous digging to uncover the settlement’s buildings and artifacts, such as pottery, coins and broken columns. Kali Konopko just earned her BA in classics this spring. The aspiring law school student has been enthralled with Egyptian artifacts and coins since she was a young girl.

“It’ll be nice to be able to immerse myself in a world that I’ve studied since I was little,” Konopko said. “It’s just gonna be amazing to re-create the culture for myself and being able to see the pyramids and the Valley of the Kings and Queens and make it real.”

According to Littman, students must study up to two years of ancient Egyptian language and written texts as a prerequisite for the trip. It’s a realm Becca Lensing, a PhD candidate in marine biology at UH Mānoa, fell into by chance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unable to complete much work outside of her home in 2020, she decided to enroll in Littman’s ancient civilization course online. The microbiologist developed a fascination with hieroglyphics and ancient Egyptian bread.

“One of the reasons I’m interested in ancient baking is, I believe it tasted better back then. Us modern people, we’re just not baking the bread in the same way as they did.”

Lensing is hoping to find old beer bottles at the excavation site that still carry traces of liquid she hopes to use as yeast to bake batches of bread reminiscent of old Egypt.

Cleopatra perfume

In 2012, Littman and UH Mānoa adjunct professor Jay Silverstein uncovered what was thought to be the house of a perfume merchant at the Tell Timai site. The UH professors found glass kilns containing some sort of liquid that later analysis and recreation by perfume experts using ancient Greek texts, led to the reproduction of the myrrh (a natural gum or resin extracted from a number of small, thorny tree species)-based Mendesian and the Metopian perfumes that some claim may have been worn by the famed Egyptian ruler, Cleopatra.

• Related UH News story: Cleopatra’s ancient perfume recreated, July 30, 2019

An archaeological field research project that takes a bottom-up approach to better understand the Angkorian empire just received a four-year, $318,359 . Led by University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa Professor Miriam Stark and University of Oregon faculty member Alison Carter, the project focuses on the everyday lives of the Angkor people.

“Most historians chronicle the history of rulers: their dynastic sequence, their achievements and their monuments. Our work focuses instead on the people who made Angkor function,” said Stark. “Although Angkor is one of the largest preindustrial settlements in the world and has been the focus of substantial scholarly attention, we still know little about the people of Angkor: who built the temples, kept the shrines running, produced food, managed the water and farmed the crops that supported the empire. The P’teah Cambodia project will study Angkor households and their activities, and explore the roles of households and non-elites in the Cambodian past.”

The P’teah Cambodia research team, co-directed by Stark and Carter and their Cambodian collaborators, will conduct mapping, excavating and post-fieldwork analysis in the Angkorian site of Prasat Baset in Battambang Province. Seng Khang and Jaratnapa Surinlert, two UH Mānoa archaeology graduate students who specialize in Southeast Asian archaeology, will also participate.

Greater Angkor, the Angkorian capital, was connected to and dependent on large provincial centers that channeled goods and labor to the capital, such as the Battambang Province. Battambang, once called the rice granary of Cambodia, traditionally produced big agricultural surpluses and was also a historically contested boundary area between Cambodia and Thailand. Its population was wealthy and a bit independent from the two nation-states.

The P’teah Cambodia project is a collaboration between Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, UH Mānoa’s Department of Anthropology, and the University of Oregon’s Anthropology program. It is the fifth consecutive project in Cambodia that UH Mānoa’s anthropology department has hosted since the 1990’s as part of a decades-long collaboration between UH Mānoa and Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts.

UH Mānoa’s Department of Anthropology is housed in the .

This work is an example of UH Mānoa’s goal of (PDF), one of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.