The contributions of Jeffrey T. Clark to Samoan archaeology

Authors

  • Seth Quintus University of Hawai'i at Manoa
  • David J. Herdrich American Samoa Historic Preservation Office

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15286/jps.127.1.9-14

Abstract

The archaeology of Samoa, especially American Samoa, has seen significant gains in the past two decades. The foundation for these were laid by a number of individuals, but the contributions of Jeffrey Clark are of particular importance given his long-term focus on the region. He has conducted research on every island of American Samoa, one of few individuals to have done so. He also has been instrumental in maintaining a focus on settlement systems, based on the pioneering work of Roger Green and Janet Davidson on ˜Upolu and Savai'i, fundamentally shaping the practice of archaeology in the archipelago. Through this research, he has provided the baseline for the cultural sequence of American Samoa and highlighted the importance of landscape evolution to understanding human settlement patterns.

Author Biographies

Seth Quintus, University of Hawai'i at Manoa

Seth Quintus (PhD, University of Auckland, 2015) has been an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa since 2016. Seth was a student of Jeff Clark at North Dakota State University beginning in 2007 and has continued to work closely with Jeff in the Manu‘a Islands of American Samoa since graduating. Within a set of broad topics, his research generally concerns the relationship between the environment and political economy in small-scale societies.

David J. Herdrich, American Samoa Historic Preservation Office

David J. Herdrich holds a BA and an MA in Anthropology (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1982, 1985).  He served as American Samoa's Territorial Archaeologist from 1995 to 2009. He is currently the Historic Preservation Officer at the American Samoa Historic Preservation Office.

Cover image: Jeffrey T. Clark in the Manu‘a Islands. Photograph courtesy of Jeff Clark.

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Published

2018-03-31

Issue

Vol. 127 No. 1 (2018): March 2018

Section

Articles

License

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Dr Marcia Leenen-Young, Editor
The Polynesian Society
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email: m.leenen@auckland.ac.nz