Digging into archaeology – the rock star subject

The study of the human past through material remains, archaeology at the University has placed in the top 30 globally six times since the subject was first ranked in 2016.

Its success reflects a combination of staff conducting high-quality research, field opportunities close to home and in the wider Pacific, and recent investment in facilities, says Associate Professor Ethan Cochrane.

Cochrane, who works on island settlement and cultural transmission (the process of passing information, beliefs, behaviours, and history from one individual or group to another), says staff can pitch their research to leading international journals because they work on issues that matter not only in New Zealand, but across the Pacific and beyond.

“Working in multidisciplinary teams also helps our findings reach a wider audience. And while publications in natural science and multidisciplinary journals, like the US Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, don’t count towards QS scores for archaeology, they do influence academic reputation and attract students interested in archaeological science.”

Research funding is also critical. Over the past five years, programme staff have secured more than $4.2 million in grants from the Marsden Fund, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, and Te Pūnaha Matatini, a Tertiary Education Commission Centre of Research Excellence.

Staff also serve as editors of top Pacific journals like Archaeology in Oceania and Journal of Pacific Archaeology.
 

Training the next generation
A long-running field school on Ahuahu Great Mercury Island, off the eastern Coromandel coast, is a great natural classroom, says field school convenor Professor Thegn Ladefoged.

"It's a place where significant Māori archaeological remains have been discovered and a  strong training ground for prospective postgraduate students."

He says it relies on a longstanding partnership with philanthropist Sir Michael Fay, who co-owns the island with David Richwhite.

“Sir Michael has supported the field school in many ways, including access, accommodation, and student scholarships. He also recognised the need for archaeological study on the island following a major storm in 2009 that exposed significant cultural sites.

“We work closely with tangata whenua Ngāti Hei, who are cultural advisers and research partners,” says Ladefoged, who studies Indigenous agricultural systems across the Pacific.”

Associate Professor Rebecca Phillipps (Ngāi Tahu), co-director of Ahuahu studies, says the field school develops a wide range of skills.

“Beyond archaeological training, it builds capability in teamwork, problem-solving, research ethics and data management. Former students often mention the lasting relationships they formed there, both professional and personal.”

Professor Simon Holdaway, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and former field school director, says archaeology masters and doctorates are well placed in the workforce.

“Employers recognise that our students are well trained and in turn, our graduates contribute to the programme’s reputation and its QS ranking.”
 

Locally valued, globally recognised
QS subject rankings also consider academic reputation (70 percent) and citation rates (10 percent).

“Over the past decade, staff have conducted field work in Aotearoa New Zealand, across the Pacific, in Australia, and North Africa,” says Phillipps, whose Egyptian research examined human responses to Holocene climate change through the lens of stone tools.

“Our collaborators are diverse as well, coming from within the University and abroad, including North America, Australia, the UK and Europe,” says Professor Melinda Allen,  who studies human habitation and native flora and fauna in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia.

“Our programme’s transdisciplinary research also shapes its academic reputation,” says Ladefoged, who researches the traditional agricultural systems.

“We work with bioarchaeologists, environmental scientists, Indigenous knowledge holders, geneticists, modellers and climate specialists, among others”.

“Finding a common language is not always easy, but essential, and often leads to productive collaborations.”

Citation rates also measure research impact. Archaeology staff, and colleagues who publish in archaeology journals, including Professor Judith Littleton in biological anthropology and Associate Professor Gretel Boswijk in environmental science, score exceptionally well in this respect.

State-of-the-art facilities
Recent University investment in laboratories for archaeology and biological anthropology, as part of the Arts and Education building refurbishment (B201) on City Campus, has also been crucial, says Cochrane.

“Alongside facilities for processing excavated materials, purpose-built laboratories support high-resolution spatial analysis, ancient DNA and stable isotope studies, scanning electron microscopy, and geochemical analysis.”

B201 also houses Anthropology’s zooarchaeological reference collection of over 2000 animal skeletons and molluscs.

“These facilities are central to our ability to carry out transdisciplinary research and address questions of global significance,” he says.
 

Standing on the shoulders of giants
The University has been a leader in Pacific archaeology for more than 70 years, says Allen.

In 1954, says Allen, the University established the first full-time academic role in Australasia focused on Pacific archaeology, appointing Cambridge-trained Jack Golson.

“Under his leadership, scientific methods were formalised, a national site recording scheme established, and standards set that still guide the profession.”

“And when I arrived some 30 years ago, my colleagues included Roger Green, Geoffrey Irwin, Douglas Sutton, Peter Shepherd and Harry Allen, all internationally recognised scholars,” she says.

“Their research made immense contributions to our understanding of the human past, in Aotearoa, Polynesia, the western Pacific, and Australia. Our global reputation is an institutional taonga, formally recognised through recent achievements and this prestigious ranking, but grounded in our past; he tangata, he tangata, he tangata.”
 

Looking ahead
“While archaeology continues to focus on how people lived in the past, its research also relates to the world’s current challenges,” says Phillipps.

“It informs food security initiatives in island communities, social resilience, biodiversity management and climate change preparedness.

“Our research also supports understanding of mātauranga Māori, strengthens connections across the Pacific, and helps protect cultural heritage around the world.”