Kirstin Downey: This Trio Helped Unlock The History Of Polynesian Voyaging

Building on their work with Yosihiko Sinoto a half-century ago, the archaeologists have reunited at Bishop Museum.

Fifty years ago, a team of young archaeologists from Bishop Museum began traveling together to Tahiti to participate in excavations that would open a window into the breathtaking extent of Polynesian ocean voyaging in the past.

Today, three of those scientists, all now retirees, are back at the museum, volunteering as a team to reexamine and advance their work, which included making some of the biggest discoveries of Southern Pacific history.

They are sorting through binders of the original data, digitizing the records of their finds, making sure the information is properly recorded as a starting point for future work. And they are planning a publication that will explain t