Archaeology and Cultural Resource Projects

AERC offers various cultural research services including archaeology excavations, oral history projects, GIS mapping, and digital reconstruction. Learn more about our archaeology and cultural projects below.

Archaeology

distant island viewed from a boat

Chernofski Archaeology

AERC spent a summer on the eastern edge of Unalaska Island documenting materials from World War II and Indigenous artifacts and tools dating back centuries.

man standing on top of lava rock in hawaiian forest

Kahuku Archaeology

The US Army's Kahuku Training Area overlaps an important cultural area for Native Hawaiians, home to some of the Oahu鈥檚 earliest and best-known stories.

 Surveying equipment by volcanic rocks

P艒hakuloa Archaeology

UAA faculty and students traveled to the Big Island to survey a remote, unstudied corner of P艒hakuloa Training Area, the largest American military installation in the Pacific region. (Photo: Eric Hamilton, US Army Garrison P艒hakuloa Training Area)

 

Surveying and Documenting

overhead map of a green island and small buildings

Shemya WWII Building Survey

Using satellite and GIS, researchers mapped the earthen berms that supported Eareckson Air Station at the end of the Aleutians. The project culminated with a public display.

wake island airfield building

Wake Island Historic Building Survey

AERC researchers documented the historical significance of WWII facilities at the Wake Island Airfield, aiming to mitigate deterioration and demolition. (Photo: Sgt. Matthew Bragg, USMC Pacific)

rusty white boilerhouse

Metlakatla Building Survey

Annette Island Army Air Field is a national historic site in Metlakatla. AERC surveyed and documented a historic World War II building slated for remediation.

 

Chugach Mountains on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson

Architectural and Cultural Resource Survey

Archaeology crews outfitted with field computers and metal detectors walked across nearly 2,500 acres of JBER, searching for signs of the base's former uses. 

remediation on Attu Island

Administrative Records Management

AERC is scanning decades of documents into a public searchable database, facilitating access to information on Formerly Used Defense Sites across the Pacific. (Photo: Dena O'Dell, US Army Corps of Engineers, 熊猫在线视频 District)

  overhead of quonset huts at Fort Glenn

Mapping FUDS across 熊猫在线视频

AERC helped make digital maps of Formerly Used Defense Sites, a critical first step in environmental restoration for the US Army Corps of Engineers (Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 熊猫在线视频 District)

 

Cultural and Spoken Research

man on patio answering questions with a camera in foreground and hawaiian mountain in background

Oral Histories of Ka鈥檃la and Koke鈥檈

AERC interviewed Native Hawaiian members of the National Guard to record their experiences at Ka鈥檃la and Koke鈥檈 radar stations.

an overhead shot of Tripler Army Medical Center

Interpretive Displays and Signage

AERC installed historic displays at two century-old US Army sites on Oahu that continue to serve the Pacific region. (Photo: PO1 Daniel Barker, US Navy)