Creative Problem-Solving for Unconventional Conditions: Archaeological Recovery of a WWII Aircraft Crash Site, Ko’olau Mountain Range, Island of O’ahu, State of Hawaii, U.S.A.

Summary

This is an abstract from the "A Multidimensional Mission: Crossing Conflicts, Synthesizing Sites, and Adapting Approaches to Find Missing Personnel" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Conventional archaeological sites, with their relatively level topography and wide-open spaces to accommodate excavations, are not typically encountered by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) Archaeologist. The majority of sites encountered by DPAA field scientists are better defined as unconventional, due to the extreme climatic conditions, steep terrain, as well as the often austere and remoteness of location. During the summer of 2016, recovery operations occurred at one such unconventional site: a WWII aircraft crash nestled high in Ko’olau Mountain Range, Island of O’ahu, State of Hawaii. This crash site is but one of the many examples of unconventional archaeological sites that are common to DPAA field activities. Extreme conditions experienced during this recovery include steep slopes, active waterways, extreme weather, helicopter support coordination, excavated soil management and processing challenges, all of which were performed in accordance with strict environmental protection requirements. Challenging sites such as this require DPAA field scientists to creatively problem-solve, relying upon strong applied archaeological method. This recovery operation illustrates the delicate balance achieved by DPAA field scientists in their pursuit of potential evidence at sites that do not meet the norm, while maintaining the high-scientific standard expected by the Agency.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• A Multidimensional Mission: Crossing Conflicts, Synthesizing Sites, and Adapting Approaches to Find Missing Personnel

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24826