We are leaving this page up for a while so newcomers
to the project can readily see the process by which we plan our work.
The Niku V expedition – our
eighth to Nikumaroro and our ninth to the Phoenix Group – will
focus on the two established archaeological sites which have yielded
artifacts believed to be associated with the Earhart disappearance – the
old village and the castaway’s campsite. This expedition will further
excavate, examine and expand those sites.
The Old Village
Our quest for airplane-related artifacts will focus on
the portion of the abandoned settlement at the atoll’s western end where we have found
aircraft debris on previous expeditions. We know that the Pacific islanders
who lived there from 1939 to 1963 cut up sheet aluminum and plexiglas salvaged
from aircraft wrecks for local use – primarily for making fishing
lures and decorative objects. Our previous archaeological excavations
in the village have produced left over scraps from that activity. The
aircraft artifacts found to date fall into three categories; components
from a WWII Consolidated B-24, components that do not fit any known WWII
type and appear to be consistent with Earhart’s Electra; scraps that are too small
or generic to attribute to any particular aircraft.
The B-24 parts appear to be explainable. No aircraft crashed
or was damaged at Nikumaroro during WWII or afterward. Kanton Island,
two hundred miles away, was the site of a large and active U.S. military
airfield during the war and at least one B-24 is known to have crashed
there. In the 1950s, Kanton (then spelled Canton) became an important
refueling stop for British and American trans-pacific commercial flights
and people from Nikumaroro were employed there. The B-24 parts were probably
imported to Nikumaroro in the post-war years by returning workers.
The aircraft parts that do not fit any known WWII type
and appear to be consistent with Earhart’s Electra are harder to explain unless they
did, in fact, come from Earhart’s airplane. There is a tradition
among the people who formerly lived on the island that there was aircraft
wreckage on the western reef when the first settlers arrived in 1939. The
larger pieces of wreckage are probably now in the very deep water off the
edge of the reef. Searching that environment is beyond the scope and financial
resources of this expedition, but our hope is that the village will yield
more aircraft debris that will be sufficiently identifiable to justify
the expense of a deep water search.
The Seven Site
Our search for human remains and/or personal effects will
be concentrated on the area near the atoll’s southeastern tip where the campsite
and partial skeleton of a castaway were found in 1940. Known to us as the “Seven
Site,” from a large natural bare spot in the vegetation in the shape
of a numeral seven, the location was confirmed by our 2001 expedition to
match the description of where the partial skeleton was found in 1940.
Only five teeth were present when the skull and mandible
were recovered in 1940, so it would seem that twenty-three teeth (not
counting four wisdom teeth which may or may not have been present) came
loose and fell out before the partial skeleton was discovered. Only thirteen
relatively large bones, of the three hundred fifty bones in the human
body, were found in 1940. The bones that were missing are believed to
have been carried off by giant Coconut Crabs (Birgus
latro). Some of
the missing bones and teeth may still survive and could, if recovered,
yield DNA for matching against Earhart’s
living relatives. Finding them among the dense tropical vegetation and
coral rubble will be a daunting task.
Special Investigations
In addition to the archaeological work, we’ll be carrying out three
special investigations during Niku V.
Taphonomy Study
The bones that were missing from the partial skeleton
found in 1940 were presumably carried off by giant coconut crabs (Birgus
latro). To conduct an efficient search for those bones, if they still
exist, we need to know where to look.
During the 2001 expedition, our forensic anthropologist,
Dr. Karen Burns, laid out a lamb shoulder on Nikumaroro and documented
its deterioration with twice-daily visits to the site. The entire subject – roughly
five pounds of flesh and bones – disappeared in the course of five
days. Coconut crabs were observed at the site on several occasions, as
well as numerous smaller strawberry land hermit crabs (Coenobita
perlatus).
What is not known, and is apparently unknown to the scientific community
at large, is exactly what coconut crabs do with bones when they carry them
away. Do they take them down into their burrows? Do they carry them for
some distance and then drop them? Do they consume them bit by bit? No one
knows.
Before our departure from Fiji, Dr. Burns will obtain
the bones of a pig. Our team physician, Dr. Robin Acker will help verify
that no pathogens are present, as we want to be very sure not to contaminate
the island environment. The bones will be frozen and transported to Nikumaroro
in a frozen state. Upon arrival, Drs. Burns and Acker will install metal
screws in the bones so that they can be found using a metal detector
and also attach long, brightly-colored “tails” to make the bones easier to find visually.
The bones will be laid out on Nikumaroro and the crabs
will, presumably, after some period of time, take them away. Cameras
set to take photos automatically at set intervals should give us information
about what bones are taken by which crabs. We’ll then try to relocate the bones to learn where
the crabs go with them and what they do with them. We’ll use that
information to design a search for any surviving castaway bones.
Reef/Tidal Survey
The Sokkia company, through Instrument Sales & Service of Wilmington,
DE, has equipped us with two SRX Robotic Total Station surveying systems.
In addition to documenting the archaeological work, we’ll be using
this very sophisticated surveying equipment to collect information about
the reef-flat where it appears the Electra was landed on July 2, 1937 and
subsequently washed over the reef edge. We’ll also be collecting
current tidal information to verify and/or correct our calculations of
tidal condition on the reef in 1937.
“Arrowhead” Investigation
A curious anomaly in a 1938 aerial photo of the island
might have been an attempt by the castaway(s) to signal any passing aircraft.
A bare spot in the vegetation nearly fifty feet across appears as an
unnaturally bright white arrowhead-shape a few hundred yards north of
the Seven Site. The feature is not a flaw in the photo and is not present
in later aerial photography, suggesting that it might be man-made, possibly
by bringing white beach sand or coral inland. We’ll locate the spot and see what is there
today. |