Niku V (2007) - Revision history

Thrasher: Corrected link.

2011-01-20T17:39:13Z

Corrected link.

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:39, 20 January 2011
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	[[Image:NikuV.gif\|thumb\|250px\|Itinerary for Niku V.]][[Image:Niku-v-team.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|Click on the image for a complete caption.]]		[[Image:NikuV.gif\|thumb\|250px\|Itinerary for Niku V.]][[Image:Niku-v-team.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|Click on the image for a complete caption.]]
	'''The 70th Anniversary Expedition'''		'''The 70th Anniversary Expedition'''
	* [http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Expeditions/NikuV/NikuV.html Niku V reports on main website.]		* [http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Archives/Expeditions/NikuV/NikuV.html Niku V reports on main website.]

	== Introduction ==		== Introduction ==

Moleski: /* Team Members */

2010-12-12T17:04:31Z

Team Members

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:04, 12 December 2010
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	<!-- Please leave this category marker at the bottom. You may add this article to other categories if you wish -->		<!-- Please leave this category marker at the bottom. You may add this article to other categories if you wish -->
	[[Category:Expeditions\|Niku 2007]]		[[Category:Expeditions\|Niku 2007]]
			[[Category:Archaeology of Nikumaroro]]

Moleski: /* Team Members */

2010-06-12T22:02:37Z

Team Members

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:02, 12 June 2010
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	<!-- Please leave this category marker at the bottom. You may add this article to other categories if you wish -->		<!-- Please leave this category marker at the bottom. You may add this article to other categories if you wish -->
	[[Category:Expeditions]]		[[Category:Expeditions\|Niku 2007]]

McKenna: /* Team Members */

2009-10-28T02:43:28Z

Team Members

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:43, 28 October 2009
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	* [[Tom King]]		* [[Tom King]]
	* Dave Mason		* Dave Mason
	* Andrew McKenna		* [[Andrew McKenna]]
	* Barb Norris		* Barb Norris
	* Gary Quigg		* Gary Quigg

Moleski: /* Team Members */

2009-10-17T18:22:15Z

Team Members

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 == Team Members ==
 <!-- Please leave this category marker at the bottom.  You may add this article to other categories if you wish -->
 [[Category:Expeditions]]

Moleski at 17:49, 17 October 2009

2009-10-17T17:49:52Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:49, 17 October 2009
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	* [http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Expeditions/NikuV/NikuV.html Niku V reports on main website.]		* [http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Expeditions/NikuV/NikuV.html Niku V reports on main website.]

			== Introduction ==
	[[TIGHAR]] returned to [[Nikumaroro]] in July 2007 to perform three major tasks.		[[TIGHAR]] returned to [[Nikumaroro]] in July 2007 to perform three major tasks.

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	In addition, our physical anthropologist, [[Kar Burns]], with the assistance of [[Dr. Robin Aker]] and videographer [[Mark Smith]], carried out a taphonomic experiment – putting out the remains of a pig and seeing how fast and in what directions the coconut crabs and strawberry hermit crabs took its parts away. And biologist/forester [[Josh Gillespie]] identified key tree species to allow construction of a general vegetation map.		In addition, our physical anthropologist, [[Kar Burns]], with the assistance of [[Dr. Robin Aker]] and videographer [[Mark Smith]], carried out a taphonomic experiment – putting out the remains of a pig and seeing how fast and in what directions the coconut crabs and strawberry hermit crabs took its parts away. And biologist/forester [[Josh Gillespie]] identified key tree species to allow construction of a general vegetation map.

	We flew to Nadi in Fiji on July 14th, and from the nearby port of Lautoka embarked on our favorite motor-sailor the ''[[Nai’a]]'' for the five-day trip to [[Niku]]. We were 16 in all – the basic TIGHAR team, Mark Smith as videographer, and the representative of the government of [[Kiribati]]. The trip was uneventful but for various cases of seasickness; the weather was good but the swells were high. We landed as usual in the ship’s inflatables, going ashore every morning and returning to the ship in the evening. [[Gary Quigg]] took charge of work in [[village\|the village]], [[Tom King]] oversaw the [[Seven Site]] project. [[Ric]] and [[Josh Gillespie]] were primarily in command of the reef mapping, while Lonnie Schorer and John Craib documented both the reef and the Seven Site (along with much of the lagoon) using [[Kite Aerial Photography]] (KAP). Several members of the ship’s crew helped tremendously at both the village and the Seven Site.		We flew to Nadi in Fiji on July 14th, and from the nearby port of Lautoka embarked on our favorite motor-sailor the ''[[Nai’a]]'' for the five-day trip to [[Niku]]. We were 16 in all – the basic TIGHAR team, Mark Smith as videographer, and the representative of the government of [[Kiribati]]. The trip was uneventful but for various cases of seasickness; the weather was good but the swells were high. We landed as usual in the ship’s inflatables, going ashore every morning and returning to the ship in the evening. [[Gary Quigg]] took charge of work in [[village\|the village]], [[Tom King]] oversaw the [[Seven Site]] project. [[Ric]] and [[Josh Gillespie]] were primarily in command of the reef mapping, while Lonnie Schorer and John Craib documented both the reef and the Seven Site (along with much of the lagoon) using [[Kite Aerial Photography]] (KAP). Several members of the ship’s crew helped tremendously at both [[the village]] and [[the Seven Site]].

			== In the Village ==

	The village work involved clearing largish areas of coconut deadfall, metal detecting, mapping and excavating 1x1 meter test units. Suffice it to say that [[Gary Quigg\|Gary Quigg’s]] crew were able to define and pretty definitively survey the carpenter’s shop and the vicinity of the wireless shack, together with the debris fields created downwind when the two structures blew away during storms in 1990 and thereafter. They collected a number of bronze bushing sleeves and other parts that might have been salvaged from an airplane, though analysis as of early 2009 indicates that the bushing sleeves at least were not. Analysis is continuing on this material.		The village work involved clearing largish areas of coconut deadfall, metal detecting, mapping and excavating 1x1 meter test units. Suffice it to say that [[Gary Quigg\|Gary Quigg’s]] crew were able to define and pretty definitively survey the carpenter’s shop and the vicinity of the wireless shack, together with the debris fields created downwind when the two structures blew away during storms in 1990 and thereafter. They collected a number of bronze bushing sleeves and other parts that might have been salvaged from an airplane, though analysis as of early 2009 indicates that the bushing sleeves at least were not. Analysis is continuing on this material.

			== At the Seven Site ==

	At the [[Seven Site]], it was first necessary to clear a great deal of [[scaevola]] in a way that would not unduly disturb the site surface. We accomplished this using long-handled pneumatic loppers powered by dive tanks; they worked remarkably well, and allowed a large area to be cleared. We then undertook a variety of excavations, metal detecting, and surface scanning for teeth and bones using a solar-powered daylight ultraviolet scanner designed by team member [[John Clauss]]. We used [[KAP]] to help document the site in its environment, and employed a robotic total station to update and correct the site map prepared in 2001. The UV scanner worked but revealed no human teeth or bones. The total station strained our technological competence but gave us what we needed, and the KAP worked very well, as did our state-of-the-art PVC sifting screens. We excavated several fire features that we hope will help us determine what sort of person was camping at the site; they produced a good deal of fish, bird, and turtle bone for dietary analysis. Artifact discoveries included a [[zipper]], a [[snap]] perhaps from an article of clothing, [[pocket knife\|part of a small pocket knife]], a piece of [[compact\|beveled glass that may be from a small mirror]], and [[rouge\|pieces of what seems to be rouge]] – that aren’t easily associated with use of the site by Gilbertese colonists and U.S. Coast Guardsmen, the two groups known to have been there at various times. One of the fire features, too, contained the broken and mostly melted [[remains of two bottles]], both standing upright and possibly used in an attempt at water purification by whoever was camping there.		At the [[Seven Site]], it was first necessary to clear a great deal of [[scaevola]] in a way that would not unduly disturb the site surface. We accomplished this using long-handled pneumatic loppers powered by dive tanks; they worked remarkably well, and allowed a large area to be cleared. We then undertook a variety of excavations, metal detecting, and surface scanning for teeth and bones using a solar-powered daylight ultraviolet scanner designed by team member [[John Clauss]]. We used [[KAP]] to help document the site in its environment, and employed a robotic total station to update and correct the site map prepared in 2001. The UV scanner worked but revealed no human teeth or bones. The total station strained our technological competence but gave us what we needed, and the KAP worked very well, as did our state-of-the-art PVC sifting screens. We excavated several fire features that we hope will help us determine what sort of person was camping at the site; they produced a good deal of fish, bird, and turtle bone for dietary analysis. Artifact discoveries included a [[zipper]], a [[snap]] perhaps from an article of clothing, [[pocket knife\|part of a small pocket knife]], a piece of [[compact\|beveled glass that may be from a small mirror]], and [[rouge\|pieces of what seems to be rouge]] – that aren’t easily associated with use of the site by Gilbertese colonists and U.S. Coast Guardsmen, the two groups known to have been there at various times. One of the fire features, too, contained the broken and mostly melted [[remains of two bottles]], both standing upright and possibly used in an attempt at water purification by whoever was camping there.

			== Taphonomy ==

	The [[taphonomy experiment]] involved laying out the partial carcass of a pig with titanium screws driven into each of its major bones and long colored streamers attached to facilitate tracking, and rigging two cameras in nearby trees for time-lapse photography. The results are gruesome, but certainly demonstrate that the [[crabs of Nikumaroro]] on the one hand make pretty short work of a dead body, and on the other hand leave bones alone when they became relatively dry.		The [[taphonomy experiment]] involved laying out the partial carcass of a pig with titanium screws driven into each of its major bones and long colored streamers attached to facilitate tracking, and rigging two cameras in nearby trees for time-lapse photography. The results are gruesome, but certainly demonstrate that the [[crabs of Nikumaroro]] on the one hand make pretty short work of a dead body, and on the other hand leave bones alone when they became relatively dry.

	The reef mapping, supplemented by KAP, went well and showed that the reef at [[Nutiran]] is somewhat higher than the tidal base station at the [[Ritiati landing channel]]. This has permitted adjustments to be made in calculations as to the feasibility of landing on the reef at the time when Earhart would likely have arrived, and as to the circumstances under which rising tide would likely have displaced the plane several days later.		== Reef Mapping and KAP ==

			The reef mapping, supplemented by [[Kite Aerial Photography]] (KAP), went well and showed that the reef at [[Nutiran]] is somewhat higher than the tidal base station at the [[Ritiati landing channel]]. This has permitted adjustments to be made in calculations as to the feasibility of landing on the reef at the time when Earhart would likely have arrived, and as to the circumstances under which rising tide would likely have displaced the plane several days later.

	== Team Members ==		== Team Members ==

Moleski at 17:27, 17 October 2009

2009-10-17T17:27:12Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:27, 17 October 2009
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	[[Image:NikuV.gif\|thumb\|250px\|Itinerary for Niku V.]][[Image:Niku-v-team.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|Click on the image for a complete caption.]]		[[Image:NikuV.gif\|thumb\|250px\|Itinerary for Niku V.]][[Image:Niku-v-team.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|Click on the image for a complete caption.]]
			'''The 70th Anniversary Expedition'''
			* [http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Expeditions/NikuV/NikuV.html Niku V reports on main website.]

	[[TIGHAR]] returned to [[Nikumaroro]] in July 2007 to perform three major tasks.		[[TIGHAR]] returned to [[Nikumaroro]] in July 2007 to perform three major tasks.

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	The reef mapping, supplemented by KAP, went well and showed that the reef at [[Nutiran]] is somewhat higher than the tidal base station at the [[Ritiati landing channel]]. This has permitted adjustments to be made in calculations as to the feasibility of landing on the reef at the time when Earhart would likely have arrived, and as to the circumstances under which rising tide would likely have displaced the plane several days later.		The reef mapping, supplemented by KAP, went well and showed that the reef at [[Nutiran]] is somewhat higher than the tidal base station at the [[Ritiati landing channel]]. This has permitted adjustments to be made in calculations as to the feasibility of landing on the reef at the time when Earhart would likely have arrived, and as to the circumstances under which rising tide would likely have displaced the plane several days later.

	== ~~Links~~ ==		== Team Members ==
	* [http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Expeditions/NikuV/NikuV.html Report on main website.]

	<!-- Please leave this category marker at the bottom. You may add this article to other categories if you wish -->		<!-- Please leave this category marker at the bottom. You may add this article to other categories if you wish -->
	[[Category:Expeditions]]		[[Category:Expeditions]]

Moleski at 17:24, 17 October 2009

2009-10-17T17:24:31Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:24, 17 October 2009
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	[[Image:NikuV.gif\|thumb\|250px]][[Image:Niku-v-team.jpg\|thumb\|250px]]		[[Image:NikuV.gif\|thumb\|250px\|Itinerary for Niku V.]][[Image:Niku-v-team.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|Click on the image for a complete caption.]]
	[[TIGHAR]] returned to [[Nikumaroro]] in July 2007 to perform three major tasks.		[[TIGHAR]] returned to [[Nikumaroro]] in July 2007 to perform three major tasks.

Moleski at 16:59, 14 October 2009

2009-10-14T16:59:08Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:59, 14 October 2009
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	== Links ==		== Links ==
	* [http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Expeditions/NikuV/NikuV.html Report on main website.]		* [http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Expeditions/NikuV/NikuV.html Report on main website.]

			<!-- Please leave this category marker at the bottom. You may add this article to other categories if you wish -->
			[[Category:Expeditions]]

Moleski at 04:34, 14 October 2009

2009-10-14T04:34:07Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:34, 14 October 2009
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	[[Image:NikuV.gif\|thumb\|250px]]		[[Image:NikuV.gif\|thumb\|250px]][[Image:Niku-v-team.jpg\|thumb\|250px]]
	[[TIGHAR]] returned to [[Nikumaroro]] in July 2007 to perform three major tasks.		[[TIGHAR]] returned to [[Nikumaroro]] in July 2007 to perform three major tasks.