Archive for September 9th, 2008
On Location: Fanning, an Island with a Necklace?
As we make our way southwards down the Line Island chain in the central Pacific Ocean, we spend time out on the deck of the Clipper Odyssey looking out beyond the horizon, surrounded only by deep blue sea. Occasionally seabirds cross our path or flying fish sail through the air as if pretending to be birds on wings.
And what of the mysterious necklace that Edmundo Edwards (pictured left), tried so desperately to find on Tabuaeran (Fanning) Island? (Please see my previous blog post) Edmundo, the renowned Pacific Islands archaeologist who resides on Easter Island, first visited Tabuaeran in 1995. It was on this visit to the isolated atoll in the Line Island chain that Edmundo made a remarkable discovery that he felt might provide a missing link to the ancient migrations throughout the Pacific.
A schoolteacher on the island had dug an outhouse for the new school on the island. He was surprised when his shovel uncovered a gravesite containing bones complete with skull and artifacts which included an intricately-carved whale-tooth necklace. The teacher had stored the items in a cardboard box. Upon learning that an archaeologist had arrived on Fanning Island the teacher asked Edmundo to look at the items. When Edmundo saw the unusual necklace he was thrilled because carvings of such quality would only have belonged to an individual of high rank. Similar necklaces have been found in Tonga so this necklace might help prove the theory that the earliest settlers on Tabuaeran came from there.
Now, several years after that first visit, Edmundo hoped to photograph the necklace once again. The teacher was no longer here but he was told that the necklace was still at the school. Armed with that hope, Edmundo assembled a volunteer team to make the one-hour journey across the island only to be told upon arrival that no one knew of its whereabouts. (Phones and communication on these islands are basically non-existent.)
The Clipper Odyssey was soon underway for our next destination—Christmas Island. We were no more than a few of miles off the coast of Tabuaeran when the Kiribati agent onboard said that just as we were leaving someone had told him that the necklace was hanging on the wall of one of the rooms of the small school…which meant that Edmundo had been no more than a few feet from his quest.
Many of the islands throughout the Pacific, no matter how isolated, have had inhabitants throughout its history. Because there is little, if any, research done on these islands who knows how many necklaces…or skulls…there are yet to be uncovered.
“Fair Winds,”
Shirley Metz
