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Swains Island expedition planned for next month

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Maritime Heritage Program and its partners will support a six-day heritage and archaeology expedition to  Swains Island from July 12 to 21, according to a Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary report to the Sanctuary Advisory Council.

The expedition's primary focus will be the search for artifacts that pre-date western contact which may indicate the important role of the island as a voyaging waypoint and Polynesian settlement and secondly to search for historic nineteenth century features and artifacts revealing the island's whaling contacts and copra activities.

“The survey combines the efforts of three related teams: a maritime archaeology team, a terrestrial archaeology team, and a cultural navigation team,” it says.