Janet Davidson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1941 (age 84–85) |
| Occupations | Archaeologist, museum curator |
| Academic background | |
| Education | University of Auckland |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Pacific archaeology |
| Institutions | Auckland Institute and Museum University of Otago |
Janet Marjorie Davidson ONZM (born 1941) is a New Zealand archaeologist who has carried out extensive field work in the Pacific Islands throughout Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia.
Career
Davidson carried out field work in the Society Islands at Moorea (1961–1962), Samoa (1964, 1965–1966), Tonga (1964) and Nukuoro (1965) in the Federated States of Micronesia as well as Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
In 1964, Davidson graduated with a Master of Arts degree in anthropology from the University of Auckland. She was the E. Earle Vaile archaeologist at the Auckland Institute and Museum from 1965[1] to 1980, when she moved to Dunedin to join her husband, Foss Leach,[2] and was appointed an honorary research associate in archaeology by the Auckland War Memorial Museum.[3] She was an honorary lecturer at the University of Otago and later held the position of senior curator, Pacific, at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
Davidson and Roger Green carried out archaeological field work in Samoa in the 1960s. They co-authored Archaeology in Western Samoa and laid the foundation for archaeology in Samoa. Part of Davidson's field work was studying settlement patterns in Samoa before 1840.[4] In 1969 Davidson participated in the Cook Bicentenary Expedition undertaking archaeological research at the Vava'u Group, Tonga.[5]
Davidson has published widely on the prehistory of New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. She edited the New Zealand Journal of Archaeology from 1985 to 2008.[6] She was also a major contributor to the Journal of the Polynesian Society.
Honours
In the 1996 Queen's Birthday Honours, Davidson was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to archaeology.[7]
The book Vastly Ingenious: The Archaeology of Pacific Material Culture – in honour of Janet M. Davidson was published in 2007. It presented essays of new research by leading international scholars with an introduction by Roger Green. Published by Otago University Press, the book was edited by three Pacific prehistorians: Atholl Anderson, Kaye C. Green, and Foss Leach.
In 2017, Davidson was selected as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's "150 women in 150 words", celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand.[8]
Works
- The Prehistory of New Zealand. Longman Paul. 1984.
References
- ^ "Contributors of articles in this issue". Journal of the Polynesian Society. 78 (1): 2. 1969. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
- ^ Bellwood, Peter (1986). "Peter Bellwood's review of Janet Davidson's The Prehistory of New Zealand". Pacific Studies. 9 (3): 182. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
- ^ "Auckland Museum News Number One" (PDF). Museum Quarterly. 1. Auckland: Auckland War Memorial Museum. March 1980. ISSN 0111-2252. Wikidata Q115749458.
- ^ Davidson, Janet M. (1969). "Settlement patterns in Samoa before 1840". Journal of the Polynesian Society. 78 (1): 44–82. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
- ^ Fraser, Ronald. "A Narrative of the Cook Bicentenary Expedition". The Royal Society of New Zealand bulletin. 8: 21–28. ISSN 1176-1865. Wikidata Q125502663.
- ^ New Zealand Journal of Archaeology Contents Index New Zealand Journal of Archaeology website
- ^ "Queen's Birthday honours list 1996". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 3 June 1996. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ^ "Janet Davidson". Royal Society Te Apārangi. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
