Janet Marjorie Davidson (born 1941) is a New Zealand archaeologist who has carried out extensive field work in the

Pacific Islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...

throughout

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...

and

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanu ...

Career

Davidson carried out field work in the Society Islands at Moorea (1961–1962),

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

(1964, 1965–1966),

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

(1964) and

Nukuoro Nukuoro is an atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia. It is a municipality of the state of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia. It is the secondmost southern atoll of the country, after Kapingamarangi. They both are Polynesian outli ...

(1965) in the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (, abbreviated FSM), or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Micronesia, a region of Oceania. The federation encompasses the majority of the Caroline Islands (excluding Palau) and consists of four Admin ...

as well as

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

and the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

. In 1964, Davidson graduated with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree in anthropology from the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

. In 1965, she was the E. Earle Vaile archaeologist at the Auckland Institute and Museum,Journal of the Polynesian Society: [Front Matter] And Notes And News, P I-ii, 1-2
Journal of the Polynesian Society, Vol. 78 No.1 MARCH 1969, edited by Mervyn McLean. Retrieved 1 November 2009. a position she held until 1980 when she moved to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

, and was appointed an honorary research associate in archaeology by the

Auckland War Memorial Museum The Auckland War Memorial Museum (), also known as Auckland Museum, is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building constructed in the 1920s and 1950s, stands on Observatory ...

. She was an honorary lecturer at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

and later held the position of senior curator, Pacific, at the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa ( Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand ...

. Davidson and

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

carried out archaeological field work in

in the 1960s. They co-authored ''Archaeology in Western Samoa'' and laid the foundation for

archaeology in Samoa Archaeology of Samoa began with the first systematic survey of archaeological remains on Savai'i island by Jack Golson in 1957.Journal of the Polynesian Society: Settlement Patterns In Samoa Before 1840, By Janet M. Davidson, P 44 - 82
Journal of the Polynesian Society, 1969 Vol. 78, No. 1. Retrieved 1 November 2009. In 1969 Davidson participated in the Cook Bicentenary Expedition undertaking archaeological research at the Vava'u Group, Tonga. 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.New Zealand Journal of Archaeology Contents Index
New Zealand Journal of Archaeology website She was also a major contributor to the ''

Journal of the Polynesian Society The Polynesian Society is a non-profit organisation based at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, dedicated to the scholarly study of the history, ethnography and mythology of Oceania. History The society was co-founded in 1892 by Percy S ...

''.

Honours

In the

1996 Queen's Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in suppl ...

, Davidson was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

, for services to archaeology. In 2007, the archaeology publication ''Vastly Ingenious'' was published in her honour. Titled ''Vastly Ingenious:The Archaeology of Pacific Material Culture - in honour of Janet M. Davidson'', the book presented essays of new research by leading international scholars with an introduction by Davidson's colleague Roger Curtis Green. Published by

Otago University Press Otago University Press is an academic publisher associated with the University of Otago. The press is located in Dunedin, New Zealand. The Otago University Press is the oldest academic publisher in New Zealand. The Otago University Press publis ...

, the book was edited by three Pacific prehistorians:

Atholl Anderson Atholl John Anderson (born 1943) is a New Zealand archaeologist who has worked extensively in New Zealand and the Pacific. His work is notable for its syntheses of history, biology, ethnography and archaeological evidence. He made a major contr ...

, Kaye C. Green, and Foss Leach.

''Janet’s career combined active and often pioneering fieldwork across the Pacific with an imaginative approach to museum research and display that attracted young scholars'', explains contributor Roger Green; ''she kept material culture in the public eye.''

In 2017, Davidson was selected as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's "

150 women in 150 words The "150 women in 150 words" project was undertaken by the Royal Society Te Apārangi and published during their 150th anniversary celebrations in 2017. The aim of the project was "celebrating women's contributions to expanding knowledge in New Z ...

", celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand.

Career

Honours

See also