Author: Maximillian Jesiolowski
Maximillian Jesiolowski is a doctoral researcher at the IHIST.
DTU lecture and discussions in the Spatial Research Group with Pacific Island Archaeologist James Flexner
In the spring of 2025, I visited my home country of Australia for a research stay at the University of Sydney, where I worked with James Flexner, a specialist in colonial archaeology in Oceania and the Pacific Islands. On a recent visit to Europe, James dropped by the university in Belval for a few days to share his current work and discuss approaches to research with the Spatial Group of the DTU.
James’ work took him to Mangareva, a small group of islands in French Polynesia, where he investigated sites of Catholic missionary activity in the mid-19th century. These sites – churches, houses, schools – were built by missionaries, fundamentally changing the socio-political and physical landscapes of the islands, and were abandoned when missionaries left the islands. Gradually, exact knowledge of these sites faded away, but they were adapted and re-used by the Mangarevans, as were building techniques and missionary technologies. Research such as James’ contributes to the documentation and conservation of East Polynesian heritage and highlights the adaptability and resilience of local communities.
Although James’ research is highly specialised, that doesn’t stop the locals being involved in an admirable example of community-based archaeology. The excavations were aimed at bridging the gap between highly-trained foreign academics and local schoolchildren and created opportunities for local communities to learn more about the complex histories of their home.
James also engaged in a lengthy roundtable with members of the DTU’s Spatial Research Group, in which his insights on digital methodologies and ethical questions on colonial archaeology were shared and discussed.
This lecture was a great example of the potential of the DTU to share interesting research topics and unique methodological approaches. Not to mention it brought a taste of the tropical Mangareva Islands to us in early February in Luxembourg!