Dr. Hsiao-chun Hung and Dr. Mike Carson have been awarded the 2014 Governor’s Humanities Award

The award, presented during a special dinner ceremony in Saipan on October 23, 2014, was given in recognition of the significant contributions by Dr. Hsiao-chun Hung and Dr. Mike Carson toward understanding the ancient culture of the Mariana Islands.

Drs. Hung and Carson have undertaken pioneering archaeological research at some of the oldest known sites in the Marianas. Last year, they successfully completed a CCKF research project, entitled “Archaeological Research of Austronesian Neolithic Origins and Relations at the House of Taga Site in Tinian, Mariana Islands (2011–2013)”. This project recovered evidence of some of the earliest settlements in the Mariana Islands and their origins, as well as the longest sea-crossing of its time undertaken 3,500 years ago from Taiwan via the Philippines to the Marianas. The results have been published in journal articles and a book, and have received widespread scholarly attention.

Drs. Hung and Carson are currently starting a new research effort, also funded by the CCKF, entitled “Neolithic Transition in Island Southeast Asia: Food-production by Austronesian Migrants on Their Way from Taiwan to the Pacific”. Scheduled to run from 2014 to 2016, this project will examine key drivers of ancient Austronesian migration, thereby attempting to decode the puzzle of one of the most remarkable ancient migrations in human history.