A giant in the field of Polynesian archaeology — born and raised in Mānoa, educated at Yale University, taught for three decades at the University of California, Berkeley — has returned home to pass on his knowledge of Hawaiʻi’s rich past to future generations.
Patrick V. Kirch joined the College of Social Sciences as an anthropology professor in fall 2019.
“My goals at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and for the islands, are to push the boundaries of research in Hawaiian and Polynesian archaeology, build programs that create rich learning opportunities for our students, and to work with local communities to preserve archaeological sites and promote cultural heritage,” he said.
Students of Kirch, who led a class in Hawaiian archaeology last fall, may be unaware of his eminence as a scholar, researcher and storyteller. The author of about 20 books and hundreds of scholarly articles, Kirch was elected to membership of the highly regarded National Academy of Sciences (1990) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1992).
Kirch’s latest book, Heiau, ʻĀina, Lani: The Hawaiian Temple System in Ancient Kahikinui and Kaupō, Maui, chronicles a 17-year research odyssey as he, his students and research associates rediscovered the remains of more than 70 temples (heiau) in Kahikinui and Kaupō in southeast Maui, one of the largest tracts of undeveloped land in the islands. The research has shown that the heiau were not only places of ritual and prayer, but also locations for astronomical observation, essential to maintaining the traditional Hawaiian calendar.
