Anthropology at the University of Auckland

08/05/2026

With just a few days of Archaeology Week to go, we'd like to highlight one of our other working archaeologists here at UoA!

Associate Professor Rebecca Phillipps!

Bio - Rebecca Phillipps is an Associate Professor in Anthropology at the Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland. Rebecca’s research interests are in stone artefact analysis, archaeological theory, and human environment inter-relationships. She has directed fieldwork in Egypt and Aotearoa.

Fun-fact - Rebecca used to be a music teacher (guitar)

Recent research - Raw material economisation in Aotearoa New Zealand (https://doi.org/10.1002/arco.70008)

05/05/2026

We thought we might highlight some of our Archaeologists for NZ Archaeology week!

Starting with Associate Professor Ethan Cochrane!

Dr Cochrane completed his PhD at the University of Hawaii in 2004 examining ancient ceramics in Fiji and patterns of cultural transmission. After this, he was a lecturer at University College London for five years before coming to Auckland in 2012. He has also worked in cultural resource management (or Heritage sector) archaeology in Hawaii, Samoa, and Micronesia.

Fun fact: He's run four marathons

See this video to learn more about Dr Cochrane's work!:

The origins of hierarchical society in Sāmoa and wider Polynesia have likely been uncovered by a new study led by archaeologists at the University of Auckland.

03/05/2026

To launch archaeology week our student volunteers helped out at Auckland Museum's Archaeology Family Day!

01/05/2026

With NZ Archaeology Week just around the corner, there couldn't be better timing to celebrate UoA Archaeology's ranking as the University's joint highest subject in the QS World Rankings at 28.

The study of the human past through material remains, archaeology has placed in the top 30 globally six times since the subject was first ranked in 2016.

29/04/2026

A reminder that for our seminar tomorrow we will be hosting two PhD students confirmation presentations: please do come along!

Join us on April 30 from 3-4:30 pm in Building 206, Room 315.

The Life of European Classical Music and Its
Musicians in the 21st Century China
Presented by Elaine Qian

K-pop Fansin China: Everyday Negotiations of Patriotism
and Transnational Consumption
Presented by Yating Lan

24/04/2026

Thank you to Dr Alex McAuley for our April 23 Seminar "Rethinking Royal Space: Visibility, Gender and the Lived Environment of Seleucid Power"

Always love a Classics - Anthro crossover!

16/04/2026

Dante was well loved by colleagues and students in archaeology: he will be remembered and missed.

The highly revered Dante Bonica, of Māori Studies and Archaeology at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, passed away on 7 April 2026, aged 75.

Throughout his 50-year career, Dante became known as a tohunga and a pūkenga - a skilled expert, with an unparalleled wealth of knowledge.

He played an undeniable role in the revitalisation of both making and using toki kōhatu (stone adzes) and other stone tools.

He also dedicated his career to the extensive research and transmission of Māori material knowledges and technologies in fibre, stone, bone, wood and shell.

Beyond his career, Dante is remembered for treating everyone as a rangatira, with kindness and recognition of their individual mana.

He is also remembered for his uniquely bold cheekiness, thought provocation, and the love and wonder he emanated.

Ka pū te ruha, ka hao te rangatahi - when the old net is cast aside, the new net goes fishing.

Though Dante Bonica leaves behind many, particularly the tauira who had the privilege of learning from him, he has ensured that the knowledge and skills of tūpuna Māori are carried forward to future generations.

Read more: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026/04/16/honouring-dante-bonica.html

31/03/2026

Congratulations to Anthropology MA student Loisi Leger on receiving a 2026 Kupe Scholarship!

27/03/2026

Delighted to be sharing work from University of Auckland Anthropology PhD graduates Reno Nims (PSU) and Caitlin Smith (UoA) who recently published:

"Otolith Stable Isotopes and Māori Archaeology
Marine Paleoclimate Data for Northern Aotearoa New Zealand" recently published in Pacific Archaeology.

(co author Matthew Campbell)

Marine paleoclimate records for the last 1,000 years are scarce in the southwest Pacific, limiting our understanding of complex environmental changes that may have affected Māori seascapes and fisheries. We seek to begin filling this knowledge gap by studying stable oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C...

26/03/2026

Thanks to everyone who came out on a very wet and windy evening to hear Prof. Thegn Ladefoged talk about his ongoing work in Vanuatu!