The Micronesian collections number nearly 16,000 specimens. Alexander Spoehr, Curator of Oceanic archaeology and ethnology between 1940 and 1952, performed fieldwork immediately after World War II in the Marshall Islands and Marianas Islands and collected both ethnological and archaeological material for the Museum. Roland W. Force, Curator of Oceanic archaeology and ethnology between 1956 and 1961 also collected ethnological and archaeological material for the Museum’s collections in the Caroline Islands, on the island of Palau. Fred M. Reinman, Curator of Oceanic archaeology and ethnology between 1964 and 1967, also conducted fieldwork in the Marianas Islands, on the island of Guam. The archaeological collections excavated by Spoehr and Reinman number over 14,000 specimens. The largest ethnographic collection represents the islands of Kiribati having been received from Otto Finsch, J.F.G. Umlauff, Irving Channon, and A.W.F. Fuller among others. Collections of over 500 items also represent the Micronesian Outliers of Wuvulu and Aua and of over 400 items represent the Federated States of Micronesia.
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Image above and collection thumbnail: Woven mat from the Marshall Islands collected by Irving Channon. Catalog Number 1029.91427. © The Field Museum, A351391427BTFront.
