Clues to the Origins of Inequality

Associate Professor Ethan Cochrane led a team that discovered ancient rock walls and high mounds in dense jungle in the Falefa Valley on ʻUpolu Island in Sāmoa.   Combining archaeology, genetic study and environmental science, their research makes new connections between a dramatic population rise in Sāmoa about a thousand years ago, and the rise of chiefly system. Click here to read more about their research: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2024/06/21/rare-samoan-discovery-offers-clues-to-the-origins-of-inequality.html