Archaeology society recognizes outstanding record of rock art research

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Terry Hunt, (808) 956-7310
Professor, Anthropology
Edward Stasack, (928) 778-4248
Emeritus Professor, Art
Posted: May 29, 2013

The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) has recognized Edward and Diane Stasack, a UH Mānoa emeritus professor and his wife, for their several decades of recording Hawaiian rock art and petroglyph sites in a "holistic fashion."

The Stasacks were recognized with the annual Crabtree Award, which is presented to an outstanding avocational archaeologist in remembrance of the singular contributions of Don Crabtree.  Nominees should have made significant contributions to advance the understanding of local, regional or national archaeology through excavation, research, publication, site or collections preservation, collaboration with the professional community, and/or public outreach.

The Stasacks were honored for their “meticulous recording of more than 80 Hawaiian rock art sites; for their more than 50 reports, publications, and presentations, with more coming every year; and for their commitment to the larger community and future generations.” (William F. Limp, President)

The nomination resulted when a member of the Society for Hawaiian Archaeology (SHA), who was also an elected member of the Crabtree Award Committee, petitioned SHA Board members for suggestions for the Crabtree Award.  The SHA Board proposed nominating the Stasacks for the award “given their outstanding record of rock art research in the archipelago.”

The nomination noted that the Stasacks' "avocational archaeology . . . has been truly exceptional and has moved the field of Hawaiian and Polynesian rock art forward in a number of ways, from a comparative typology point of view, from an interpretive point of view, as well as a methodological point of view.”

The Stasacks have resided in Prescott, Arizona, since 1993.  Although the greater body of their work was done on Hawaiian rock art, they have written rock art recording reports for a number of rock art sites in the Prescott area that are presently in the collection of the Sharlot Hall Museum.

Edward A. Stasack is an Emeritus Professor of Art at UH Manoa.  Diane S. Stasack has a PhD in Biomedical Sciences (Epidemiology/Biostatistics), and is an alumna of UH Manoa; worked at the Hawaiʻi Department of Health; and taught at the UH Mānoa School of Medicine.  The Stasacks began full time recording and research of Hawaiian rock art in 1993.

For more information, visit: http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/Department/Subfields/Archaeology/