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About Glenn
Professor Glenn Summerhayes served as Foundation Chair in Anthropology and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Otago from 2005 until his retirement in 2024. He holds a double major in history from the University of Sydney (1973–1976), an MA on aspects of Melanesian ceramics from the University of Sydney (1987), and a PhD on interaction in Pacific prehistory from La Trobe University (1996). His early career included roles as Curator of the Vanuatu collection at the Museum of Victoria, registrar for the Victorian Archaeological Survey, an ARC Fellowship at the Australian National University (1998), tenured research fellow there from 2001, and Head of the Department of Archaeology and Natural History (2004). He holds honorary professorships at the Australian National University and the University of Queensland, and served as honorary curator of the Otago Museum's Archaeology and Pacific collections.
Summerhayes' research centers on the prehistoric archaeology of Near Oceania, particularly Papua New Guinea, encompassing human colonization, Lapita dispersal and pottery production, obsidian exchange networks, and Pleistocene-Holocene adaptations. He conducted over 50 field seasons across sites in the Anir Islands, New Britain, Ivane Valley, New Ireland, south Papuan coast, Sepik, and Madang. Key contributions include defining Early, Middle, and Late Lapita phases through stylistic and chemical analyses, excavating early Lapita sites in the Bismarck Archipelago, and providing evidence for human occupation in highland New Guinea 49,000 to 44,000 years ago (Summerhayes et al., Science, 2010). His book Lapita Interaction (2000) remains foundational, alongside over 130 publications. He supervised 17 PhD students, 17 master's students, and 28 honours students. Awards include Officer of the Order of Logohu (Papua New Guinea, 2014), Medal of the Order of Australia (2021), Corresponding Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, Fellow of the Linnean Society, and Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute. A festschrift volume, Forty Years in the South Seas (2024), celebrates his career.
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