Final Cultural Resources Survey in Support of an Environmental Impact Statement for Infrastructure Improvements at the Yap International Airport, Yap State, Federated States of Micronesia
Stolfer, Jason; Bierly, Scott (2025-11-24). Final Cultural Resources Survey in Support of an Environmental Impact Statement for Infrastructure Improvements at the Yap International Airport, Yap State, Federated States of Micronesia (PDF) (Report). Honolulu, HI: United States Department of Defense.
- Has attachment: File:UPV7CKEN.pdf
Abstract: The cultural resources surveys conducted for the Yap International Airport Improvement Project document a complex archaeological landscape surrounding the airport on the island of Yap, Federated States of Micronesia. The study area covers approximately 919 acres of upland terrain adjacent to the modern airport and road corridor leading toward Colonia and the island’s port. Field investigations carried out in 2024 and supplemented by a detailed in-fill survey in 2025 identified an extensive cultural landscape shaped by both Traditional Yapese practices and twentieth-century military activity. The surveys confirm that the interior hills surrounding the airport function historically as taliw, or inland mortuary zones associated with nearby villages, reflecting the traditional Yapese pattern in which habitation occurs near the coast while burial areas are located inland and upslope. Archaeologists documented five large mortuary complexes—Yabach, Fedoor, Lamer, Dakiy, and Fanqalily—containing hundreds of burial features, including earthen grave mounds, single- and multi-tier stone burial platforms (malang), ceremonial meeting platforms (wunbey), house foundations (dayif/daf), stone-paved pathways (kanaawa’), and terraced agricultural areas (mil’ay). These features represent the archaeological expression of Yapese social organization, lineage burial practices, and the integration of settlement, agriculture, and ritual landscapes. In addition to these Indigenous cultural resources, the survey recorded numerous historic remains associated with Japanese colonial administration and World War II, including prospecting tunnels and pits related to Japanese bauxite exploration in the late 1930s, defensive positions and anti-aircraft emplacements, aircraft wreckage, and numerous bomb craters created during U.S. air raids against the Japanese airfield on Yap in 1944. The combined surveys documented at least 167 traditional graves, several traditional structures, and dozens of wartime features, demonstrating that the airport area represents a multi-period cultural landscape where Indigenous heritage sites coexist with remnants of twentieth-century military activity.
