Lesson shows human link to ocean

A paleoanthropologist who recently accompanied Hokule‘a crew members to a series of caves at Pinnacle Point in South Africa, one of which contains the earliest evidence of modern humans, spoke to students in Hawaii and New Zealand about his research via online live video chat from halfway around the world.

Peter Nilssen fielded questions in a Google Hangouts session Wednesday from students at Kailua Intermediate School, University of Hawaii Laboratory School and ‘Iolani School as well as Pt England School in New Zealand.

Nilssen described his research on Cave 13B, where he and his colleagues have discovered evidence of symbolic behavior by humans dating back more than 160,000 years.

Hosting the Google Hangout from Cape Town was Miki Tomita, a crew member of the Hokule‘a. The double-hulled Polynesian sailing vessel reached Cape Town on Nov. 14, the halfway point from Hawaii on Hokule‘a’s Malama Honua (“Care for the Earth”) worldwide voyage.

The most thrilling result at Cave 13B was determining that the sediment at the bottom of the cave was 162,000 years old, Nilssen said.

“We were expecting 100, 120,000,” Nilssen said. “That was by far the biggest ‘wow’ moment, was when we now pushed back 40,000 years. That’s a lot of time.”

Nilssen and his team used a technique called optically stimulated luminescence to estimate the date of sediments by measuring the time since the grains of sand were last exposed to sunlight.

Shellfish remains and ochre, an earthy reddish-orange pigment, in the cave suggest signs of dependency on the ocean and cognitive capacity and symbolic behavior by humans.

“We are fairly certain that the survival of these early, early people was very dependent on their relationship with the ocean,” Nilssen said in a prerecorded video segment of his visit to the cave.

During the live video educational session, seventh-grader Tevita Tongotea of Kailua Intermediate intently listened to Nilssen speak about his research while sitting in the first row of chairs fronting a large projector screen in the school’s library.

Although the online connection between Hawaii and South Africa was spotty at times, Tongotea said, “It was fun, interesting.” He was among a group of about 50 seventh- and eighth-graders who participated in the live video session. The event was especially important for seventh-graders who are currently learning about Hawaiian history and the Hokule‘a.

Kailua Intermediate teacher Shauna Hirota, who monitored the Google Hangout, said she believes it’s vital for students to learn at a young age about the message Hokule‘a is promoting. “The message of Malama Honua, just taking care of our responsibilities, caring for one another, being connected, those are all universal-like skills that the kids need.”

Students also gain a sense of pride with the success of Hokule‘a’s voyage.

Kailua Intermediate Principal Lisa DeLong said one of the reasons the school wanted students to participate in Wednesday’s event was so they would view themselves as global citizens. “We want them to understand they can have an impact on the world.”

Amid terrible tragedies around the world, Hokule‘a captain and master navigator Nainoa Thompson is trying to promote world peace, she added.