Biography
I am a Canadian who after moving to the UK, studied and trained as an archaeologist at the University of Southampton and later as a developer-funded trainee for Museum of London Archaeology. My field experience has been driven by my interest in maritime cultures getting involved in projects in Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast as a marine geoarchaeology assistant and diving excavator, and tidal estuaries in Cornwall as a surveyor. I have also enjoyed working as a library assistant, teaching assistant and academic skills advisor.
Research
My PhD is supervised by Dr. Elizabeth DeMarrais and Prof. Nicholas Thomas researching examples of maritime mimesis and hybridity in the historical period of encounter and increasing entanglement in Oceania. The project meets at the intersection of anthropology and maritime archaeology where my focus is on the figuration of Polynesian canoes and European ships.
Key Publications
Tonge,J. 2021. ‘Papa He’e Nalu: Two Surfboards from Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum’ Kaercher, K., et al. in New Frontiers in Archaeology: Proceedings of the Cambridge Annual Student Archaeology Conference 2019. Cambridge, UK
Tonge, J. 2022. ‘Reflections on a Wooden Hand-Mirror: A Historical Melanesian Object’ Diversity in Archaeology: Proceedings of the Cambridge Annual Student Archaeology Conference 2021. Cambridge, UK (forthcoming)
Other Professional Activities
CASA 5 Committee member
