Archaeology of brutal encounter: heritage and bomb testing on B ikini A toll, R epublic of the M arshall I slands

Bikini Atoll, once a thriving Indigenous homeland, now bears the scars of 67 nuclear tests conducted between 1946 and 1958, including the world's first deliverable hydrogen bomb in 1954. These tests vaporized three islands, caused widespread radioactive fallout, and left profound landscape modifications, sunken ships, and infrastructure remains. While its 2010 UNESCO World Heritage listing (re)imagined Bikini as a global symbol of nuclear testing, it also subversively co-opts both local and global narratives, privileging the latter while obscuring the atoll's lost cultural heritage. This study highlights the tension between global recognition and local memory, arguing that the site's significance is mutually beneficial but complex.

Brown, S. (2013). Archaeology of brutal encounter: heritage and bomb testing on Bikini Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Archaeology in Oceania, 48(1), 26–39. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/arco.5000