This book is an archaeological study of the cultures of conflict through an examination of caves and tunnels used during the Pacific War. Referred to here as “karst defenses,” WWII caves and tunnels can be found throughout the karst landscapes of the Pacific. Karst defenses have been hidden, literally by the jungle and figuratively by history, for over 70 years.

Based on a study of karst defenses and their related artifacts and oral histories in Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, this book uses karst defenses to investigate the varied human experiences before,...