Almost perfectly round in shape and about 30 km (19 miles) across, the island is a stratovolcano that reaches an elevation of 1,770 metres (5,807 ft) at Mount Veve.
Led by Roger Green and Douglas Yen, the Southeast Solomon Islands Cultural History Programme (1970-1972) delved into archipelagic agricultural systems.
Despite this, the expanded Western Solomons' archaeological record enriches understanding, contributing to New Georgia's early European contact insights.
Pahu, Ghatere's oldest resident and main informant, traced his genealogy four generations back to Valaka, the Ingoana's founding ancestor.
The same three components constituted the traditional agricultural regime on Kolombangara, based on discussions with Ghatere elders and observations in the Ndughore valley.
Mapped in 1971, it had 91 individual pond fields, well-constructed stone retaining walls, and a hydrologically complex design utilizing water from the Ndughore River and a small tributary.
Cleared, mapped, and excavated, the site, described by informant Pahu, revealed four distinct features, including house foundations and earth ovens, shedding light on its structure and occupation period.
An ancestral shrine at the site contained human remains, shell valuables, and pottery sherds, highlighting defensive modifications and potential historical disturbances.
This distinctive New Georgia cultural system, predating European contact, intensified in the nineteenth century due to increased trade.
Andrew Cheyne's 1844 trading post on Simbo Island linked iron axe heads to ritualised headhunting, especially with the introduction of muskets.
Headhunting and the turtle shell trade intertwined in the late nineteenth century, contributing to ongoing feuds and retaliatory raids that depopulated many parts of the archipelago.
The economic base of the Ingoana people included swidden cultivation, arboriculture centred on canarium (nali nuts), and pond irrigation of taro.
Ancestral shrines in the Ndughore valley align with the broader pattern for New Georgia, conferring power in headhunting raids and participating in the regional shell exchange network.
While the archaeology of Kolombangara Island remains little known, the study of Ndughore Valley sites sheds light on settlement patterns, economic production systems, and external exchange relationships during the early European contact period.
The most famous and bloody battle was the mission to intercept the "Tokyo Express" supply convoy which resulted in the ramming and explosion of U.S. torpedo boat PT-109, manned by John F. Kennedy and his crew.
Australian coastwatcher, Sub Lieutenant Arthur Reginald Evans, who manned a secret observation post at the top of the island's Mount Veve volcano, spotted the explosion.
After decoding news that the explosion he had witnessed was probably from the lost PT-109 he dispatched Solomon Islanders Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana in a dugout canoe to look for possible survivors.
After destroyers succeeded in sinking the supply ships three nights later and isolating the garrison of 12,400 there, US forces were able to "leapfrog" Kolombangara to land on Vella Lavella to the west.
In January 1944 a detachment of 1 officer and 6 enlisted men from the 350th Engineer General Service Regiment stationed at Munda, established a vegetable farm on the abandoned Japanese airstrip at Vila.
With seeds acquired through the International Red Cross, many vegetables were sent back to the base hospital to supplement the dehydrated meals served the recuperating veterans.