Archaeology Magazine - July 1977 - 20

the Pacific. The implements were attached to
wooden handles and used primarily for shaping
wooden objects like canoes, houseposts and
images placed on religious monuments.
Stone adzes of a distinctive elbow shape and
quadrangular cross-section have been found in
habitation sites on every major island in Hawaii.
For many years, archaeologists have studied adzes
of all forms with the aim of establishing
temporal changes and the historical relationships
between Hawaiian types and those from other
island groups in the Pacific. Similar attention has
been given to the forms of other implements,
like shell and bone fishhooks. While typological
studies continue and can be expected to provide
useful information about prehistoric human
settlement and migration in the Pacific island
groups, the aims of the Mauna Kea adze quarry
project are quite different. The survey,
excavations and analysis of the quarry
undertaken by the Bishop Museum represent the
first large scale example of a new direction in
Pacific archaeology - the technological study of
an important class of stone tools. Instead of
concentrating on the question of the origin of
the adze type, this new research is collecting
information about the process of obtaining the
raw material and of the manufacture. What
kinds of technical knowledge did the prehistoric
Hawaiians need to make these tools? What sort
of advance planning was required for sustained
visits to the quarry? And how did the methods of
working stone reflected at Mauna Kea resemble
or differ from those used in other parts of the
world? In short, we wanted to begin to
understand more about the human behavior
behind the manufacture of this one type of tool.

The authors had been interested in
understanding such processes and the Mauna
Kea adze quarry seemed to be an ideal place to
answer these questions. Other adze quarries are
known elsewhere in Hawaii, notably on Oahu,
Kauai, Kahoolawe, and west Molokai, but the
Mauna Kea quarry is the largest and best
preserved in the islands, and in the entire Pacific
region. The Mauna Kea quarry is mentioned
briefly in a 1902 account of Hawaiian stone
implements by William T. Brigham, a former
director of the Bishop Museum , and was
assigned the name Keanakakoi, or "Cave of the
Adze," by a nineteenth-century expedition. The
236

quarry is made up of a number of different sites
giving evidence of a wide range of activities.
Compared with large prehistoric quarry
workshops in other parts of the world, it reflects
an unusual degree of internal complexity. Thus,
we expected to obtain good information here on
manufacturing and core reduction techniques
and on the relationships between manufacturing
and other activities.
In order to collect significant amounts of
lithic raw material the ancient Hawaiians had to
deal with some unusual problems, and the
different areas at the quarry reflect some of their
solutions. First, of course, they had to get to the
quarry. Most of the complex, which extends over
an area of about seven-and-a-half square miles
and is at least twenty miles from the nearest
prehistoric settlement, lies at an elevation
between 11,000 and 12,400 feet. Several well
preserved trails of ancient origin go up the
mountain and at least one passes through the
quarry. Although ascent to the quarry presented
no technical difficulties the climb did require
considerable stamina.
Other problems were presented by the need
for water, fuel and food. The climate of the
upper mountain is so dry and cold that it has
been described as a stony alpine desert. No
perennial streams appear above 4,500 feet.
Fortunately, however, Lake Waiau, at 13,020
feet- just above the quarry complex - provides
fresh water within walking distance of the
quarry. Mauna Kea has a definite treeline, and
the dominant mid-elevation species of tree
(.Sophora ckrysophylla, or Marnane in Hawaiian)
extends, only in isolated cases, as high as the
lower parts of the complex. Therefore, much of
the necessary firewood had to be carried some
distance up the mountain, and prepared foods
had to be transported all the way from its base.
In addition to the bulk of their food, the Hawaiians
had to carry warm clothing, sleeping mats and
containers for collecting water. Clearly, any
prehistoric expedition to the adze quarry must
have involved a carefully planned visit of at least
two or more weeks during the relatively short
summer, when the area was not covered with
snow.
The constant danger of sudden storms
required some form of shelter for both
overnight and daytime use. A number of natural
overhangs in the quarry served this purpose.
Even on clear, sunny days, some protection from
the wind is advisable, so less substantial walled
Archaeology Magazine - July 1977

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - July 1977
