UH Hilo Center for Maunakea Stewardship - Research Library

The Mauna Kea Adz quarry complex, Hawaii: a first analysis

Author:
McCoy, Patrick C.
Title:
The Mauna Kea Adz quarry complex, Hawaii: a first analysis
Periodical:
Proceedings, First Conference in Natural Sciences, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Year:
1976
Pages:
135-142
Subject:
Archaeological surveying Mauna Kea Mauna Kea antiquities Mauna Kea Adze Quarry
Summary:
Distributed over an area of roughly 74 square miles, at the 8,600 to 12,400 ft. elevation on a landscape that today can be described as an alpine stony desert, the Mauna Kea Adz Quarry Complex is the largest known adz-making locality in Polynesia. The quarries assume further significance in their remoteness from coastal settlements and the inferred organization and preparatory arrangements needed to undertake work at high altitude. Results of fieldwork conducted in the summers of 1975-76 at the Mauna Kea Adz Quarry Complex are described in relation to a set of primary objectives aimed at developing a technological model of Hawaiian adz manufacture. Sites are defined in terms of constellations of activity areas, using topography to delimit boundaries. The site distribution pattern is examined in terms of bedrock exposures of a single basalt flow and downslope glacial outwash deposits. Lithic, vegetal, and faunal remains from two stratified rock-shelters are briefly discussed in a temporal context of short term, intermittent adz production.
URL:
http://hdl.handle.net/10125/18277
Collection:
Monographs