Draft report Archaeological inventory survey of Lake Waiau, Mauna Kea ice age natural area reserve, Kaohe, Hamakua, Island of Hawaii, TMK: (3)4-4-015:09

Author:

McCoy, Patrick C., Nees, Richard, Pacific Consulting Services, Inc.

Title:

Draft report Archaeological inventory survey of Lake Waiau, Mauna Kea ice age natural area reserve, Kaohe, Hamakua, Island of Hawaii, TMK: (3)4-4-015:09

Periodical:

Mauna Kea Plans

Year:

2008

Subject:

Archaeological surveying Mauna Kea Lake Waiau

Summary:

An archaeological inventory survey of Lake Waiau, located at the 13,020 ft elevation in the Mauna Kea Ice Age Natural Area Reserve, was undertaken over a 6-day period in July 2007. The survey followed on earlier archaeological reconnaissance surveys in 1976, 1984, and 1997 that had identified a number of features in the immediate environs of the lake. A total of 21 sites comprised of 99 features were found in the survey area which covered roughly 43 acres. The features include possible burials; cairns that may have functioned as survey markers, boundary markers or trail markers; shrines and possible shrines; one trail segment; petroglyphs; lithic scatters related to adze manufacture; a cemented stone pedestal for survey equipment from an 1892 expedition; an historic dump and stone markers or memorials, including the remnants of a memorial plaque to a local cowboy. A number of features that had never been seen before because they are normally covered by water were found in the lakebed which was at a low stand in 2007. Most of these features, which are morphologically similar to previously identified structural remains on the rims of a number of cinder cones in the Mauna Kea summit region, are interpreted as possible burials. If the remains are in fact burials, it indicates a much more diverse set of mortuary practices than what was previously known at the lake. It mirrors the on-going cultural practice of placing umbilical cords (piko) in the lake and on the land. The lithic scatters, which consist of primarily flakes but in one area also include an adze preform and a hammerstone, confirm a long suspected use of the lake by Hawaiian adze makers working in the Mauna Kea Adze Quarry Complex as not only as a probable source of freshwater but for other activities as well. While none of the 21 sites have been dated, the presence of adze manufacturing by- products suggests that the cultural chronology of Lake Waiau began sometime in the pre-contact era. Continuity in the use of the lake from pre-contact times to the present is evidenced in the remains left by early scientific expeditions, modern altars (lele) and less formal rock piles. Remains that are either modern or cannot be classified with any level of confidence as historic sites because of their uncertain age, such as many of the rock piles, were recorded as “find spots,” following a practice begun by the State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) during a reconnaissance survey of selected areas of the Mauna Kea Science Reserve in 1997. A total of 63 find spots were recorded in the project area. Following the 2007 survey there is new evidence that the summit region of Mauna Kea was comprised of several different places, each with its own defining characteristics but also exhibiting inter-connections. The development of Lake Waiau as a place in the summit region is briefly examined from an historical perspective. Lake Waiau was deemed a Traditional Cultural Property (TCP) by SHPD in 1999. A draft historic preservation plan (HPP) prepared at the same time by SHPD for the lands managed by the University of Hawaii on Mauna Kea proposed the recognition of what was called the Mauna Kea Summit Region Historic District. The district, later determined eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, includes Lake Waiau. The 21 historic properties identified in the 2007 survey of the lake are contributing properties to the district and significant under multiple criteria. All of the sites at Lake Waiau and elsewhere in the NAR are in preservation and will continue to be managed by the Natural Area Reserves System. Additional fieldwork is planned in 2008-2009 to complete an archaeological inventory survey of the NAR. The completed survey will form the basis for preparing a cultural resource management plan. In the interim, recommendations are made to develop protocols for cultural practices to maintain the sanctity of the lake, and to conduct test excavations of a large overhang that may contain buried cultural deposits.

Date:

December 2008

Collection:

EIS