A05_P03
Dating of the Kawela Mound, one of the earliest habitation sites in the Hawaiian Islands
Weisler M1,2, Hua Q 3, Rogers A4, Collins S5, Mendes W6
1School of Social Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia, 2Archaeology Programme, School of Social Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, 3Australian Nuclear Science And Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, Australia, 4ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Monash Indigenous Studies Centre, Monash University, Clayton, Australia, 5Pacific Consulting Services, Honolulu, USA, 6P.O. Box 144 , Ho‘olehua, , USA
Chronometric dating of colonisation period sites is arguably amongst the most contentious issues in island and coastal archaeology worldwide, and it is certainly true for Polynesia. The human colonisation of East Polynesia has garnered most attention in Oceania as the earliest sites anchor foundational discussions of the timing, speed, and direction of colonisation of the last region settled on Earth. Recent reviews have critiqued and summarised the literature for the Hawaiian Islands, suggesting that the islands were colonised following the general model of initial colonisation in fertile, windward-valley environments, local population growth, and subsequent expansion to marginal, leeward locales. However, this observation was based on a limited sample of the oldest sites in windward settings, including three habitation sites and one agricultural complex.
In this paper, we discuss the leeward environmental context and dating of the Kawela Mound habitation site on Moloka‘i island. A total of 21 samples from four cultural layers, including twigs, charred nuts and wood, and marine shell, from three excavated trenches were radiocarbon dated. The resulting dates and Bayesian phase modelling indicate that the earliest occupation of the Kawela Mound is 1124-1261 AD (95% CI), documenting it as the oldest on Moloka‘i island and one of a handful of early habitation sites in the archipelago. Our results suggest that early coastal habitations can be found in leeward as well as windward sides of islands and can be used to provide a model for locating early sites along this leeward coastline that should be applicable elsewhere.