Geophysical investigation for the location of a historic Heiau, Kawaihae, Hawaii

Abstract

There currently is an awareness in Hawaii to preserve historic sites and the culture of ancient Hawaii. One area of cultural significance, Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site, is located in Kawaihae on the northwest coast of Hawaii (Figure 1). The site is administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Park Service (NPS). A heiau is a massive stone structure which was used as a temple by the ancient Hawaiians. The Pu’ukohola Heiau is the primary structure associated with the founding of the Kingdom of Hawaii. The last major heiau was built in 1791 by Kamehameha the Great to honor, regain the favor, and enlist the services of his family war-god, Ku-ka-ili-moku. An Englishman, John Young, reported that Kamehameha offered 11 human sacrifices at the dedication of the heiau. The principal offering was the body of Keoua Kuahu’ula, Kamehameha’s only serious rival for the control of the island of Hawaii. With his war temple built and acceptable to the war-god, Kamehameha conquered Maui, Lanai, and Molokai islands in 1794 and Oahu in 1795. With the successful conquest of Oahu, Kamehameha founded the Kingdom of Hawaii. Kauai remained independent until 1810, when it joined the Kingdom by mutual consent to forestall invasion by Kamehameha. Following the death of Kamehameha in 1819, the traditional religion was abandoned. The carved wooden images of Pu’ukohola Heiau were discarded and its thatched temple houses, prayer tower and altar destroyed. Today, there are two intact stone structures, or heiaus, that can be visited at the Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site. One structure is about 200 ft long and 100 ft wide and the other about 275 ft long and 50 ft wide. A third, smaller structure, measuring approximately 10 ft by 10 ft, has historically been reported to exist at the site but its exact location is unknown. Some local residents claim that the missing heiau is located in the bay just a few tens of yards offshore from the site while others maintain that it is buried somewhere onshore near the shoreline. A geophysical investigation was performed at the Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site during the period 11-18 August 1993 in order to locate a purported “shark heiau” in the vicinity of the Kawaihae Boat Harbor construction project, South Kohala, Island of Hawaii. This was performed as part of Section 106, National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, compliance, pursuant to implementing regulations contained in 36 CFR 800, for the proposed construction at Kawaihae Harbor. NPS persoMe desired to noninvasively determine the location of the shark heiau; the heiau will then presumably be investigated and protected. The geophysical investigation was conducted by personnel of the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station (WES) at the request of the U.S. Army Engineer Division, Pacific Ocean.