Offerings from the land and sea: A rare prehistoric ritual pit from west Moloka‘i, Hawaiian Islands

Abstract

The archaeological record and ethnohistoric sources are combined to infer a ritual function of an isolated 40 cm diameter circular pit located above the high tide line at Kawa‘aloa bay, west Moloka‘i, Hawaiian Islands that was densely filled with bones of fish (Kuhlia sandvicensis), Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the extirpated Hawaiian goose (Branta sandvicensis). Beyond their obvious food value, ethnohistoric sources describe the ritual importance of these animals in late prehistoric Hawai‘i. There were no oven stones, charcoal, blackened sediment, or fire-reddened sand at the base of the pit suggesting a combustion feature. This pit currently is the only example of ritual evidence situated outside the confines of temple or shrine sites. AMS radiocarbon dating places deposition as early as the 14th century CE—perhaps two centuries after colonisation of the archipelago. It is only with consideration of the ethnohistoric literature, coupled with archaeology, that the significance of this pit is revealed.