Status and Gender in Hawaiian House Complexes

Abstract

This research compares excavated material collected from Sites 50-50-10-2090 and -2091 (Kēōkea Maui), a pre-European contact (c. 1650 C.E.) kauhale house complex, to a model of expected findings derived from Hawaiian oral traditions and ethnohistoric accounts of household gender and status activities. Our goal is to critically analyze the relationship between the Hawaiian system of ‘ai kapu (taboo) and the use of space within house sites to better understand the diversity of the daily lived experiences and the multiplicity of gender and status interactions that household members engaged in. Results indicate a distinct post-1650 C.E. intra-site distribution of faunal remains that is concomitant with status and potentially gender food consumption. This patterning, however, does not ideally match the model derived from ethnographic descriptions.