Variation in Lithic Sources Utilized by Late Pre-Contact Elites in Kona, Hawai'i Island

Abstract

A growing body of data supports the exchange of tool-quality basalt and volcanic glass across ahupua 'a, moku, and to a lesser degree, island boundaries. Elites are argued to have had the greatest access to these nonlocal, patchy, resources. To examine this issue, and any potential variation in stone resource procurement, we present the results of non-destructive EDXRF analyses for two ali 'i-associated basalt and volcanic glass collections dating to ca. AD 1600-1830 from adjoining Keokea and Honaunau Ahupua'a in Kona, Hawai'i Island. The collections were recovered from excavations at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park. These collections are compared to the large collection from the Kahalu 'u Habitation Cave, Kahalu'u Ahupua'a, which is contemporaneous and is also associated with ali 'i. Our results contradict the expectation that the collections would be similar, but instead indicate a significant degree of variation that is only partly explained by differences in site activities. Our results suggest that ahupua 'a may have functioned primarily to organize the production of tribute, and that ali 'i and maka 'iiinana led social lives that transcended ahupua 'a.