Excavations at Maunalua Cave, Hawai'i Kai, O'ahu

Abstract

In 1962, Lloyd Soehren of Bishop Museum and Wilhelm Solheim of University of Hawai'i discovered a small overhang shelter (Site 0-5), situated on Bishop Estate land in the Kaiser Hawai'i Kai development (Kaluanui Ridge). Site 0-5 (State Site 50-80-15-2908) is located near marshy grounds where taro may have been grown, and overlooks Kuapa pond. Preliminary survey of the shelter and adjacent areas revealed thick deposits with abundant shell (exposed by bulldozing activities), as well as artifacts. A decision was made to excavate the site in its entire­ty, as destruction by the housing development appeared imminent. Work at the site was performed between March 1962 and July 1963, in part as a University of Hawai'i field school under the direction of Wilhelm Solheim. A report was initi­ated by one of the project's participants, Colin Smart (1965) of the Australian National University, but was never completed. Donn Bayard (1965), then of the University of Hawai'i, described the artifacts. The site was briefly described dur­ing a recent survey by Beggerly and McNeill (1985). At the suggestion of Matthew Spriggs, I prepared the following summary of the excavations, based on manu­scripts of Smart (1965) and Bayard (I 965).