A Pictogram from Anakuakala (Pāhoa Cave) in the Puna District, Hawai‘i Island

Abstract

This paper describes a unique archaeological feature discovered during the emergency survey of a cave near Pāhoa Town on the Island of Hawaiʻi. The survey was undertaken during the 2014 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano. The feature is a pictogram in the form of a geometric design, and it is of unquestionable anthropogenic origin. Two radiocarbon dates suggest a late pre-contact origin. The feature consists of multiple elements, including slabs of rock and long rootlets collected from elsewhere in the cave. It is surrounded by patches of concentrated ash. The feature rests on a bare pāhoehoe floor in the dark recesses of the fortified cave. A case is made for the importance of the cave at the landscape level. The image is compared with the tradition of Hawaiian hei (string figures) and with a petroglyph from Kaho‘olawe Island, with which it shares graphic elements. These analogies, along with the culture-historical and physical context of the feature, are combined in an attempt to place it within a broader discussion of anthropological archaeology and social production in pre-contact Hawai‘i.