Intensive dryland farming on the leeward slopes of Haleakala, Maui, Hawaiian Islands: archaeological, archaeobotanical, and geochemical perspectives

Polynesians settled and farmed the leeward, relatively arid slopes of Haleakala Volcano beginning about ad 1400. Archaeological investigations at two sites revealed dense concentrations of conical impressions in a subsurface 20cm cinder layer that was previously undisturbed, interpreted as resulting...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:World archaeology 2005-06, Vol.37 (2), p.240-258
Main Authors: Kirch, PV, Coil, J, Hartshorn, AS, Jeraj, M, Vitousek, PM, Chadwick, OA
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural intensification
Agricultural soils
Agriculture
Archaeology
Arid zones
Cinders
Crops
digging stick
dryland agriculture
Dryland farming
Environmental degradation
Ethnography
Excavation and methods
Geoarchaeology
Hawai'i
Hawaii
Horticultural practices
Indigenous knowledge
Laboratory methods
Methodology and general studies
nutrients
Physical and chemical analysis
Plants
Polynesia
Prehistory
Prehistory and protohistory
Primitive agriculture
Soil nutrients
Sweet potatoes
Taro
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Summary:Polynesians settled and farmed the leeward, relatively arid slopes of Haleakala Volcano beginning about ad 1400. Archaeological investigations at two sites revealed dense concentrations of conical impressions in a subsurface 20cm cinder layer that was previously undisturbed, interpreted as resulting from cultivation practices involving digging sticks. Ethnographic accounts of Hawaiian sweet potato and dryland taro cultivation techniques provide details on the use of such digging sticks. By puncturing this cinder layer, farmers created a loamy mixture of ash and cinder suited to root crop development. Archaeobotanical analyses suggest an intensive, short-fallow regime: macroscopic wood charcoal was absent (therefore no fallow sufficient for secondary re-growth of dryland forest) and evidence of disturbance-tolerant, weedy species is abundant. Geochemical analyses relying on stratigraphic relationships show that cultivation depleted nutrient levels in the digging-stick impressions, through harvest and leaching losses. Our findings provide evidence for repeated and intensive use of a landscape under a system of dryland cultivation.
ISSN:0043-8243
1470-1375
DOI:10.1080/00438240500095074