The Halawa dune site, Moloka'i, Hawaiian Islands: New excavations, redating, and new interpretations

The Halawa dune site on Moloka'i Island has played a key role in understanding early Hawaiian history. Initially excavated in 1969-1970 and regarded then as dating to the early phase of Hawaiian settlement, the site yielded a diverse artifact assemblage and the first evidence for round-ended house foundations in Hawai'i. Prior attempts to refine the site's chronology yielded inconsistent results. Renewed excavations and re-analysis of previously excavated collections from the site have allowed for recovery of a stratigraphically controlled sample of faunal materials and charcoal. AMS dating of candlenut endocarp indicates initial use of Mound A cal AD 1366-1610, with occupation continuing into the post-contact period. Matched pairs of candlenut and marine mollusk shell dates allow for the derivation of a Halawa-specific marine reservoir value (Delta R = -267), in turn permitting the calibration of 12 dates on marine mollusk shells excavated from Mound B in 1970. Faunal materials from the 2020 Mound A excavation add new information on patterns of marine exploitation, and on a trend of increased frequency of domestic pig and dog over time. Charcoal identified from Mound A indicates largely native forest taxa, but with several Polynesian-introduced plants as well, including candlenut, breadfruit, and mountain apple.