Provenance, production, and distribution of basalt and volcanic glass artifacts in Leeward Kohala, Hawaiʻi Island

Abstract

We examined 2947 basalt and volcanic glass artifacts from 38 sites in leeward Kohala. Nondestructive energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence provided initial geochemical characterizations. Wavelength‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence (WDXRF) and thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) analyses were completed on samples from ambiguously sourced groups. No more than 13.9% of the probable and definite adze‐related debitage originated in leeward Kohala. Notably absent are lithic materials from the nearby Pololū Adze Quarry in windward Kohala. Material from the more distant Mauna Kea Adze Quarry accounts for 41.6% of the adze debitage. Another 38.8% of the adze debitage matches with a tholeiitic source or sources long assumed to be Kīlauea Volcano in Kaʻū, but WDXRF and TIMS isotopic data do not support a Kīlauea source. Centralized adze production and distribution networks best explain adze distribution. Scoria abraders appear to have been regularly transported from the Kona district to leeward Kohala. Volcanic glass sources loosely align with distance‐decay trends, but show greater reliance on Puʻuwaʻawaʻa material by 1650 CE.

An archaeological review of Polynesian adze quarries and sources

“…Lass (1994) suggested that stoneworkers in the valley acquired loose stone cobbles from the main stream, then detached flakes for adze blanks. Pololū adzes were found at several coastal sites around Hawai‘i Island (Lass, 1994), although were rarely distributed beyond windward Kohala (Mills & Lundblad, 2014; Mills et al., 2022).…”

XRF Analysis of Village and Urban Basalt Architecture in the Hippos Territorium during the Roman Period

“…In most of these studies the goal was to determine regional provenience or to match artifacts to site‐specific quarries. XRF has been used in some geochemical studies of basalt artifacts in order to identify the regional rock formations, outcrops, or even specific quarries from which they were sourced (e.g., Latham et al, 1992; Linthout et al, 2009; Mills et al, 2022).…”