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Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park
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SRC divers first activity at Kaloko was in response to requests from the park Superintendent and the NPS Pacific Area Archeologist to investigate an offshore structure that was thought by local sport divers to be manmade. Rock formations at several points in a cove 40-90 feet deep were reported to have linear features of similar-sized rocks adhered to each other by some sort of mortar. The divers who reported the site were very familiar with the normal geology of the coastline and say they had never seen any similar features. The site location also happens to correspond with native Hawaiian beliefs that there was a heiau or ceremonial structure here that had sunk over the years. The area is highly active volcanically and known for offshore subsidence, however not in the magnitude that would result in a 50 foot drop unless there was some specific seismic activity very close by.
In December, 1990 Dan Lenihan and Randy Jonsson from SRC dived the site with local divers and staff from the park and support office. From the brief reconnaissance the team determined it would need further research but they saw nothing that would solidly refute the claims that the formations were manmade. Local land archeologists, after studying the video and photos concluded that if the site were on land they would probably conclude it was the result of human activity. |
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| In 1992, SRC returned to conduct a comprehensive documentation and evaluation of the area with a full research team again with Dan Lenihan as project director. During this project the team located similar features in deeper waterthey came to the conclusion that the preponderance of evidence suggested natural causes for the formation of the features. To solve the troubling question of what natural process could have caused such features, the SRC sought the opinion of Jack Lockwood, a marine geologist from USGS.
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When shown the features by the NPS divers, Lockwood suggested that this could be beach rock that formed in the high-energy zone in shallow water but it made no sense to be found 40-90 feet deep as it needs some exposure to aerated water. The SRC team, noting that some of the features are undercut came to the conclusion that the features formed naturally in the surf zone, sloughed off and slid down the steep offshore slope to its present location. The SRC doesnt question the validity of the Hawaiian beliefs that suggest a different origin to the featuresits a difficult site to assess. However, the interpretation of the scientific data by this particular group of researchers leans towards identifying natural processes as the cause for the existence of these structures.
Additional work was conducted in 1992 in other parts of the park including the Kaloko fishpond.
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- July 2001 - SRC Archeologists conducted a reconaissance in conjunction with a visit to Pu'uhonua o Honaunau NHP to assess the possibility for a future submerged resources survey, in addition to looking at other maritime-related terrestrial archeological sites such as petroglyphs and fishponds.
- June 1992 Comprehensive survey of drop off directly offshore from the park. Determination made that subsurface features thought to be a sunken heiau is probably the result of natural site formation processes. Dan Lenihan project director.
- December 1990 Brief reconnaissance of submerged features in the park thought to represent the remains of a heiau. SRC found no reason at this point to contest the conclusions of the Hawaiian and recreational diving community but recommended full documentation to reach a firm conclusion.
Reference:
- Somers, Gary F., 1991, The Effects of Rapid Geological Change on Archaeology in Hawaii in Asian Perspectives XXX (I).
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Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park
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