Kaua’i Historical Society members, residents and visitors got a glimpse of the oldest dated ecological site in Hawai’i during a tour of Kaua’i’s South Shore Saturday. The tour to the Makauwahi sinkhole in Maha’ulepu sponsored by the KHS yielded historical
Kaua’i Historical Society members, residents and visitors got a glimpse of the oldest dated ecological site in Hawai’i during a tour of Kaua’i’s South Shore Saturday.
The tour to the Makauwahi sinkhole in Maha’ulepu sponsored by the KHS yielded historical information offering insight into how the site was used before Polynesians arrived in Hawai’i some 300-800 years ago, and how the area has been used by people since then.
The site was home to more than 40 native birds and many other endemic plants now found mostly in the high forest areas of Kaua’i.
During times past, it was swamped by tsunami or hurricanes, as suggested by the presence of fractured rocks at the site.
In post-human times, the site was used as a fishpond and later as a pigpen when sediment filled the cavern and the area became dry.
The revelations were chronicled in a study of the environment at the sinkhole started in February 1996 by Fordham University in New York, the Smithsonian Institution and the Kaua’i Community College. The study was funded through a National Science Foundation grant.
Reg Gage, a tour guide and board member of KHS, said he hopes the study will lead to the restoration of the area to pre-contact times. “We want to restore the ecology that existed in prehistoric Hawai’i,” he said
The excavation work and study are ongoing, with key researchers, Dr. David Burney from Fordham University, Dr. Stores Olson from the Smithsonian Institution and Dr. Bill “Pila” Kikuchi from Kaua’i Community College, either making periodic visits or continuing investigative work.
Because of the historical value of the site, KHS, KCC and the National Tropical Botanical Garden are talking with Steve Case, the owner of the site and Grove Farm Company, to take over the management of the site to preserve it, Gage said. An archive of items found and documentation on the dig is also planned.
Marie Fifield, a board member of KHS, said the visit offered an invaluable opportunity for her to find out about the environment of pre-contact Hawai’i. The area is now restricted to public use and gated and public access is rare.
“It is work that will preserve the history of Hawai’i and Kaua’i,” she said.
The sinkhole was formed when its earthen roof dropped into the cavern’s floor between 6,500 to 7,000 years ago, the victim of erosion, according to researchers.
To get to the sinkhole, visitors have to crawl or stoop low enough to walk though a small cave opening, which is usually gated and locked to protect the sinkhole site.
Once through the opening, some visitors were startled to find a drawing of a man’s face drawn on a wall by the opening.
After a short walk, they came into a clearing that was the sinkhole. Along the sides of the sinkhole was a man-made pond – done for the excavation – that contained rainwater or streamwater tour guides said was drinkable after it had percolated through the earth before settling in the pond.
The site consists of fractured rocks that Dr. Burney theorized came into the cave after surrounding areas were swamped by tsunamis or hit by hurricanes, Gage said.
Ed Silva of the Kaua’i Historical Society said the site, which yielded fish bones during the excavation, was used as a fishpond, probably home for mullet, that was built and maintained by ancient Hawaiians.
Later, when the area dried up and sediment fell into the pond, Hawaiians used the site to hold pigs, as evidenced by the finding of pig bones, Silva said.
The site also was home to more than 43 indigenous bird species, Gage said. Today only a few seabirds, migrant shorebirds, waterfowl and a raptor known as the pueo are found in the area, researchers say.
The sinkhole also was home to numerous endemic plants, including naupaka and hau, capparis, pau o ‘hiaka, but the populations of these plants were decimated by insects and introduced plant species, Silva said.
David Helela, who is working to protect historical Hawaiian sites on state lands in Wailua, said he was in awe of the scientific work.
“To be standing in a place that started thousands of years ago and to learn what the scientists have found is amazing,” Helala said.
Visiting the site with him were fellow members of the Kaua’i Historical Preservation Review Commission, Pat Griffin and Joe Stoddard.
Visiting the sinkhole for the first time, Bonnie Lake, a KHS member and retired teacher, said she was amazed by the meticulous excavation work.
Some 300 workers have sifted, picked, labeled and packed thousands of fossils and artifacts that have been sent to Fordham University for analysis using specialized equipment.
The visit to the sinkhole allowed Carla Thomas, who is part Hawaiian, to find out about a place used by her ancestors.
Thomas was among a group of six Hyatt Regency Hotel employees – Sandy Quinsaat, Pamai Cano, Kalani Nakoa, Stella Burgess and James Burgess – who visited the site to gather information about it to pass onto fellow employees and visitors to the hotel.
