Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 3, 1 March 1988 — Book Review [ARTICLE]

Book Review

-■M A Settlement Pattern Analysis of a Portion of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Archaeology at Hawaii Volcanoes NaUonal Park. By Thegn Ladefoged, Gary F. Somers, M. Melia Lane-Hamasaki This National Park Service report is a valuable addition to the literature on Hawaiian archaeology and the archaeology of Puna. First, it presents the results of six weeks of field work conducted in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in 1986, in a published format for public distribution, and only one and one-half years after the fieldwork was completed. Second, it provides a general overview of the archaeology of the Kalapana area and includes a comprehensive checklist of all existing archaeological reports for the area. Third, it contains numerous illustrations and well drawn maps whieh present and interpret the findings of the study in a manner whieh makes this report both easy to read and a valuable reference. This report is far superior to the general mediocre efforts of Hawaii's assembly-line contract archaeologists. The study area was in the Kalapana extension of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and eneompassed parts of Poupou, Pulama, Kamoamoa and Lae'apuki. An attempt was made to utilize the data for a comparable analysis of sēttlement patterns. The descriptions and discussions of features and feature types will be useful to anyone interested in Hawaiian archaeology. The field data was analyzed with the aid of a computer. The technique helped define and standardize the data recorded during field work, and helped to manipulate the large amount of data collected. One interesting study was in the form of a graph whieh compared the size of religious structures. This work is extremely important because of the activity of Kilauea volcano. In areas that had been previously surveyed, 315 features were destroyed by an a'a lava flow in 1985; and over 600 features have been destroyed by the pahoehoe lava flow whieh is still flowing. The report concludes with a management and interpretive summary whieh is useful, but too brief to be useful to the National Park Service administration and the public. A plan of action is needed, including proposed dates for fieldwork, areas to be surveyed immediately and an estimated budget. The National Park Service should be commended for undertaking this emergency study, and they should be encouraged to proceed with further survey work and salvage excavations at sites likely to be destroyed. One might further inquire what the Department of Land and Natural Resources is doing to conduct emergency studies of Hawaiian sites on State and private lands being covered by the current flow. A copy of this survey report ean be obtained by contacting the National Park Service in Honolulu at the Prince Kuhio Federal Building, 300 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 6305, Honolulu, Hawaii 96850, telephone 541-2693.— Earl (Buddy) Neller.