Hawai’i, also known as the Big Island, is the largest island of the Hawaiian archipelago. Our ’Hawaii 2’ refers to the period from 1200 to 1580 CE. 1200 marks the beginning of archaeologist Patrick Kirch’s ’expansion period’,
[1]
while 1580 is the approximate date of the formation of the first island-wide unitary kingdom.
[2]
Population and political organization
According to reconstructions of Hawaiki, the ancestral Polynesian homeland, ancient Polynesians recognized the authority of the *ariki, that is, the head of a lineage, who had both secular and sacred authority and was in charge of most, if not all, rituals.
[3]
However, a few thousand years separate Ancestral Polynesians from the earliest Hawaiians, and it is not clear how much the latter retained of the former’s culture and sociopolitical organization. The earliest island-wide unitary kingdom on the Big Island emerged around 1580;
[2]
before then, the Big Island was probably divided into several small, independent polities.
[4]
It is currently not possible to reconstruct the exact population of a typical Big Island community at this time.
[5]
No up-to-date estimates have been found in the literature. Scholars do, however, distinguish between distinct phases of demographic and agricultural development after the initial colonization period. From 1200 to 1400 CE, Hawaiians experienced significant population growth and adapted their technology and subsistence economy to local conditions while maintaining long-distance contact with Eastern Polynesia. From 1400 to 1580 CE, population growth peaked and began to stabilize, contact with Eastern Polynesia ceased, and large-scale dryland field systems were established across the Big Island.
[6]
[1]: (Kirch 2010, 127-28) Patrick V. Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
[2]: (Kirch 2010, 174) Patrick V. Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
[3]: (Kirch 2012, 45) Patrick V. Kirch. 2012. A Shark Going Inland Is My Chief. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
[4]: (Kirch 2016, personal communication)
[5]: Kirch, personal communication
[6]: (Kirch 2010, 127-28) Patrick V. Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
| 5 Q |
| Hawaii II |
| NO_VALUE_ON_WIKI |
| Big Island of Hawai’i | |
| Hawai’i Island | |
| Island of Hawai’i | |
| Big Island | |
| Owyhee | |
| Owhyhee |
| unknown [---] |
| Hawaii III |
| continuity |
| Preceding: Hawaii I (us_hawaii_1) [continuity] | |
| Succeeding: Hawaii III (us_hawaii_3) [None] |
| quasi-polity |
| [1,500 to 3,000] km2 |
| [3,500 to 7,000] people | 1200 CE |
| [7,000 to 13,200] people | 1300 CE |
| [13,200 to 22,000] people | 1400 CE |
| [22,000 to 50,000] people | 1500 CE |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent | 1200 CE 1500 CE |
| present | 1500 CE 1580 CE |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| absent |
| inferred absent |
| unknown |
| absent | 1200 CE 1390 CE |
| present | 1390 CE 1580 CE |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| unknown |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| unknown |
| inferred absent |
| absent |
| unknown |
| absent |
| unknown |
| absent |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| absent |
| absent |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| absent |
| unknown |
| absent |
| unknown |
| Year Range | Hawaii II (us_hawaii_2) was in: |
|---|---|
| (1200 CE 1649 CE) | Big Island Hawaii |
Chiefs/kings had no true ’capital’. Although there were ’royal centers’, there were no true urban areas, nor was there any one place that a chief would spend most of his time.
Since this is the period during which social complexity, stratification, territorial unification, agricultural intensification, population, etc. were increasing (before they plateaued), it is safe to say that the ‘peak’ was at the end of the period.
Justification for starting and ending dates: This is Kirch’s Expansion Period. The starting date is approximately when the population began to increase parabolically, and the ending date is when the population had plateaued [1] . AD: changed from end date of 1650 CE following an email from Patrick Kirch: "I would be inclined to put the division between Hawaii2 and Hawaii3 at around 1580 with the reign of ’Umi-a-Liloa who supposedly consolidated the entire island into one polity. Certainly, intensification of the great dryland field systems was also underway by this time. So, 1650 seems a bit late for these key transitions." [2]
[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 127.
[2]: (Kirch 2016, personal communication)
’Hawaii 1 is very difficult to say, but most likely to have been several independent polities - maybe as many as 5 or 6. ’Umi-a-Liloa is said to have been the first to consolidate all of these into one island-wide polity, and he is dated genealogical estimation to ca. AD 1570-1590, toward the end of your Hawaii 2 period’. [1]
[1]: (Kirch 2016, personal communication)
in square kilometers. During the reign of ‘Umi, the island had a single polity, so the area would be 10,432 (the entire Big Island) for the approximate period of his reign, 1550-1590 [1] . During the rest of this time period, there were two or three polities. Thus, polity territory fluctuated between one-third and all of island. "Hawaii 1 is very difficult to say, but most likely to have been several independent polities--maybe as many as 5 or 6.’Umi-a-Liloa is said to have been the first to consolidate all of these into one island-wide polity, and he is dated genealogical estimation to ca. AD 1570-1590, toward the end of your Hawaii2 period." [2] Between 3 and 6 polities for the revised Hawaii2 period finishing at 1580 CE? Fluctuating between 1/6 and 1/3 of the island? AD.
[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 92, 98.
[2]: (Kirch 2016, personal communication)
The following may also be relevant: Kirch [1] has figures for the western region of the Big Island. See Kirch [1] . The western part of the Big Island was low in population from 800 to 1200, then 1200-1600 very fast growth, then some decline. Many new parts of the Big Island were inhabited for the first time between 1200-1300CE, e.g. Lapahiki, Kalāhuipua’a, and ‘Anaeho’omalu [2] . The rate of population increase in West Big Island was the greatest during 1100-1300CE. By 1650CE there were probably 200,000 or more people in the whole archipelago. In 1100CE there were probably 20,000 in the whole archipelago [2] .
[1]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 288.
[2]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 304
The following may also be relevant: Kirch [1] has figures for the western region of the Big Island. See Kirch [1] . The western part of the Big Island was low in population from 800 to 1200, then 1200-1600 very fast growth, then some decline. Many new parts of the Big Island were inhabited for the first time between 1200-1300CE, e.g. Lapahiki, Kalāhuipua’a, and ‘Anaeho’omalu [2] . The rate of population increase in West Big Island was the greatest during 1100-1300CE. By 1650CE there were probably 200,000 or more people in the whole archipelago. In 1100CE there were probably 20,000 in the whole archipelago [2] .
[1]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 288.
[2]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 304
The following may also be relevant: Kirch [1] has figures for the western region of the Big Island. See Kirch [1] . The western part of the Big Island was low in population from 800 to 1200, then 1200-1600 very fast growth, then some decline. Many new parts of the Big Island were inhabited for the first time between 1200-1300CE, e.g. Lapahiki, Kalāhuipua’a, and ‘Anaeho’omalu [2] . The rate of population increase in West Big Island was the greatest during 1100-1300CE. By 1650CE there were probably 200,000 or more people in the whole archipelago. In 1100CE there were probably 20,000 in the whole archipelago [2] .
[1]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 288.
[2]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 304
The following may also be relevant: Kirch [1] has figures for the western region of the Big Island. See Kirch [1] . The western part of the Big Island was low in population from 800 to 1200, then 1200-1600 very fast growth, then some decline. Many new parts of the Big Island were inhabited for the first time between 1200-1300CE, e.g. Lapahiki, Kalāhuipua’a, and ‘Anaeho’omalu [2] . The rate of population increase in West Big Island was the greatest during 1100-1300CE. By 1650CE there were probably 200,000 or more people in the whole archipelago. In 1100CE there were probably 20,000 in the whole archipelago [2] .
[1]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 288.
[2]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 304
The first formal legal code dates to 1827: "These three laws were: first, against murder, ’the one who commits murder here shall die, by being hung’; second, against theft, ’the one who steals shall be put in irons’; third, against adultery, for which the penalty was imprisonment in irons. Three other proposed laws, against rum selling, prostitution, and gambling, were drawn up, to be explained and taught to the people before they should be adopted. It was agreed that the chiefs should meet six months later to continue their consultation upon the subject. The three laws adopted and the three proposed were printed together on one sheet, which bears the date December 8, 1827. On December 14, the people were assembled in a coconut grove near the fort; the three enacted laws were formally proclaimed, and the king, Kaahumanu, and Boki exhorted the people, both native and foreign, to obey the three laws which had been adopted and to give attention to the three which were not yet enacted." [1]
[1]: (Kuykendall 1938, 126)
This was the period during which intensive irrigation began. It continued to be expanded and intensified into the historical period [1] . However, for environmental reasons, the Big Island did not have as extensive irrigation as the other islands in the Hawaiian archipelago [2] . According to oral history, two men from a chiefly lineage were exiled from O’ahu and traveled to the Big Island, bringing with them their knowledge of irrigation. They used their knowledge to develop irrigation in the valley of Waipi’o, but their works were soon destroyed by a flood [3] . Oral history more generally states that irrigation began to intensify c. 1390CE, the end of the age of voyaging [4]
[1]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pp. 223, 303.
[2]: Kirch, P. V. 2000. On the Road of the Winds: An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands Before European Contact. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 295.
[3]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 85.
[4]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 92.
This was the period during which intensive irrigation began. It continued to be expanded and intensified into the historical period [1] . However, for environmental reasons, the Big Island did not have as extensive irrigation as the other islands in the Hawaiian archipelago [2] . According to oral history, two men from a chiefly lineage were exiled from O’ahu and traveled to the Big Island, bringing with them their knowledge of irrigation. They used their knowledge to develop irrigation in the valley of Waipi’o, but their works were soon destroyed by a flood [3] . Oral history more generally states that irrigation began to intensify c. 1390CE, the end of the age of voyaging [4]
[1]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pp. 223, 303.
[2]: Kirch, P. V. 2000. On the Road of the Winds: An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands Before European Contact. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 295.
[3]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 85.
[4]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 92.
’Needless to say, there was no money (in Diamond’s words, no "abstract, intrinsically valueless medium for appropriating surplus, storing value, and deferring payment or delaying exchange") in precontact Hawai’i’. [1]
[1]: (Trask 1983, 99) Haunani-Kay Trask. 1983. ’Cultures in Collision: Hawai’i and England, 1778’. Pacific Studies 7 (1): 91-117.
’Needless to say, there was no money (in Diamond’s words, no "abstract, intrinsically valueless medium for appropriating surplus, storing value, and deferring payment or delaying exchange") in precontact Hawai’i’. [1]
[1]: (Trask 1983, 99) Haunani-Kay Trask. 1983. ’Cultures in Collision: Hawai’i and England, 1778’. Pacific Studies 7 (1): 91-117.
’Needless to say, there was no money (in Diamond’s words, no "abstract, intrinsically valueless medium for appropriating surplus, storing value, and deferring payment or delaying exchange") in precontact Hawai’i’. [1]
[1]: (Trask 1983, 99) Haunani-Kay Trask. 1983. ’Cultures in Collision: Hawai’i and England, 1778’. Pacific Studies 7 (1): 91-117.
Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "The Hawaiians generally did not build fortifications, but non-combatants could find sacred sanctuary in places of refuge known as pu’uhonua." Pg 4. [1]
[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "The Hawaiians generally did not build fortifications, but non-combatants could find sacred sanctuary in places of refuge known as pu’uhonua." Pg 4. [1] . Nevertheless, there does appear to evidence for some stone walls, but I’m not sure if they are used in warfare. The “Great Wall” at Hōnaunau, built around 1600 CE, was over 300m long, 3m high and 5m wide [2] [3] . Lapakahi also had a “Great Wall”, which was built between about 1450 and 1500 CE [4] .
[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[2]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pp. 162-4
[3]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 164.
[4]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 178.
Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "The Hawaiians generally did not build fortifications, but non-combatants could find sacred sanctuary in places of refuge known as pu’uhonua." Pg 4. [1] . Nevertheless, there does appear to evidence for some stone walls, but I’m not sure if they are used in warfare. The “Great Wall” at Hōnaunau, built around 1600 CE, was over 300m long, 3m high and 5m wide [2] [3] . Lapakahi also had a “Great Wall”, which was built between about 1450 and 1500 CE [4] .
[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[2]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pp. 162-4
[3]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 164.
[4]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 178.
Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "defenders more commonly established a fortress site known as a pali (cliff) or pā kauau (war enclosure), a “natural or artificial fortress, where they le their wives and children, and to which they fled if vanquished in the field.” One kind of fortress was the point of a narrow, steep-sided ridge that had been made somewhat defensible by digging deep trenches" Pg 35-36. [1]
[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "The Hawaiians generally did not build fortifications, but non-combatants could find sacred sanctuary in places of refuge known as pu’uhonua." Pg 4. [1]
[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "The Hawaiians generally did not build fornications, but non-combatants could find sacred sanctuary in places of refuge known as pu’uhonua." Pg 4. [1]
[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "The Hawaiians generally did not build fortifications, but non-combatants could find sacred sanctuary in places of refuge known as pu’uhonua." Pg 4. [1]
[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "One kind of fortress was the point of a narrow, steep-sided ridge that had been made somewhat defensible by digging deep trenches" Pg 35-36. [1]
[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "The Hawaiians generally did not build fortifications, but non-combatants could find sacred sanctuary in places of refuge known as pu’uhonua." Pg 4. [1]
[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Presumably they had these, as throwing spears were used later in Hawaiian prehistory, but evidence is needed. [1] . Similarly, if Polynesian ancestors had spears too this would be good converging evidence.
[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 70.
It is unlikely these were used, as later in Hawaiian prehistory bows and arrows were used only for sport, not for war [1] . Moreover it is implausible that a weapon as complex as a compound bow would be invented but then abandoned, leaving no archaeological trace.
[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 70.
Presumably they didn’t have these as they do not appear later in Hawaiian prehistory.
There are some almost axe-like weapons at contact, but they should probably be treated as clubs.
Hawaiians had dogs, but I have found no references to their use in war.
Canoes were present at contact and being used for war and must have been present during earlier periods to reach Hawaii, so we can assume that they were at this time too.