From gods to God: The Shifting Role of Hawaiian Ritual Locations from the Pre-Contact to Post-Contact Era in Maui, Hawai'i

Summary

Recent work in the district of Kaupō, Maui, has demonstrated the presence of a highly intensified dryland agricultural system interspersed with extensive residential sites and bounded by a range of ceremonial structures that include some of the largest temples in the Hawaiian Islands. In this talk, I discuss the ritual sites of Kaupō and how their Pre-Contact placement on the landscape (before the first arrival of Europeans) demonstrates a unique expression of elite power. While the initial locations of these structures indicate an effort to surround and control a particularly bountiful area, the arrival of the first missionaries in the late 18th Century created a new dynamic in which traditionally meaningful spaces were used to both reaffirm Native Hawaiian beliefs and co-opted to support the growth of Christianity throughout the Islands. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018   •
• Religious Communities, Religious Landscapes

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 816