University of Hawai`i Archaeological Research on Bellows Air Force Station: Report of the 1989 Field School and a Proposal for Further Research in 1990

Summary

Unlike classroom instruction, university-sponsored archaeological field schools offer students a unique, hands-on outdoors experience. Field schools combine the excitement of a treasure hunt with rigorous training in scientific methods for collecting and interpreting the remains of humanity's past. These field schools are a mainstay of archaeology programs at American universities, allowing students and professors to work together on excavations that are both research projects and training grounds.

The University of Hawaii Summer Session has regularly sponsored archaeological field schools for nearly 25 years. The focus of these projects has ranged from an excavation of early nineteenth century missionary houses in downtown Honolulu to the survey of dryland agricultural field systems on the island of Hawaii. Last summer the field school was held at Bellows Beach, a dune on the lush windward coast of Oahu. Fourteen students, from mainland universities as well as the University of Hawaii, participated in this intensive six week long program. Ranging in age from 19-60, nearly the only common element among this diverse group was an interest in Hawaiian prehistory and in learning methods for discovering, documenting, and interpreting archaeological remains.

Bellows Beach was also the site of the 1967 and 1975 University of Hawaii Field Schools, excavations that uncovered one of the oldest prehistoric habitation areas hitherto discovered in Hawaii (Pearson et al. 1971, Cordy and Tuggle 1976). The significance of these discoveries led to placement of the site on the National Register of Historic Sites. Archaeological finds from the initial excavations are important not only because of their antiquity (up to 1700 years old) but also because of their stylistic similarity to artifacts from sites in the Marquesas Islands. Partly on the basis of these finds, prehistorians now believe that the Marquesas, located more than 2,000 miles south of Hawaii, are the homeland from which Hawaii was first settled.

The 1975 excavations at Bellows indicated that although remaining deposits of the early habitation area had been mostly lost to erosion since 1967 there might be other significant archaeological remains in the vicinity. The 1989 Field School excavations were designed to investigate this archaeologically unexplored but promising part of the coastline. Our plan was to first systematically search the area for evidence of subsurface archaeological deposits and then to later concentrate our excavations on the richest part of the site. We hoped that if we could find another early habitation area, our excavations would yield artifacts, food remains, and architectural evidence for reconstructing daily life in prehistoric times. Such reconstructions of prehistoric life could then serve as the basis for identifying cultural origins and for understanding long term cultural change. While this strategy was planned from a research perspective, it also provided an ideal way to teach students the three essential aspects of archaeological field work: reconnaissance and test excavation, areal excavation, and interpretation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• National Archeological Database (NADB)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Bellows Air Force Station

Prepared By(s): University of Hawai`i

Record Identifiers

NADB document id number(s): 7703314

NADB citation id number(s): 000000376757

Notes

General Note: Sent from: University of Hawai`i

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