Spatial Technology and the Search for Archaic State Society in the Hawaiian Islands

Summary

Architecture holds a special place in archaeological reconstructions of past societies. I discuss how advances in the application of spatial technology in the study of architecture in the Hawaiian Islands has put us in a better position to describe how the creation of an archaic state society shaped this all-important material indicator of social change. I draw upon forms that are commonplace – house complexes, fields, and small temples and shrines – as well as less common classes of architecture more likely to be found at royal centers, such as monumental scaled religious architecture, massive walls used to define specialized precincts, and public venues built for sports and ceremonies. Recording architectural remains continues to begin with traditional field survey, which has been joined by high precision GPS, laser scanning, and the use of spatial data from previous surveys and historic era maps, as well as increasing use of data derived from remote sensing and predictive modelling. The cumulative effects of the application of spatial technology are already being felt in how we look at emic classifications of architecture in archaeology, investigate cultural traditions first recorded at the time of European contact, and identify the pervasiveness of state power.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Ancient Architecture and Spatial Technology: A Global Perspective

Keywords

Spatial Coverage