From the Walls of Kalaupapa

Summary

This is a paper/report submission presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Traditional Hawaiian dry-stack masonry walls remain one of the more visible features of the landscape on the Kalaupapa Peninsula at the northern tip of the island of Molokai. These rock walls once served as land dividers, livestock and residential enclosures, and demarcated agricultural fields. From 1866 to 1969, the flat rocky peninsula served as the location to isolate those people diagnosed with Hansen’s disease, then known as leprosy. Since 1980, when the peninsula became a National Historical Park, the National Park Service has been responsible for the preservation of the historic landscape. Over the last several years, the Park Service has conducted workshops in traditional dry-stack masonry, with some surprising results. Found hidden within these walls is an array of artifacts ranging from bottles to sewing machine fragments to spark plugs to fishing lures. This paper presents the results of eight years of hapai pohaku at Kalaupapa National Historical Park.  

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• 2020 SHA General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 128