Soil Nutrient Variability in the South Kohala Field System, Hawai‘i Island

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The uplands of Kawaihae 1 ahupua‘a, Hawai‘i Island, contain a dense fixed-field agricultural field system built, utilized, and occupied by Hawaiians from as early as the 17th century into the 19th – early 20th century. This field system includes a diverse array of agricultural practices including fixed-field agriculture, planting mounds, terracing, and water management features such as ‘auwai (irrigation ditches). In order to investigate this field system’s past and present agricultural potential – particularly in light of the landscape’s aridity – a soil sampling regimen was undertaken along an elevational transect through a portion of the field system. These soils were then described and analyzed for a suite of values including resin extractable phosphorous, cation exchange capacity, total elements, base saturation, pH, and soil moisture. These results and their implications for soil development, geomorphology, and agricultural viability within this archaeological landscape are discussed. The latter is of particular interest to the Kailapa Community Association, which includes members of the Kawaihae descendant community, who are interested in managing this landscape.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33169