Communication No. 2021-08- Simmy McMichael Testimony

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USDI/NPS NRNP Registration Form Holualoa 4 Archaeological District Page 18 NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 8 Page 2 H61ualoa 4 Archaeological District Hawaii County. HI name of property county and state ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ births that insured the continuation of high-ranking geneologies. There were ho'ao rituals where arranged marriages among the ah'i were consummated. There were also ceremonies associated with the birth of an ah'i keiki (child) to recognize the child's rank and status in the society. At H61ualoa, these practices continued for five generations of ah'i prominent in the history of the island. The ah'i known to have resided in H61ualoa were Keakamahana and Keakealaniwahine. It is unclear if Kamehameha actually resided at H61ualoa, but his association with the area was both recreational and religious. Other prominent ah'i in the Kona District who may have resided at H61ualoa include Keakealani-kane (father of Keakamahana), Keawe-i-kekahi-ali'i-o-ka- moku (Keawe, son of Keakealaniwahine), Ke'eaumoku-nui (son of Keawe), and Alapa'i-nui (nephew of Keawe). Marriages between high-ranking aIN also assisted an retaining control over a district or island. Engineering The sites of the Holualoa 4 Archaeological District are representative of the traditional Hawaiian construction style that consisted of stacking rock to build walls and platforms without the use of mortar. As such, each rock had to be carefully placed and "locked" for stability. Several walls within the district are significant for their massiveness, especially the Pakiha enclosure with walls described as 13 feet wide and 9 feet high (Stokes 1906: 58). This massive enclosure remains intact (Photos VII and VIII). Another massive stacked stone site is the Grandstand (Site 60 near Kamoa Point where spectators would watch the surfing and canoeing in Holualoa Bay from the stepped terraces. This wall was described as 7 feet wide and 8 feet high (Kekahuna and Kelsey 1956), but has been damaged and reduced by shoreline erosion. The other massive wall is the ahupua`a wall (Site 1) within the Keolonahihi complex. This walls averages 4 meters in height. The enclosure of springs at Keolonahihi with retaining walls represents another example of engineering. There are four (4) such features within the Keolonahihi complex - features 4h, 6b and 6d and site 7. Site 7 is located inland of the shoreline and involved excavation to a depth of at least 2 meters, construction of stacked rock retaining walls, and a ramp down to the water level. The springs associated with Site 6 were enclosed to capture the brackish water that was used for religious rituals and ceremonies and as a bathing areas for ah'i. Archaeological excavations conducted in the Keolonahihi Complex have identified subsurface cultural deposits related to both the pre -contact and post -contact occupation of the site. While similar excavations have not been conducted within the Keakealaniwahine Complex, it appears likely that subsurface cultural deposits are present and have a potential to yield information for interpreting the age, construction sequence, and cultural use of sites within the Holualoa Royal Center. The archaeological testing at Keolonahihi provided a preliminary site chronology based on radio -carbon dating of charcoal from various depths within the cultural deposits. Three phases of pre -contact occupation were dated to A.D. 1640-1790. The lack of sterile cultural deposits between the cultural layers suggests that much of the occupation was continuous, rather than distinct periods of occupation separated by periods of abandonment. There were no cultural deposits in the test excavations that dated to an earlier occupation, circa A.D. 1300, that would correspond to residency of the site by chiefess Keolonahihi. A post -contact cultural deposit, circa mid to late 1800s, corresponds to the post -contact occupation of the site.