Volcanic Glass from Kualoa, Oʻahu

The results of paired technological and geochemical sourcing analyses of 1258 pieces of volcanic glass collected during archaeological investigations in the coastal portion of Kualoa on the windward coast of O‘ahu, Hawaiian Islands are reported.

Geochemical analyses by EDXRF and microprobe indicate most of the volcanic glass pieces recovered at Kualoa derived from a source in the Wai‘anae Range on the leeward side of O‘ahu. Also present are three pieces from Pu‘uwa‘awa‘a on Hawai‘i Island. Much of the rest of the material resembles sources in the Ko‘olau Range, however this is a common geochemical makeup that is widely distributed on O‘ahu and other islands in Hawai‘i and precise sources for this material have not been identified.

Technological analyses of volcanic glass nodules, cores, flakes, and debris indicate that volcanic glass from each of the sources was brought to Kualoa as unworked nodules, a finding that supports previous conclusions that Hawaiians enjoyed direct access to volcanic glass sources. A reduction sequence based on observations of broken and whole flakes and of cortex on the dorsal faces of whole flakes with and without edge damage indicates that volcanic glass users habitually chose larger flakes for tasks that resulted in macroscopic traces of edge damage. Smaller flakes were either used for tasks that did not leave macroscopic traces of edge damage or were discarded without being used.

Paired technological and geochemical sourcing analyses indicate a volcanic glass industry at Kualoa oriented to the production of flakes that were likely used for a variety of expedient cutting and scraping tasks by people with direct access to unworked material from local and non-local volcanic glass sources up to 300 km away. The picture that emerges from the paired technological and geochemical sourcing analyses is of a highly connected society in which people traveled widely and enjoyed support for their productive activities with unfettered access to sources of volcanic glass.

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