Changing Patterns of Firewood Use on the Waimānalo Plain

Wood charcoal identifications from 35 dated traditional Hawaiian fire-pits on the Waimānalo Plain are analyzed for evidence of change over time and difference across space. Plant taxa identified in the firewood are classified according to habit, origin, and elevational distribution. Early in traditional Hawaiian times, firewood was commonly brought to the plain from inland forests and fires were made primarily with native plants. Later, firewood was more likely to be collected locally, and it typically included both Polynesian-introduced and native plants. This change in behavior appears to have taken place in the fifteenth century. It was likely associated with a vegetational change in which the native lowland forest was replaced with a variety of useful plants, especially near Puhā Stream.

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