Household expansion linked to agricultural intensification during emergence of Hawaiian archaic states

Abstract

The Leeward Kohala Field System (LKFS) covering ∼ 60 km(2) on Hawai'i Island is one of the world's best-studied archaeological examples of preindustrial agricultural intensification. Archaeological correlates for households over a 400-y period of intensification of the LKFS (A.D. 1400-1800) indicate that household age, number, and distribution closely match the expansion of agricultural features at both macro- and microscales. We excavated and dated residential complexes within portions of five traditional Hawaiian land units (ahupua'a), two in the central core of the field system and three in the southern margins. Forty-eight radiocarbon dates from 43 residential features indicate an overall pattern of exponential increase in the numbers of households over time. Spatial distribution of these dates suggests that the core of the LKFS may have reached a population saturation point earlier than in the southern margins. Bayesian statistical analysis of radiocarbon dates from residential features in the core region, combined with spatial analysis of agricultural and residential construction sequences, demonstrates that the progressive subdivision of territories into smaller socioeconomic units was matched by addition of new residences, probably through a process of household fissioning. These results provide insights into the economic processes underlying the sociopolitical transformation from chiefdom to archaic state in precontact Hawai'i.

Fig. 1.

Map of Kohala, Hawai‘i, showing the central study area [the ahupua‘a of Kaiholena (KHL) and Makeanehu (MKE)] and the southern study area [the ahupua‘a of Kālala (KAL), Makiloa (MKI), and Pahinahina (PHH)]. The extent of the Leeward Kohala Field System and the location of residential features dated with AMS radiocarbon dates are also indicated.

Fig. 2.

LiDAR image of the Kaiholena–Makeanehu study area (see Fig. 6) showing crosscutting pattern of field alignments (running roughly north–south) and trail boundary segments (running roughly east–west). Several individual household enclosures are also visible. See Fig. 6 for a map of the same area. Image courtesy of Greg Asner.

Fig. 3.

Temporal distribution of the number of dated residential features in Leeward Kohala (coastal and inland combined). Dated features are distributed within the three temporal periods: A.D. 1400–1520, A.D. 1520–1650, and A.D. 1650–1800.

Fig. 4.

Temporal distribution of the number of dated residential features in Leeward Kohala from the coast (black bars) and inland (shaded bars) portions of the study areas. Dated features are distributed within the three temporal periods: A.D. 1400–1520, A.D. 1520–1650, and A.D. 1650–1800.

Fig. 5.

Temporal distribution of the number of dated residential features in the central (Kaiholena–Makeanehu, black bars) and southern (Kālala–Makiloa–Pahinahina, shaded bars) study areas. Dated features are distributed within the three temporal periods: A.D. 1400–1520, A.D. 1520–1650, and A.D. 1650–1800.

Fig. 6.

Map of the Kaiholena–Makeanehu area showing the relative chronology of agricultural alignments, trails, and residential enclosures as indicated by feature abutment. Suggested phases of construction are indicated by color. The division between the ahupua‘a of Kaiholena and Makeanehu is indicated by the BT1 trail. The extent of residential enclosure walls is indicated by dark borders; agricultural features are indicated by small polygons. See Fig. 2 for a LiDAR image of the same area.