Lithic Technology
Dye, T.S. and J.G. Kahn 2020. Functional Classification of Hawaiian Curved-Edge Adzes and Gouges. Journal of Pacific Archaeology 11(2): 124–132.
Kahn, J.G. and T.S. Dye 2020. Supplementary Material for A Functional Classification of Hawaiian Curved-Edge Adzes and Gouges. Arts & Sciences Data 1.
This article analyzing curved edge adzes and gouges from the Hawaiian Islands is paired with online access to the complete database. This work is part of a larger project aimed at describing and functionally classifying more than 800 Hawaiian stone adzes held in the ethnographic and archaeological collections at Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
Kahn, J.G. and T. Dye 2015. A Note on Hawaiian Stone Axes. Journal of Pacific Archaeology 6(1): 18–25.
Eleven finely-finished, double-beveled stone tools from the Bishop Museum collections, which resemble axe or hatchet blades, were identified and described. These axes were surprising finds because double-beveled stone tools have been reported as absent in Hawai‘i. Building on the replication experiments carried out by Turner and her colleagues in New Zealand, we suggest that stone tools in Hawai‘i and elsewhere in Polynesia be classified functionally, rather than grouped according to the type/variety system devised by Duff. This work is part of a larger project aimed at describing and functionally classifying more than 800 Hawaiian stone adzes held in the ethnographic and archaeological collections at Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
Kahn, J.G., J. Sinton, P.R. Mills, and S.P. Lundblad 2013. X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis and Intra-Island Exchange in the Society Island Archipelago. Journal of Archaeological Science 40(2): 1194–1202.
We apply X-ray fluorescence (XRF) geochemical analysis to lithic artifacts to investigate the local scale of raw material procurement, adze production, use, and exchange within the Society Island archipelago. We use these data to document the distribution of non-local versus local volcanic artifacts in ‘Opunohu Valley house sites, ritual sites, and specialized sites, as a means for establishing intra-site production and consumption patterns, and access to exotic, possibly superior, stone resources. We then explore how these two themes correlate with site function or household wealth and status. Overall, 30% of the artifacts analyzed derive from non-local sources, notably two other islands in the archipelago outside of the political boundaries of Moorean chiefdoms. In addition, our data suggest that some of the exotic adzes derived from gift exchange between Mo‘orea and ruling elites in Tahiti and the Leeward Islands. These adzes from afar would have solidified socio-political and ideological alliances between elites in the Windward and Leeward sectors of the archipelago.
Kahn, J.G., P. Mills, S. Lunblad, J. Holson, and P.V. Kirch 2009. Tool production at the Nu‘u Quarry, Maui, Hawaiian Islands: Manufacturing sequences and energy-dispersive X-Ray fluorescence analyses. New Zealand Journal of Archaeology.
Quarry sites where pre-contact Hawaiians extracted basalt and manufactured stone tools are relatively rare. In this paper, we present a case study of a small scale adze production locale in the Hawaiian archipelago. I carried out a detailed reduction stage analysis of adze preforms, blanks, and debitage documenting that the full range of production activities, from early stage blank manufacture to late stage preform trimming, is represented at the quarry. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that the quarry produced a diverse range of adze types mainly for local population needs. Data from the Nu‘u quarry do not support the notion that later Hawaiian adze assemblages are highly standardized or that manufacture focused exclusively on rectangular cross sectioned adzes. Finally, we argue that production at small to moderate scale quarries in Hawai‘i like Nu‘u was sometimes more diverse than that described for the regional production center at Mauna Kea.