Recent archaeological excavations in Miloli‘i Valley, Kaua‘i are discussed to provide data from an isolated and marginal hinterland, far removed from the island's political centres. We develop a chronological sequence of site construction and use and discuss the nature of pre‐contact Hawaiian settlement and subsistence. We also outline elements of human–environment interactions from the settlement period to the protohistoric era, and provide tentative comparisons of the Miloli‘i hinterland sequence with those from core areas in the late prehistoric political hierarchy. Our case study highlights the degree to which inter‐ and intra‐island variability remain relatively under‐studied in the Hawaiian context.