Technological Change and the Archaeology of Emergent Colonialism in the Kingdom of Hawai‘i

Abstract

Archaeologically informed history is vital for examining the consequences of emergent colonialism in the nineteenth century and earlier, since documentary sources are silent on many facets of everyday life. Interpretations of contact and colonialism in Oceania often highlight rapid changes in the technologies and practices of its traditional island societies. In Hawai'i, the top-down imposition of indigenous elite power greatly influenced the rate and character of technological change, as commoner access to European and American goods was initially curtailed in this highly stratified society. Although indigenous elites purposively used imported goods and technologies to materialize their hybrid identity-and to expand their political and economic power-this phenomenon presaged the development of unrestrained colonialism by Euro-Americans in the late nineteenth century. This study illustrates the need to examine a range of cultural and historical contingencies in studies of technological change during periods of emergent colonialism.

A cost surface model of volcanic glass quarrying and exchange in Hawai‘i

“…More recently, Williams (2004) described a chilled-glass surface quarry on a relatively recent Mauna Loa flow (1650e1750 A.D.). The application of flake-and-core knapping and other expedient tools certainly continued in the postcontact era using bottle glass (Bayman, 2009;Flexner, 2010), but it still remains unclear at what point after European contact the use of volcanic glass was abandoned.…”

Historical Archaeologies of the American West

“…Irish Canadians (Smith 2004;see also Pyszczyk 1989), Hawaiians (Bayman 2009;Mills 1996Mills , 2008Mills , 2009Rogers 1993), Metís (Burley 1989(Burley , 2000Burley et al 1992Burley et al , 1996Hanks and Pokotylo 1989), Mormons (Leone 1973;Merritt 2006;Scarlett 1999Scarlett , 2006Scarlett et al 2007), and Russians (Black 2004;Blee 1985Blee , 1989Blee , 1990Blee et al 1986;Mills and Martinez 1997;Veltre and McCartney 2002) are among some of the other groups representing diaspora populations with transnational connections and multicultural histories. Whether immigrants or people just passing through, this convergence of cultures from all over the world in the North American West was powerfully fueled by industrial capitalism.…”

An Institution that was a Village: Archaeology and Social Life in the Hansen’s Disease Settlement at Kalawao, Moloka‘i, Hawaii

“…After European contact, there is widespread evidence for both changes associated with colonialism as noted above, and continuity in the settlement patterns, domestic structures, and forms of material culture that Hawaiians used (Anderson 2001;Bayman 2009;Kirch 1992;Ladefoged 1991Ladefoged , 1998Mills 2002). Residents of Kalaupapa prior to the Act to Prevent Leprosy experienced these transitions, and Hawaii's developing engagement with the capitalist world system.…”

“…Stone adzes continued to be used well into the second half of the nineteenth century (Bayman 2003). The traditional thatched house of pili grass (Heteropogon contortus) or hala (Pandanus tectorius) leaves continued to be used through the 1920s, though often with Western-style doors or windows incorporated into the structure (Bayman 2009;Brigham 1908;Hiroa 1957, pp. 75-109).…”

“…One of the most persistent kinds of Hawaiian material culture was the thatched house, which people continued to build well into the twentieth century (Bayman 2009;Brigham 1908;Hiroa 1957, pp. 75-109).…”