178 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 76 



carefully leveling and smoothing a straight, narrow strip of ground 

 to an}^ length desired, a slight wall being thrown up along each 

 margin. 



Pottery was unknown, there being no clay suitable for making it. 

 Calabashes or gourds and wooden trays served as receptacles, though 

 stone dishes or bowls are sometimes found. Along the coast occur 

 sinkers, either plummet-shaped or half-ovoid like an egg divided 

 lengthwise. This form has a groove around the longer diameter, 

 crossing the flat face, and was tied to a white shell as a sinker in 

 catching squids or cuttlefish, a hook being attached to the line. Coral 

 was much used as files or rasps. There are a few objects whose pur- 

 pose is problematical; and some highly jjolished black disks which, 

 laid flat and covered with a film of water, make excellent mirrors; 

 but aside from what is here mentioned, not much worked stone is 

 found. Wood, bone, and shell served as the raw material for nearly 

 all other needs. 



Graves, or what are supposed to be graves, marked by cairns 3 

 or 4 feet high, or perhaps by only one or two layers of stones, are 

 found, though rare. Many so-called caves — which are merely " tun- 

 nels," " bubbles," or " blow-holes " in the lava — were utilized as burial 

 vaults. The natives vigorously protested against an attempt to ex- 

 cavate any of these, claiming that their ancestor or members of 

 their families are buried in them and must not be disturbed. In 

 the dunes human skeletons are frequently exposed by the shifting of 

 the sands by the high wind. The natives seem to have little regard 

 lor these. Perhaps they are of the " common people," while cairns 

 cover the chiefs or priests. There is a tradition that in "the old 

 times " most of the dead were cast into the ocean as an offering to 

 the Shark God. 



There are no momids or other structures of earth ; everything was 

 built of stone. All structures began at the surface of the ground. 

 No evidence has been found of an occupation earlier than that of the 

 present Hawaiian people. At no point examined in ravines or cliffs 

 was there the slightest hint of human life at a period antedating 

 that beginning with the race discovered by Captain Cook. Conse- 

 quently no extended excavations were attempted. The results of 

 some examinations made in three different places will be presented. 



About 10 miles in an air line from Kaunakakai and the same 

 distance from Mr. Cooke's home, on a mountain known as Mauna 

 Loa, is a narrow, sharp ridge extending nearly south and terminat- 

 ing abruptly at the junction of two deep ravines. On the end of this 

 are two house sites, or heiaus, which had never been disturbed. 

 They are as nearly rectangular as the irregular stones of which they 

 are built will permit. The larger (A) has its south wall at the 

 edge of the low cliff, with its sides nearly on the cardinal lines. 



