Abstract

The earliest archaeological sites anchor discussions of the timing, speed, and direction of colonization of continents, single archipelagos, and individual islands, and new discoveries of the oldest sites often cause reevaluations of settlement models and culture-histories at various scales. Consequently, the oldest sites have continued to garner great interest amongst archaeologists worldwide. Here we report a suite of 21 AMS radiocarbon age determinations from a deeply stratified sandy mound habitation situated at an environmentally diverse “hot-spot” along the south-central leeward shore of Moloka‘i, Hawaiian Islands. Despite its ecological position in a dry leeward region – what some have called “high risk zones” – the ease of access and concentration of vital resources, including potable water, nutrient-rich gardening soils, and marine and freshwater biota was a magnet for early colonists. The faunal content, site stratigraphy, and geomorphological context of the Kawela Mound is described documenting rapid change in the dynamic landscape over several centuries. A Bayesian analysis of the Kawela Mound radiocarbon dates places earliest habitation at a modeled age of AD 1121–1262 (median AD 1210) making it one of the earliest habitations in the Hawaiian Islands. We provide a model for discovering early sites on leeward coastal Moloka‘I, which should be applicable elsewhere.

摘要

最早的考古遗址主要讨论大陆、单一群岛和个别岛屿的殖民化时间、速度和方向，而最古老遗址的新发现往往会引起对不同规模的定居模式和文化历史的重新评估。因此，最古老的遗址继续引起全世界考古学家的极大兴趣。在这里，我们报告了一套 21 个 AMS 放射性碳年龄测定，这些测定来自位于夏威夷群岛 Moloka'i 中南部背风海岸的一个环境多样化的“热点”的深层分层沙丘居住地。尽管它处于干燥的背风区的生态位置——有些人称之为“高风险区”——但重要资源的获取和集中非常方便，包括饮用水、营养丰富的园艺土壤、海洋和淡水生物群吸引了早期的殖民者。描述了 Kawela 丘的动物群、遗址地层学和地貌背景，记录了几个世纪以来动态景观的快速变化。对 Kawela Mound 放射性碳测年法的贝叶斯分析将最早的居住年龄定为公元 1121–1262 年（中位公元 1210 年）使其成为夏威夷群岛最早的居住地之一。我们提供了一个模型，用于发现背风海岸 Moloka'I 的早期遗址，该模型应该适用于其他地方。