A Newly Identified Basalt Adze Quarry at Honoko‘i Gulch, East Moloka‘i, Hawaiian Islands

ABSTRACT To date, no quarries were known on the eastern part of Moloka‘i Island, and it was assumed that the Kaluako‘i quarries on West Moloka‘i supplied the East Moloka‘i communities with adze material. Here, we report on the identification of a major quarry at Honoko‘i Gulch, near Hālawa Valley at the island's eastern tip. Fine‐grained basalt (technically hawaiite‐mugearite) exposed in a massive cliff was extracted and reduced to adze preforms at the quarry itself as well as at several flaking areas. EDXRF analysis of the quarry material demonstrates that it is identical to the Group A basalt debitage previously analyzed at the Hālawa Dune Site, indicating that the Honoko‘i quarry was a significant source of adze material for the occupants of Hālawa Valley. Radiocarbon dates from Honoko‘i and from the Hālawa Dune Site indicate that the quarry was in use from as early as AD 1366–1610. An unusual feature at the quarry itself is the presence of several anthropomorphic petroglyphs.