Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 2, 1 February 1989 — Book Review [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Book Review

Hawaiian Sculpture Revised Edition By J. Halley Cox and William H. Davenport University of Hawai'i Press 213 pages, ouer 164 ilIustrations

For many years there was only one book entirely devoted to the study of Hawaiian sculpture. Today there is still just one book devoted to the ancient carved arts of Hawai'i; however it has just been updated. Since the first printing of Hawaiian Sculpture in 1973 there has been no other resource. When the first edition went out of print, a void was left.

Thankfully the University Press decided to reprint and update the original text. For the most part the text, format, and black and white pictures remain the same. The major changes are in the cover (it is now soft bound instead of the original hard back), and in the later part of the text and index of ki'i (images). The original edition had catalogued 147 pieces. This edition includes the original number and has incorporated 17 additional pieces that were pre-

viously not catalogued. Individuals who may expect a totally revised book may be somewhat disappointed— it initially looks like the old edition reprinted with a different cover. It is however, still the only source that one ean look to for an in-depth resource in studying Hawaiian carved art. For this purpose it is a integral part of any Hawaiian library. Hopefully the future will produce a book that fulfills the entire scope of Hawaiian sculpture — the technieal, esthetic, and cultural. Keoni Nunes

Excavations at John Young's Homestead, Kawaihae, Hawai'i; Archeology at Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site By Paul H. Rosendahl and Laura A. Carter, National Park Service Western Archeological and Conservation Center, Publications in Anthropology No. 47, 1988

Arriving in 1790, John Young was one of the first foreigners to take up residence in Hawai'i after the arrival of Captain Cook. Young became a trusted advisor to King Kamehameha, often acted as translator and informant to the foreigners who eame to Hawai'i, and was a participant in major historical events of the day. He was Governor of the island of Hawai'i for ten years. In 1798, he started building a Western-style house on his land in Kawaihae. It was constructed of basalt, with mud mortar, plastered walls, and a grass roof. It is thought to be the first such house ever built in Hawai'i. He also builtacookhouse, ahouseforthe children, and a store house. Today, the ruins of John Young's homestead in Kawaihae are a part of

Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site. Rosendahl and Carter's report summarizes the results of fieldwork conducted in the summer of 1978. Eight major structural features were found during a survey of the property. Over 1,000 artifacts were recovered from the excavations; and a burial crypt was discovered in the floor of one of the house sites. A small but complete niho palaoa (whale tooth pendant) was found in the house floor along with the other house midden materials. One wonders how an artifact of such value eame to be lost in the dirt floor of the houses.

This excavation is important because it provides details of daily life at John Young's homestead not included in the surviving written records of the period. It is important because it provides a detailed record of daily life in general from the period. It is important because it provides the only archaeological study of a ruin from the early historic period in Hawaii, and it is important because hardly anything has ever been published related to the archaeology of that period of Hawaiian history. Earl Neller

John Young's homestead.