Home Region:  Polynesia (Oceania-Australia)

Hawaii I

1000 CE 1200 CE

D G SC WF HS EQ 2020  us_hawaii_1 / Hawaii1



Preceding Entity: Add one more here.
[NO_VALUE_ON_WIKI] [None]   Update here

Succeeding Entity: Add one more here.
1200 CE 1580 CE Hawaii II (us_hawaii_2)    [continuity]

Hawai’i, also known as the Big Island, is the largest island of the Hawaiian archipelago. Recent estimates for the date of initial settlement by Polynesian voyagers have varied from 800 to 1250 CE, but the latest Bayesian model, based on palaeoenvironmental data and a carefully defined set of archaeological radiocarbon dates, suggests that the archipelago was first colonized between 1000 and 1100. [1] Our ’Hawaii 1’ designates the earliest phase of Hawai’i’s prehistory, from around 1000 to 1200, before most of the changes characteristic of Kirch’s ’expansion period’, including a rapid rise in population, took place. [2]
Population and political organization
According to reconstructions of Hawaiki, the ancestral Polynesian homeland, ancient Polynesians recognized the authority of the *ariki, that is, the head of a lineage, who had both secular and sacred authority and was in charge of most, if not all, rituals. [3] However, a few thousand years separate Ancestral Polynesians from the earliest Hawaiians, and it is not clear how much the latter retained of the former’s culture and sociopolitical organization. The earliest island-wide unitary kingdom on the Big Island emerged around 1580; [4] before then the Big Island was probably divided into several small, independent polities. [5]
The founding population was probably about 100 people, due to the limited capacity of the canoes the first settlers likely used to reach the islands. [6] This population probably grew somewhat between 1000 and 1200, but no up-to-date estimates could be found in the literature — an estimate of 20,000 inhabitants for the entire archipelago around 1100 dates to 1985, when the earliest phase of human occupation was thought to have begun around 600 CE. [7]

[1]: (Athens, Rieth and Dye 2014) J. Stephen Athens, Timothy M. Rieth and Thomas S. Dye. 2014. ’A Paleoenvironmental and Archaeological Model-Based Age Estimate for the Colonization of Hawai’i’. American Antiquity 79(1): 144-55.

[2]: (Kirch 2010, 127) Patrick V. Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

[3]: (Kirch 2012, 45) Patrick V. Kirch. 2012. A Shark Going Inland Is My Chief. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

[4]: (Kirch 2010, 174) Patrick V. Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

[5]: (Kirch 2016, personal communication)

[6]: (Kirch 2010, 129) Patrick V. Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

[7]: (Kirch 1985, 302) Patrick V. Kirch. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.

General Variables
Social Complexity Variables
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Religion Tolerance Coding in Progress.
Human Sacrifice Coding in Progress.
Crisis Consequences Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions Coding in Progress.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range Hawaii I (us_hawaii_1) was in:
 (1000 CE 1199 CE)   Big Island Hawaii
Home NGA: Big Island Hawaii

General Variables
Identity and Location
Utm Zone:
5 Q

Original Name:
Hawaii I

Capital:
None (Absent Capital)

Inferred [1] There was no developed urbanism [2] .

[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press.

[2]: Kirch, P. V. 2000. On the Road of the Winds: An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands Before European Contact. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 300.


Alternative Name:
Island of Hawaii

Big Island of Hawai’i, Hawai’i Island, Island of Hawai’i, Big Island, Owyhee, Owhyhee; Hawaii ... cannot yet be machine read. “Hawai’i” is also spelled “Hawaii”

Alternative Name:
Big Island

Big Island of Hawai’i, Hawai’i Island, Island of Hawai’i, Big Island, Owyhee, Owhyhee; Hawaii ... cannot yet be machine read. “Hawai’i” is also spelled “Hawaii”

Alternative Name:
Owyhee

Big Island of Hawai’i, Hawai’i Island, Island of Hawai’i, Big Island, Owyhee, Owhyhee; Hawaii ... cannot yet be machine read. “Hawai’i” is also spelled “Hawaii”

Alternative Name:
Owhyhee

Big Island of Hawai’i, Hawai’i Island, Island of Hawai’i, Big Island, Owyhee, Owhyhee; Hawaii ... cannot yet be machine read. “Hawai’i” is also spelled “Hawaii”

Alternative Name:
Hawaii

Big Island of Hawai’i, Hawai’i Island, Island of Hawai’i, Big Island, Owyhee, Owhyhee; Hawaii ... cannot yet be machine read. “Hawai’i” is also spelled “Hawaii”

Alternative Name:
Hawaii Island

Big Island of Hawai’i, Hawai’i Island, Island of Hawai’i, Big Island, Owyhee, Owhyhee; Hawaii ... cannot yet be machine read. “Hawai’i” is also spelled “Hawaii”

Alternative Name:
Big Island of Hawaii

Big Island of Hawai’i, Hawai’i Island, Island of Hawai’i, Big Island, Owyhee, Owhyhee; Hawaii ... cannot yet be machine read. “Hawai’i” is also spelled “Hawaii”


Temporal Bounds
Peak Years:
1200 CE
 

For this early period, ‘peak date’ may be meaningless. If it should be coded, however, 1200ce (the end of the time period) makes sense because this was when the population was the largest and the society presumably the most developed. [The period when the polity was at its peak, whether militarily, in terms of the size of territory controlled, or the degree of cultural development. This variable has a subjective element, but typically historians agree when the peak was.]


Duration:
[1000 CE ➜ 1200 CE]
 

Justification for starting date: It is approximately the date of initial settlement. Based on the most up-to-date information, Kirch [1] concludes that the islands were likely first settled between 800CE and 1000CE. Some have argued for an earlier settlement, as early as 300CE, and in earlier works, Kirch found this scenario plausible [2] [3] . New starting date following an exchange with Patrick Kirch: "Most archaeologists would now say that initial Polynesian settlement did not occur until about AD 1000. Refer to Athens et al. 2014, American Antiquity 79:144-155 for latest Bayesian estimate of the chronology of Hawaiian colonization." [4] Justification for ending date: 1200CE is when most of the changes characteristic of Kirch’s ‘expansion period’ began, including a rapid rise in population [5] .

[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 126-7.

[2]: Kirch, P. V. 2000. On the Road of the Winds: An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands Before European Contact. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 291.

[3]: Kirch, P. V. 1984. The Evolution of the Polynesian Chiefdoms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pg. 77.

[4]: (Kirch 2016, personal communication)

[5]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 127.


Political and Cultural Relations
Suprapolity Relations:
unknown [---]


Preceding Entity:
NO_VALUE_ON_WIKI [None]    Update here
 

Thought to be first human settlement - although petroglyphs found possibly dating to 300 CE.

Succeeding Entity:
1200 CE 1580 CE Hawaii II (us_hawaii_2)    [continuity]  
 

Degree of Centralization:
quasi-polity

Inferred. [1] There was little stratification at this time, and probably no ‘state’ in any real sense. ’Hawaii 1 is very difficult to say, but most likely to have been several independent polities - maybe as many as 5 or 6. ’Umi-a-Liloa is said to have been the first to consolidate all of these into one island-wide polity, and he is dated genealogical estimation to ca. AD 1570-1590, toward the end of your Hawaii2 period’. [2]

[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press.

[2]: (Kirch 2016, personal communication)


Language
Linguistic Family:
Austronesian

Language:
Old Hawaiian

The settlers probably came from the Marquesas, so they presumably spoke an old version of Marquesan. Since this became the modern Hawaiian language, it could also be called Old Hawaiian.


Religion

Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Polity Territory:
[1,700 to 3,000] km2

square kilometers. The area of the entire Big Island is 10,432 km², but it is unclear what the size of the ‘typical’ polity in this quasi-polity would be. "Hawaii 1 is very difficult to say, but most likely to have been several independent polities--maybe as many as 5 or 6." [1]

[1]: (Kirch 2016, personal communication)


Hierarchical Complexity
Settlement Hierarchy:
1

During this period the population lived in small-size settlements


Professions
Professional Soldier:
absent

The following refers to Ancient Hawaiki, not Hawaii. The former is the ancestral Polynesian homeland, in the first millennium BCE. It’s not entirely clear how much of their ancestral heritage the earliest Hawaiians might have retained. Expert guidance needed. Some linguistic evidence for the existence of a war chief, *sau [1] .

[1]: (Kirch & Green 2001, 234)


Professional Priesthood:
absent

The following refers to Ancient Hawaiki, not Hawaii. The former is the ancestral Polynesian homeland, in the first millennium BCE. It’s not entirely clear how much of their ancestral heritage the earliest Hawaiians might have retained. Expert guidance needed. "As best we can infer, in ancient Hawaiki the *ariki played a role that was part secular leader, part priest. He had the responsibility for conducting most if not all of the sacred rituals of the group, including supplications to the ancestors." [1]

[1]: (Kirch 2012, 45)


Professional Military Officer:
absent

The following refers to Ancient Hawaiki, not Hawaii. The former is the ancestral Polynesian homeland, in the first millennium BCE. It’s not entirely clear how much of their ancestral heritage the earliest Hawaiians might have retained. Expert guidance needed. Some linguistic evidence for the existence of a war chief, *sau [1] .

[1]: (Kirch & Green 2001, 234)


Bureaucracy Characteristics
Specialized Government Building:
absent

inferred from discussion in sources of development/introduction in later periods


Merit Promotion:
absent

inferred from discussion in sources of development/introduction in later periods


Full Time Bureaucrat:
absent

inferred from discussion in sources of development/introduction in later periods


Examination System:
absent

inferred from discussion in sources of development/introduction in later periods


Law
Professional Lawyer:
absent

inferred from discussion in sources of development/introduction in later periods


Judge:
absent

inferred from discussion in sources of development/introduction in later periods


Formal Legal Code:
absent

inferred from discussion in sources of development/introduction in later periods


Court:
absent

inferred from discussion in sources of development/introduction in later periods


Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Market:
unknown

Irrigation System:
absent

Referring to Ancestral Polynesian society: "But the development of large-scale terracing, canal networks, and the like were technological elaborations that would accompany much later stages in the transformation of Polynesian societies." [1]

[1]: (Kirch & Green 2001, 131)


Food Storage Site:
unknown

"In short, the archaeological testimony of appropriately sized and shaped pits in many Ancestral Polynesian sites, combined with strong linguistic evidence, leaves little doubt that the fermentation and storage of breadfruit and possibly other starchy crops was a practice well known to the early Polynesians." [1] However, it is unclear whether authorities had any control over such features.

[1]: (Kirch & Green 2001, 160)


Drinking Water Supply System:
absent

Referring to Ancestral Polynesian society: "But the development of large-scale terracing, canal networks, and the like were technological elaborations that would accompany much later stages in the transformation of Polynesian societies." [1]

[1]: (Kirch & Green 2001, 131)


Transport Infrastructure
Road:
unknown

Port:
unknown

Canal:
unknown

Bridge:
unknown

Special-purpose Sites
Mines or Quarry:
unknown

Information / Writing System
Written Record:
absent

The pre-contact Hawaiians had no writing. [1]

[1]: (Kirch 2010, 75-76) Patrick Vinton Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.


Script:
absent

The pre-contact Hawaiians had no writing. [1]

[1]: (Kirch 2010, 75-76) Patrick Vinton Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.


Phonetic Alphabetic Writing:
absent

The pre-contact Hawaiians had no writing. [1]

[1]: (Kirch 2010, 75-76) Patrick Vinton Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.


Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Scientific Literature:
absent

The pre-contact Hawaiians had no writing. [1]

[1]: (Kirch 2010, 75-76) Patrick Vinton Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.


Sacred Text:
absent

The pre-contact Hawaiians had no writing. [1]

[1]: (Kirch 2010, 75-76) Patrick Vinton Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.


Religious Literature:
absent

The pre-contact Hawaiians had no writing. [1]

[1]: (Kirch 2010, 75-76) Patrick Vinton Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.


Practical Literature:
absent

The pre-contact Hawaiians had no writing. [1]

[1]: (Kirch 2010, 75-76) Patrick Vinton Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.


Philosophy:
absent

The pre-contact Hawaiians had no writing. [1]

[1]: (Kirch 2010, 75-76) Patrick Vinton Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.


Lists Tables and Classification:
absent

The pre-contact Hawaiians had no writing. [1]

[1]: (Kirch 2010, 75-76) Patrick Vinton Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.


History:
absent

The pre-contact Hawaiians had no writing. [1]

[1]: (Kirch 2010, 75-76) Patrick Vinton Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.


Fiction:
absent

The pre-contact Hawaiians had no writing. [1]

[1]: (Kirch 2010, 75-76) Patrick Vinton Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.


Calendar:
absent

The pre-contact Hawaiians had no writing. [1]

[1]: (Kirch 2010, 75-76) Patrick Vinton Kirch. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.


Information / Money
Token:
unknown

Significant "wealth economy" in the form of precious feathered garments (cloaks, capes, helmets, lei) which was very important to the ruling elite (the ali’i). [1] This may be true of more recent periods, can it be extended backwards?

[1]: (Kirch 2016, personal communication)


Precious Metal:
absent

[1]

[1]: (Kirch 2016, personal communication)


Paper Currency:
absent

’Needless to say, there was no money (in Diamond’s words, no "abstract, intrinsically valueless medium for appropriating surplus, storing value, and deferring payment or delaying exchange") in precontact Hawai’i’. [1]

[1]: (Trask 1983, 99) Haunani-Kay Trask. 1983. ’Cultures in Collision: Hawai’i and England, 1778’. Pacific Studies 7 (1): 91-117.


Indigenous Coin:
absent

’Needless to say, there was no money (in Diamond’s words, no "abstract, intrinsically valueless medium for appropriating surplus, storing value, and deferring payment or delaying exchange") in precontact Hawai’i’. [1]

[1]: (Trask 1983, 99) Haunani-Kay Trask. 1983. ’Cultures in Collision: Hawai’i and England, 1778’. Pacific Studies 7 (1): 91-117.


Foreign Coin:
absent

’Needless to say, there was no money (in Diamond’s words, no "abstract, intrinsically valueless medium for appropriating surplus, storing value, and deferring payment or delaying exchange") in precontact Hawai’i’. [1]

[1]: (Trask 1983, 99) Haunani-Kay Trask. 1983. ’Cultures in Collision: Hawai’i and England, 1778’. Pacific Studies 7 (1): 91-117.


Information / Postal System
Postal Station:
unknown

General Postal Service:
unknown

Courier:
unknown

Information / Measurement System

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
Wooden Palisade:
unknown

Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "The Hawaiians generally did not build fortifications, but non-combatants could find sacred sanctuary in places of refuge known as pu’uhonua." Pg 4. [1]

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


Stone Walls Non Mortared:
absent

Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "The Hawaiians generally did not build fortifications, but non-combatants could find sacred sanctuary in places of refuge known as pu’uhonua." Pg 4. [1] . Nevertheless, there does appear to evidence for some stone walls, but I’m not sure if they are used in warfare. The “Great Wall” at Hōnaunau, built around 1600 CE, was over 300m long, 3m high and 5m wide [2] [3] . Lapakahi also had a “Great Wall”, which was built between about 1450 and 1500 CE [4] .

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[2]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pp. 162-4

[3]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 164.

[4]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 178.


Stone Walls Mortared:
absent

Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "The Hawaiians generally did not build fortifications, but non-combatants could find sacred sanctuary in places of refuge known as pu’uhonua." Pg 4. [1] . Nevertheless, there does appear to evidence for some stone walls, but I’m not sure if they are used in warfare. The “Great Wall” at Hōnaunau, built around 1600 CE, was over 300m long, 3m high and 5m wide [2] [3] . Lapakahi also had a “Great Wall”, which was built between about 1450 and 1500 CE [4] .

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[2]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pp. 162-4

[3]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 164.

[4]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 178.


Settlements in a Defensive Position:
unknown

Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "defenders more commonly established a fortress site known as a pali (cliff) or pā kauau (war enclosure), a “natural or artificial fortress, where they le their wives and children, and to which they fled if vanquished in the field.” One kind of fortress was the point of a narrow, steep-sided ridge that had been made somewhat defensible by digging deep trenches" Pg 35-36. [1]

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


Modern Fortification:
absent

Inferred [1]

[1]: Kuykendall, Ralph S. 1968[1938]. The Hawaiian Kingdom, Volume 1: 1778-1854, Foundation and Transformation. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.


Moat:
unknown

Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "The Hawaiians generally did not build fortifications, but non-combatants could find sacred sanctuary in places of refuge known as pu’uhonua." Pg 4. [1]

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


Fortified Camp:
absent

Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "The Hawaiians generally did not build fornications, but non-combatants could find sacred sanctuary in places of refuge known as pu’uhonua." Pg 4. [1]

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


Earth Rampart:
unknown

Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "The Hawaiians generally did not build fortifications, but non-combatants could find sacred sanctuary in places of refuge known as pu’uhonua." Pg 4. [1]

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


Ditch:
unknown

Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "One kind of fortress was the point of a narrow, steep-sided ridge that had been made somewhat defensible by digging deep trenches" Pg 35-36. [1]

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


Complex Fortification:
absent

Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "The Hawaiians generally did not build fortifications, but non-combatants could find sacred sanctuary in places of refuge known as pu’uhonua." Pg 4. [1]

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


Long Wall:
absent

Military use of Metals
Steel:
absent

[1]

[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press.


Iron:
absent

[1]

[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press.


Copper:
absent

[1]

[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press.


Bronze:
absent

[1]

[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press.


Projectiles
Tension Siege Engine:
absent

[1]

[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press.


Sling Siege Engine:
absent

[1]

[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press.


Sling:
unknown

They may have had these, as they were present later in Hawaiian prehistory [1] .

[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 70.


Self Bow:
unknown

It is unlikely these were used, as later in Hawaiian prehistory bows and arrows were used only for sport, not for war [1] .

[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 70.


Javelin:
unknown

Presumably they had these, as throwing spears were used later in Hawaiian prehistory, but evidence is needed. [1] . Similarly, if Polynesian ancestors had spears too this would be good converging evidence.

[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 70.


Handheld Firearm:
absent

[1]

[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press.


Gunpowder Siege Artillery:
absent

[1]

[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press.


Crossbow:
absent

[1]

[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press.


Composite Bow:
unknown

It is unlikely these were used, as later in Hawaiian prehistory bows and arrows were used only for sport, not for war [1] . Moreover it is implausible that a weapon as complex as a compound bow would be invented but then abandoned, leaving no archaeological trace.

[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 70.


Atlatl:
unknown

Presumably they didn’t have these as they do not appear later in Hawaiian prehistory.


Handheld weapons
War Club:
unknown

Presumably they had these, as they were appeared at European contact, but direct evidence is needed. pg 515. [1]

[1]: Jolb, Michael, J. and Dixon, Boyd 2002. Landscape of war: Rules and conventions of conflict in ancient Hawai’i (and elsewhere). American Antiquity, 67, 514-534.


Sword:
unknown

Lists of weapons at contact don’t mention swords. [1]

[1]: pg 517. Jolb, Michael, J. and Dixon, Boyd 2002. Landscape of war: Rules and conventions of conflict in ancient Hawai’i (and elsewhere). American Antiquity, 67, 514-534.


Spear:
unknown

Presumably they had wooden spears, as they appeared at European contact, but direct evidence is needed. [1]

[1]: pg 517. Jolb, Michael, J. and Dixon, Boyd 2002. Landscape of war: Rules and conventions of conflict in ancient Hawai’i (and elsewhere). American Antiquity, 67, 514-534.


Polearm:
unknown

Presumably they didn’t have these, as they didn’t appeared at European contact, but direct evidence is needed. [1]

[1]: pg 517. Jolb, Michael, J. and Dixon, Boyd 2002. Landscape of war: Rules and conventions of conflict in ancient Hawai’i (and elsewhere). American Antiquity, 67, 514-534.


Dagger:
unknown

Presumably they had these, as wooden daggers appeared at European contact, but direct evidence is needed. Wooden daggers. [1]

[1]: pg 517. Jolb, Michael, J. and Dixon, Boyd 2002. Landscape of war: Rules and conventions of conflict in ancient Hawai’i (and elsewhere). American Antiquity, 67, 514-534.


Battle Axe:
unknown

There are some almost axe-like weapons at contact, but they should probably be treated as clubs.


Animals used in warfare
Horse:
absent

No horses in Hawaii at this time.


Elephant:
absent

No elephants in Hawaii at this time.


Donkey:
absent

No donkeys in Hawaii at this time.


Dog:
absent

Hawaiians had dogs, but I have found no references to their use in war.


Camel:
absent

No camels in Hawaii at this time.


Armor
Wood Bark Etc:
unknown

No mention of any armor in a "weapons and armor" section on Hawaiian warfare at contact. [1] Probably true of earlier period, but more evidence is probably needed.

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


Shield:
unknown

No mention of any armor in a "weapons and armor" section on Hawaiian warfare at contact. [1] Probably true of earlier period, but more evidence is probably needed.

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


Scaled Armor:
absent

No metals at this time.


Plate Armor:
absent

No metals at this time.


Limb Protection:
unknown

No mention of any armor in a "weapons and armor" section on Hawaiian warfare at contact. [1] Probably true of earlier period, but more evidence is probably needed.

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


Leather Cloth:
unknown

No mention of any armor in a "weapons and armor" section on Hawaiian warfare at contact. [1] Probably true of earlier period, but more evidence is probably needed.

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


Laminar Armor:
absent

No metals at this time.


Helmet:
unknown

No mention of any armor in a "weapons and armor" section on Hawaiian warfare at contact. [1] Probably true of earlier period, but more evidence is probably needed.

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


Chainmail:
absent

No metals at this time.


Breastplate:
unknown

No mention of any armor in a "weapons and armor" section on Hawaiian warfare at contact. [1] Probably true of earlier period, but more evidence is probably needed.

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


Naval technology
Specialized Military Vessel:
absent

Fortifications


Small Vessels Canoes Etc:
present

Canoes were present at contact and being used for war and must have been present during earlier periods to reach Hawaii, so we can assume that they were at this time too.


Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service:
absent


Human Sacrifice Data
Human Sacrifice is the deliberate and ritualized killing of a person to please or placate supernatural entities (including gods, spirits, and ancestors) or gain other supernatural benefits.
Coding in Progress.
Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions
Coding in Progress.