Before European contact, the adze quarry near the summit of Mauna Kea was almost certainly one of the most important sites of industry in the Hawaiian islands. It was here that the best adzes, or ko`i, were manufactured out of the dense, fine-grained stone.
With the onset of foreign trade, Hawai`i no longer had need of the many adze quarries dotting the islands, including the high-elevation quarry on Mauna Kea. A report on “Hawaiian Antiquities” carried in The Pacific Commercial Advertiser of October 28, 1862, suggests that in the span of a few generations, memory of the quarry had grown dim.
“On a recent tour around Hawai`i,” the report states, “Dr. Wm. Hillebrand ascended to the summit of Mauna Kea, in company with Charles Hall and Capt. Cumings. About 1500 feet below the top, on a side of the mountain seldom visited by either foreigners or natives, they discovered an ancient manufactory of stone implements. It consists of a cave, in front of which was a pile of stone chips 25 feet high, which had evidently accumulated from the manufacture of stone adzes, maika balls, etc., etc., which lay scattered about in an unfinished state. In front of the cave was found a wooden idol, in good preservation, which, with the pedestal attached to it, measures nearly five feet high. In form the image very much resembles that pictured in Jarves’ History, page 27. Bones of pigs and dogs, kapa, pieces of cocoanut shells, fragments of hewn wooden implements, sea shells, and many other curiosities were also found.
“The party loaded their guide and themselves with as many of these curiosities as they could carry and returned to Waimea. On reaching Rev. Mr. Lyons’ residence, the discovery soon became noised abroad among the natives, who flocked to the mission premises to learn the truth of the report.
“On inquiry among them, no person appears ever to have heard of the existence of the manufactory – even the oldest natives were ignorant of it. From this it is inferred that its antiquity must date back beyond the present generation.
“On reaching Kona, Dr. H. learned from Capt. Cumings that an old native was living there, who in his younger days had heard the place spoken of by his fathers, but nothing definite can be learned regarding it.
“The discovery forms an interesting incident in Hawaiian History, and may lead to further searches and perhaps discoveries regarding the ancient customs of this people.”
In 1981, more than a century after Hillebrand’s visit, nearly 4,000 acres encompassing the quarry were set aside as a state Natural Area Reserve.
— Patricia Tummons
Volume 12, Number 1 May 2002
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