In August of 1989, a diver searching for shellfish found two unusually
shaped stones in the sandy bottom of a coral reef. The stones were discovered
at a depth of approximately 5 feet in the surf zone of Pila'a Beach on
the northern shore of Kaua'i (Figure
1). The diver said that the stones
were found together in a small sandy area that was surrounded by coral.
That is why these stones stood in contrast with the surrounding area.
The two stones, heavily encrusted with coral growth, were inspected by
a marine biologist at Kaua'i Community College. The coral, algae and shellfish
growth were very active when taken from the water. All organisms were common
Hawaiian reef life forms. This indicated that the stones, which proved
to be adzes, did not come from areas outside of Hawaiian waters.
The adzes were treated in the chemistry laboratory at Kaua'i Community
College by the chemistry instructor using sulfuric acid baths over a period
of two to three weeks. The encrustations could be peeled off in places,
while in other places they needed to be carefully chiseled away. Prior
to the acid treatment, portions of the adzes showed a very deep black color,
but after treatment they became a dull gray color, evidently chemically
altered by the acid.
After the chemical treatment, both adzes were cleaned and prepared for
coring. Fortunately, during the chemical treatment, a small chip of one
adze had become detached and this was used for petrographic analysis. The
other adze had to be cored using a 1/4 inch diamond tip core drill. Coring
was done by the carpentry instructor at the college, using a heavy duty
drill press. A small core was extracted from the butt end of the adze.
Unfortunately, the drill press distorted the core tool and the sample could
not be extracted except for some small pieces from the core tube. Both
the core tube samples and the small detached flake were sent to Dr. Yoshihiko
Sinoto of the Bishop Museum for further petrographic study. Dr. Sinoto
worked with Dr. Sinton of the Hawaii' Geophysical Institute of the University
of Hawai'i in the analysis of both samples.
The first adze was large, measuring 36 cm. in length, 7.6 cm. in width,
and 6.5 cm. in height at its midsection. The adze weighed 3.56 kg. (7.83
lb.) with coral encrustations and 3.4 kg. (7.48 lb.) without them. The
adze had a trapezoidal cross section with the top surface being convex,
giving the bit an oval cutting edge. The striking feature was the slight
downward tang with pecked surfaces. The rest of the adze's surface were
ground.
The second adze measured 25.5 cm. long, 6.5 cm. wide and 5.3 cm. high at
its midsection. It weighed 2.1 kg. (4.62 lb.) with coral encrustation and
2.0 kg. ( 4.4 lb.) without them. The adze had a quadrangular cross section
but showed a flared body ending in a wide axe-like bit. This adze showed
no sign of a distinct tang nor a pecked surface. In this adze, all surfaces were
ground(Figure 2).
The adzes were atypical for the following reasons. Both were quite large
and heavy, and they lacked a distinct angular tang. One adze showed the
indications of pecking technique to provide a rough surface at the butt
end for lashing to a handle. The other adze showed a distinct flaring axe-like
plan view, while the first showed a curved, convex top surface.
These factors suggest that the adzes either were very early adze types
in the Hawaiian culture or that they were brought to these islands from
somewhere else in the Pacific. The answer to these questions may come from
the petrographic analysis.