Unearthing the Mysteries of Hawai'i's Ancient Agriculture

Unearthing the Mysteries of Hawai'i's Ancient Agriculture

In the Kōhala district, a peninsula on the northern tip of the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, are the remains of a 25-square-mile system of pre-contact agriculture. Called the Kōhala Field System, its network of mounds and shallow depressions is so extensive it’s visible on Google Maps: Zoom in on Kōhala and the archaeological infrastructure is apparent, interconnected ripples underneath the contemporary cattle fields. “Like swells on the ocean, ” said …