{"id":134967,"date":"2021-02-04T11:54:56","date_gmt":"2021-02-04T21:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=134967"},"modified":"2021-03-31T17:07:07","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T03:07:07","slug":"800-year-old-taro-farming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/02\/04\/800-year-old-taro-farming\/","title":{"rendered":"800-year-old taro farming techniques revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"headshot
Patrick V<\/abbr>. Kirch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ancient Hawaiian farmers may have used sophisticated engineering techniques to grow taro as far back as 800 years ago, according to research conducted by a University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa team.<\/p>\n

In July and August 2020, Department of Anthropology<\/a> Professor Patrick V<\/abbr>. Kirch<\/strong>, graduate students and Molokaʻi<\/span> community volunteers spent five weeks on the Friendly Isle conducting an archaeological mission in H\u0101lawa Valley. Archaeological surveys and excavations took place in two of the valley’s ʻili<\/span> or traditional land sections.<\/p>\n

“Some of the most interesting finds were made at two sets of stone-faced terraces that appear to have been irrigated from side-valley streams in Pualaulau and Kapana,” Kirch said. “These smaller field systems were not like typical loʻi<\/span> (taro patches) found on the main valley floor, but rather were constructed in and around boulder fields, a remarkable kind of engineering.”<\/p>\n

Kirch added, “From our excavations, it appears that the farmers who constructed these fields used a form of ‘hydraulic engineering’ to move sediments from the stream bed into the terraces, to build up soil that could then be planted in taro.”<\/p>\n

The mapping revealed extensive sets of ancient agricultural terraces along with house sites and several agricultural heiau. Excavations yielded charcoal samples that are now being analyzed and radiocarbon dated, which will provide a chronology for the development of the valley\u2019s agricultural system. Other samples are being analyzed for microscopic pollen, plant silica “skeletons” and starch grains to determine which crops were being grown.<\/p>\n

Educational opportunity<\/h2>\n
\"agricultural
Agricultural terraces in H\u0101lawa Valley on Molokaʻi<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The magnitude of the discovery was not lost on anthropology graduate student Kylie Tuitavuki<\/strong>, who is benefiting from the STEM<\/abbr> training opportunity for Native Hawaiians and other underrepresented stakeholders in field settings.<\/p>\n

“I am a big proponent of community-based archaeology, and strongly believe that research should be done with and for the people,” Tuitavuki said. “The archaeology part was great, but the stories, histories and connections we made with community members was the best part of the field season. I was excited to be able to work in the region where my family is from.”<\/p>\n

Kirch\u2019s team will continue its research in H\u0101lawa Valley this year, with the goal of understanding how the ancient “hydraulic engineers” of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> created sustainable and productive agricultural systems that endured for centuries.<\/p>\n

This research is an example of UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa\u2019s goal to promote Excellence in Research: Advancing the Research and Creative Work Enterprise<\/a> (PDF<\/abbr><\/span>), one of four goals identified in the 2015–25 Â鶹´«Ã½<\/a> (PDF<\/abbr><\/span>), updated in December 2020.<\/p>\n

Supporting Kirch\u2019s work<\/h2>\n
\"headshots
Arlen and Debra Prentice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kirch\u2019s work is supported by his longtime friend Debra Prentice<\/strong>. A UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa graduate student with research focused on Polynesian societies in the late 1970s when she met Kirch, Prentice said giving back to UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa during one of the most challenging years is testament to her lifelong interest in anthropology, her commitment to academic research and a friendship standing the test of time.<\/p>\n

She and her husband recently established the Debra and Arlen Prentice Research Fund for Pacific Island Archaeology and Anthropology<\/a>. Housed in the UH<\/abbr> Foundation<\/a>, their gift will support a graduate research assistant and discretionary expenses.<\/p>\n

“Pat\u2019s work is important,” Prentice said. “I firmly believe that in order to move forward and solve some of our challenges in today\u2019s complex world, we need to understand our history, to know where we came from and how we got here. Prehistory can teach us so much.”<\/p>\n

For more on Kirch\u2019s work, Prentice\u2019s generous contribution and additional stories visit the College of Social Sciences\u2019 website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Research revealed that farmers used a form of hydraulic engineering to grow taro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[137,301,33,1466,1467,1363,1314,1026,313,73,319,9],"class_list":["post-134967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-anthropology","tag-college-of-social-sciences","tag-hawaiian","tag-manoa-enhancing-student-success","tag-manoa-excellence-in-research","tag-manoa-research","tag-manoa-sustainability","tag-social-science","tag-stem","tag-sustainability","tag-uh-foundation","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134967"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":135007,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134967\/revisions\/135007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}