Two lucky tourists from Texas made an incredible archaeological discovery during a July visit to Hawaii. They found a rare series of petroglyphs on Hawaii’s Waianae coast on the island of Oahu.
A 400-year-old petroglyph discovered on Hawaii shoreline. Image credit: Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Lonnie Watson and Mark Louviere from the Ft. Worth, Texas metro area, discovered at least 10 figures, stretching over 60 feet of beach.
The petroglyphs are believed to be roughly 400 years old, and were created by aboriginal inhabitants of the Waianae coast.
Archaeologists from the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and the U.S. Army have been working together to record and document the petroglyphs; which now number at least 17 figures.
400-year-old petroglyphs. Image credit: Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.
“They record our genealogy and religion,” said Glen Kila, a lineal descendent of the aboriginal families who first settled in Nene’u on the Waianae Coast. His family home is a short ways from the petroglyph field.
“It’s very important to know about the lineal descendants of the area and their understanding of these petroglyphs.”
“The interpretation of these petroglyphs can only be interpreted by the lineal descendants who are familiar with its history and culture.”
“We can now come up with a plan to further protect and preserve this site,” said Army archaeologist and Waianae native Alton Exzabe.
“The ones with the fingers, for me, are pretty unique.”
“I believe there are some elsewhere with fingers, but fingers and hands are pretty distinct, as well as the size of them.”
“We find a lot of petroglyphs that are a foot or so tall, but this one measures 4-5 feet from head to toe,” Exzabe said.
“It’s pretty impressive,” he added.
