Waikoloa Petroglyph Reserve

[khiemtran]

Come with me on a walk around the petroglyphs at Waikoloa Beach...




To get there, you can follow the Mamalahoa Trail ("The Kings' Trail) across the lava flow. This trail was made in the nineteenth century and is meant to help horses and donkeys cross the treacherous lava. Apparently, riders could fall asleep in the saddle and their trail-wise mounts would keep going, because there was nowhere else to go...



The petroglyph reserve lies at some sort of territorial border. It is not clear what meanings or purpose they once had.



Were they part of some ceremony or border markings? A form of writing? Or just another form of graffiti?



The Hawai'ians had at least two different words for lava. Pahoehoe, which is smooth and flowing and 'A'a, which is rough and jagged. I think that's pahoehoe on the left and 'a'a on the right.



Sometimes the surface layer crumbles to reveal caves underneath.



The petroglyphs appear in many different patterns.







Some are also obvious human figures...



You can also find rock shelters on the smooth bits of lava, where travellers would have slept or waited for permission to cross the boundary. The open sides always face away from the prevailing (Northeast) trade winds.



Next: let's go for a swim!

Comments

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

I'm having a hard time seeing how the glyphs were made. Are they scratched into the lava or do you think they were formed before the lava fully hardened?

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

They're carved into the lava. Some of them are quite recent, and you can see where the Roman alphabet first made its appearance, amongst the other markings.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Is the cobweb-stuff in the first picture actually dead grass? Or something else?

So many of the glyphs are circular, as if the circle was the primary form, with additions and variations.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, there's a particular type of plant that grows on the lava (you can see it in the third photo) and the cobweb-like pattern is actually dried stalks.