152 15th Annual SHA Conference, Kauaʻi Community College Puhi, Kauaʻi, October 11-13, 2002 The ECS Files: Culture, Biology, and Complexity Dr. Robert J. Hommon, National Park Service Culture, no matter how you view this elusive concept, is fundamental to the proper study of our species. For archaeologists to think of human beings as well-adapted organisms is not all wrong, but it is only half right. Our cultural behavior differs from that of all other organisms in fundamental ways in that we reverse Nature’s direction of control. We have only poorly appreciated our behavioral differences not because they are obscure, rare, or difficult to decipher, but because, like water for fish, they so totally envelop us, hidden in plain sight. The evolved human brain is the adaptation to end adaptations. Using our brain’s enormous capacity, we have fundamentally transformed how we interact with each other and with our environments in the following three ways. First, we have developed a powerful approach to dealing with the environment that reverses the process of adaptation. An adapting organism responds to selective pressures by modifying its form or behavior to fit its environment. In contrast, we human beings practice what we can call ecaptation, the process of altering the environment to fit ourselves by inventing taro fields, compressed air, Boeing 767s, ice sculpture, screwdrivers, beagles, tattoos, Mexico City, and all else that we modify from naturally occurring raw materials. The second uniquely human process of interest is “appropriatizing,” or "proping" for short. The behavior of other organisms is determined almost entirely by their genes and by individual experience of the environment. Our species, the most intensively social animal on the planet, have added appropriatizing, the ubiquitous, interactive process by which human agents exercise a broad array of techniques (advice, instruction, gossip, insult, humor, etc.) by which each of us constantly strives to alter the behavior of others. Among other things, this means that members of our species, far more than any other, are constantly altering our behavior without requiring shifts in gene frequencies or personal experience of the reason for the alteration. The third uniquely human feature is best understood by observing that living systems at many levels, from cells to organisms to ecosystems, operate as Complex Adaptive Systems (CASs) that exhibit distributed or polyarchical control. For example, a flock of birds in flight is not following the orders of some boss-bird, but is under the control of all the birds working together. The flock is able to act as a unit because each bird follows a set of simple mental rules that ensure that it flies close, but not too close, to the other birds. In contrast, we, alone among species, we have invented simplified subsystems that exert large-scale centralized control to accomplish tasks. One such subsystem is the stratified control hierarchy whose tiered pyramid of offices forms the framework for large-scale human groups (e.g. states, corporations, and armies). While human groups share some basic features of CASs, they differ fundamentally because they exercise marked control over the environment by means of ecaptation, distributed control over participating individuals by means of proping, and marked centralized control through stratified control hierarchies. In recognition of these differences, human groups can be termed Ecaptive Complex Systems (ECSs). Archaeology is well suited to the study of human groups as ECSs. It focuses on the ways that the ecaptively-generated factosphere (“material culture”) evidences cultural change and stability (generated by appropriatizing), as well as the origins and early history of centrally-controlled large-scale societies (“complex societies”). 153 SYMPOSIUM 1: ARCHAEOLOGY OF KAUAʻI Why Nuʻalolo Kai? Community Archaeology in the Midst of Nii Pali Alan Carpenter, Division of State Parks Nuʻalolo, among the most isolated shoreline areas in the Hawaiian archipelago, would seem an unlikely candidate to become the focus of any State Parks program. Initiated in 1996, the Nuʻalolo Kai project has nevertheless evolved into a model for parks archaeological resource management and research. This paper will take a look back at the history of archaeology at Nuʻalolo, highlight the ongoing efforts of today, and look forward to why Nuʻalolo just may represent the future of State Parks archaeology. Loʻi o Kēʻē: An Agricultural Landscape by the Sea Maurice Major Hāʻena, the last ahupuaʻa before Nā Pali District begins, has peaks and valleys and caves and sites rich in history and archaeology of the Hawaiian people. Below the peak of Makana and west of Limahuli Stream, Kēʻē presents the last level land before the coast becomes vertical, and although the area may be better known for its legends and beaches, Hawaiians made intensive use of this landscape for growing taro. As they began to do so again, community members and State Parks archaeologists cleared and mapped 4.4 acres of loʻi and ʻauwai. What they found indicated a long, stable history of managing natural systems to agricultural advantage. Adaptations to local conditions, to catastrophic natural events, and to cultural change all can be seen in surface features and sediments. Change and continuity over centuries of human presence emerge from stratigraphic analysis and from taxonomic identification of charcoal. These findings provide insight regarding models of social complexity, the development of irrigated agriculture, and the chronology of occupation. The Turning Hands of Hāʻena Irene Calis An archaeological inventory survey was conducted at Limahuli National Tropical Botanical Gardens on the island of Kauaʻi as part of the on-going rehabilitation of an abandoned taro (loʻi kalo) agricultural system. Limahuli Stream is one component that makes Limahuli Valley an extremely suitable area for the farming of kalo, and, therefore, an area for archaeological inquiry. Architectural remains within the project area represent the blueprint of a carefully designed, complex agricultural system. The degree of labor investment required to so transform this natural landscape is seen as strong evidence of the intended long-term utilization of the area for agriculture. The final configuration of the Limahuli system implies a commitment undertaken by the area’s earliest architects and farmers to provide an agricultural legacy that future generations of farmers could build upon. SYMPOSIUM 2 - ARCHAEOLOGY IN HAWAIʻI U.S. Air Force Historic Preservation Activities for the 2002 Fiscal Year Fred L. McGhee and Valerie Curtis, Hickam Air Force Base 154 This paper will present a brief snapshot of U.S. Air Force cultural resource management activities for the 2002 fiscal year. Presentation of a “Historic Preservation Compliance Report” is an annual requirement, although this presentation will hopefully also serve as a brief introduction to DoD and USAF CRM policies and procedures for people unfamiliar with them. We will familiarize people with the 15th Air Base Wing’s land base in Hawaiʻi, and will discuss how the Air Force works with Section 106, NAGPRA, ARPA, and so forth. Most of the discussion will be archaeology focused, although there will be some discussion of the Air Force’s historic architecture and TCPs. The Waimea Field System Reconsidered: Implications of the Waimea Town Center Project Greg C. Burtchard and M.J. Tomonari-Tuggle, International Archaeological Research Institute, Inc. An association of low earthen ridges, cross-cutting irrigation channels, and small residential localities on the Waimea Plain was first documented in the 1980s during archaeological survey for proposed highway improvements between Kawaihae and Waimea town. Called the Waimea Field System, this complex has been described in the archaeological literature as one of three major agricultural complexes that were developed in the late precontact period to intensify agricultural production on leeward Hawaiʻi Island. Recent investigations on the Waimea Plain suggest a reconsideration of the field system. First, it is smaller than originally recorded, with more than half of the “field ridges” found to be the result of World War II military activity. Second, the irrigation network, which was thought to be a defining component of the Waimea system, is a result of mid to late 19th commercial agriculture. The earthen field ridges and residential sites remain evidence of prehistoric use of the Waimea Plain. Earliest residential locations date to the early 1400s, although the greatest overlap among dates is the late 1600s. Paucity of midden remains, multiple, overlapping hearths, and minimal investment in structural features at these sites suggests seasonal and/or limited duration use; most plausibly in support of dry-land sweet potato production in nearby fields. Low earthen ridges appear to be windbreak accumulations associated with this or subsequent agricultural practices on the plain. Ukumehame’s “Hidden” Heiau Vanessa J. Potter A brush fire in 1999 revealed a previously unknown site in the West Maui Mountains. The structure’s characteristics are consistent with other late prehistoric heiau in Maui. Its apparent isolation offers an interesting opportunity for study as the structure does not appear to have been supported by any nearby areas of permanent settlement. Work conducted at the site included preparation of an instrument plan map. A radiocarbon date obtained from a test unit indicated that