Dark Hill of Omens, Hill of Seeking: Ethnography of Place and Petroglyphs in Hawaii

Abstract

Near the west-central coastline of Hawaii is a natural lava tumulus with two faint petroglyphs pecked into its upper surface. This tumulus is located not only on the transition zone between the coast and the interior of the island, but also on the boundary between two ahupua'a (traditional land divisions). The placement of the petroglyphs on an area of transition accords with the placement of other petroglyphs on the edges of natural zones, settlements, and features. Viewed in the light of their liminal placement and relevant ethnographic accounts, the petroglyphs visually represent the embodied self as a transition between ancestors of the past and offspring of the future. It was along the edges of the spirit world's “darkness,” such as body extremities or landscape boundaries, where the managiving powers of the ancestors were most readily accessible.