Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 5, 1 May 2000 — Mokuʻula find [ARTICLE]

Mokuʻula find

An anthropologist at the Califomia Academy of Sciences says remote sensing instmments have pinpointed the primary home of King Kamehameha III buried under a ballpark in Lahaina. Paul Christian Klieger of the academy in San Francisco and Susan Lebo of Bishop Museum used electromagnetic conductivity to obtain an image of the l-acre royal island of Moku'ula lying under about three feet of fill. The researchers had unearthed a basalt wall, pier and ceramics at the area in 1993. The site was originally buried in 1904 to make what is now Malu'uluolele County Park. The residence of Kamehameha III, who ruled from 1825-1854, was built over the grotto of the lizard goddess Kihawahine, protector of the royal family. Plans are for the royal complex to be excavated, stabilized and restored.