- MD
Sidestep: Hawaiian - American NW link?
Most nations had similar sorts of stone pounders. The below are Maori, Tahitian, Hawaiian and Alaskan
The most well formed were the ones from Hawaii in this shape (below)
And Tahiti had the most elaborate...
It seems that those who sailed from Tahiti to Hawaii kept very basic styles. that reveal the bases as similar but with less elaborate handles. But as we eluded to in a recent article, the Menehune of Kauai Island in Hawaii had a thriving population before the Tahitians arrived. Their style was different as shown below and is unique to Kauai.
But it always intrigued us as to why it was so different. Then we saw an article about American NW contact with the pacific. So we researched ancient NW pounders/Pestles. Look what we found...!
So the above are from a place supposedly unconnected to the peoples of the Pacific Islands, yet the styles are remarkably similar.
Is that just coincidence? It might be, but many believe there was regular contact between the American NW Coast and Kauai before the Tahitians came. Hawaii and the NW coast were never regarded as being linked by ocean travel. However, even the Taino of the Caribbean have pounders of a style close to that of Tahiti and NZ.
What does this prove? Nothing really! It just shows that only two places have this link and they are separated by the ocean, and that many similarities from the NW Coast are found in the Pacific. We don't believe the normal Pacific explorer model. We see the whole Pacific linked in a criss-cross pattern when the ocean currents allowed whihc have chnaged with land mass and weather chnages over milennia.
