Cultural Archaeology of Ka‘upulehu Dryland Forest

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Not all artifacts are dead and buried, and not all stories are kept in memories, this research focus on a belief that plants are natural grown landmarks and archaeological artifacts; a natural storyteller of time. In the discipline of archaeology, scholars stresses the importance of artifacts (archaeological artifacts); ‘an object made by a human being, for example, a tool or ornament, especially one that has archaeological or cultural interest’. This research stresses the idea of (native) plants as artifacts, not made by human beings but is altered by their activity. In this paper I wanted to promote the understanding that cultural and natural resources are interrelated, this I believe is the mindset of ancient Hawaii. The focus area of the research is on the ahupua’a of Kaʻūpūlehu (Kaʻulupūlehu) specifically the dryland forest of Kaʻūpūlehu.