Pearlshell Fishhook- Kau, HI

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Institution: Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum

State: Hawaii

Object: Hook

Era: 17th Century

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In 1958, archaeologists recovered this pearlshell fishhook from Wai‘ahukini Rockshelter in Hawai’i. Before the islands were unified, the rockshelter functioned as an early fishing shelter for over four hundred years. This was one of 415 fishhooks found 18.5 inches below ground. A piece of coconut in the same layer was used to date the deposit between AD 1620-1660.

Scientists debate if fishhook shapes were influenced by material, function, or stylistic preferences. Early analyses predicted that hook angles determined the direction in which the hook is pulled out of water. Therefore, “rotating hooks”, like the one above, are designed to rotate out of the water in a lateral direction.

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Sources:

• Graves, Michael W., and Windy K. McElroy. "Hawaiian fishhook classification, identification, and analysis, Nu ‘alolo Kai (Site 50-30-01-196), Kaua ‘i." Na Mea Kahiko O Kaua ‘i: Archaeological Studies in Kaua ‘i. Special Publication 2 (2005): 188-211.

• Sinoto, Yosihiko H. "A revised system for the classification and coding of Hawaiian fishhooks." Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 31 (1991): 85-105.

• Emory, Kenneth Pike, William J. Bonk, and Yosihiko H. Sinoto. Waiahukini Shelter site (H8), Ka'u, Hawaii. Anthropology Department, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, 1969.

• Mulrooney, Mara A., Kelley S. Esh, Mark D. McCoy, Simon H. Bickler, and Yosihiko H. Sinoto. "New Dates from Old Samples: A Revised Radiocarbon Chronology for the Wai ‘ahukiki Rockshelter Site (H8), Ka ‘ū District, Hawai ‘i Island." McElroy and Komori (2014): 17-26.

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