• Source: Bobcat Trail Habitation Cave

    • Bobcat Trail Habitation Cave is a historic site of Ancient Hawaiian living quarters in a remote interior area of the island of Hawaiʻi.


    Location


    Coordinates are approximate; The site is within the Puuanahulu ahupuaʻa (region) of the North Kona District on the island of Hawaiʻi. The exact location is kept restricted to avoid damage to the site.
    It is on U.S. Federal land which is part of the Pohakuloa Training Area.
    At an elevation of 5,100–9,000 ft (1,600–2,700 m), the arid area receives only 20 in (510 mm) of rainfall per year. The vegetation is a mix of subalpine and montane dry shrublands.
    It is named for the nearby Bobcat Trail, which has been proposed to be restored into part of a Mauna Loa trail system.


    History


    The trail was part of a system used before the time of King ʻUmi, who moved the royal residence to a site nearby on the same high plateau in the 16th century, now called Ahu A ʻUmi Heiau.
    Original studies were focused on the coastal areas that remain inhabited today, but
    even this more marginal area has evidence of human activity from A.D. 700 until the 18th century. Ancient Hawaiians hunted birds and gathered wood extensively on the plateau.
    They valued both seabirds that nested here for food, and forest birds for colorful feathers used in ceremonial garments.
    While hunting, they camped in the caves formed by Lava tubes, placing gourds on the floor to collect water that dripped from the ceiling. The forests provided sandalwood and medicinal plants. Bundles of sandalwood were found where they were left for later transport to the larger communities on the coast.


    Protection


    The site is state archaeological site number 10-30-5004 (this number, plus "50-" to indicate the state of Hawaii, was appended to its name on the National registry).
    It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 15, 1986 as site number 86001086.
    In 1995 a comprehensive survey of the area was funded by the U.S. Army to produce an environmental management plan.
    In 2004, another study was done for some proposed improvements to the training area.
    Although this cave is the only one listed on the register, there are several others in the area.


    See also


    Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
    Contributing property
    Cultural landscape
    Historic preservation
    Keeper of the Register
    List of heritage registers
    Property type (National Register of Historic Places)
    United States National Register of Historic Places listings
    State Historic Preservation Office


    References




    Further reading


    Athens, J.S; M. W. Kaschko (1989). Prehistoric Upland Bird Hunters: Archaeological Inventory Survey and testing for the MPRC Project Area and the Bobcat Trail Road, Pōhakuloa Training Area, Island of Hawaiʻi. Honolulu Hawaii: Prepared for the US Army Corps of Engineers, Pacific Ocean Division, Fort Shafter, Hawaii. International Archaeological Research Institute, Inc.
    Haun, Alan E. (1986). Archaeological Survey and Testing at the Bobcat Trail Habitation Cave Site (50-10-30-5004), Pōhakuloa Training Area, Island of Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi. Honolulu, HI: Prepared for the USACE, Honolulu District, Fort Shafter, Hawaii by Paul H. Rosendahl, Inc.

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