Uhau humu pōhaku, or dry stacking, is masonry without mortar or metal joinery. “Each layer is locked into place by the one below.” (Gino Bergman; Simon)
Other gravity-resistant touches include inwardly tilting facades and adjacent stones that clench together like upper and lower jaws of teeth. (Simon)
“[S]tone structures of the old Hawaiians … were of rough stone, dry laid, and consist of pyramidal and enclosed temples which will properly be considered with the Ancient Worship, and extensive walls enclosing fish preserves on the fringing coral reefs, which belong again to the Fisheries.”
“In both these stone works it was the great labor expended in collecting, transporting and placing the stones rather than any architectural skill that made them noteworthy. … Cut stones for building purposes were rare, and in all cases they were shaped from slabs of lava by patient hammering.”
“The stone walls of the heiau often tumbled down on Hawaii in the frequent earthquakes, but I do not know that they were ever made the objects of the victor’s destroying wrath in the interminable petty wars, while the walls of the fish ponds were usually broken down to let out the fish and so materially injure the conquered owners.” (Brigham)
The Great Wall, or Pā Puʻuhonua, is a massive L-shaped structure that bounds the puʻuhonua on its eastern and southern sides. The wall stands nearly 12 feet tall, 18 feet in width, and stretches 965 feet in length. Constructed over 400 years ago, the Great Wall continues to protect the puʻuhonua, the people, and ceremonial sites contained within from the outside world.
The Great Wall was built using traditional, dry masonry techniques in which unmodified cobbles and boulders were fitted together without the use of mortar. The structure was originally constructed with two outer walls faced with ‘alā (volcanic stones, often water worn and with smooth faces).
Archaeological investigations conducted in the 1919 and 1963 revealed two distinct techniques of masonry design within the interior of the structure.
The first style, known as pa’o (caverned), is an open work construction technique accomplished by laying lava slabs on top of upright columns. This architectural style is unique to the Pu‘uhonua o Honaunau park lands and, thus far, has been documented nowhere else on the Hawaiian Archipelago.
The other type of interior construction noted within the Great Wall is haka haka or vacant spaces. Commonly used throughout Hawaiʻi Island, haka haka uses broken, angular stone rubble to fill the interior cavity of the outer walls. (NPS)
However, not all of the rock walls you see were built by Hawaiians. “Although the role of Japanese immigrants in shaping Hawaiian plantation culture is frequently acknowledged, their contributions to paniolo culture have been underemphasized.”
“The first Japanese contract laborers arrived in Hawai‘i in 1885, primarily to harvest sugarcane and pineapple. The Humu’ula Sheep Company made use of the same labor pool, particularly in the summer when most sheep shearing took place.”
“H. Hackfeld & Company also owned a number of sugar plantations and moved Japanese contract laborers seasonally depending on where they were needed.” (Peter Mills)
Maly notes that the primary tasks for the Japanese employees at the sheep station included, “construction of stone walls, fences, and carpentry; sheering and herding sheep; baling wool; trail and road work; garden work; setting of phone poles and lines; weeding thistle and gorse; and general facility maintenance.” (Kumu Pono)
By 1885, the Humu‘ula lease was held by the Humu‘ula Sheep Company, which in that year obtained the lease for the east side of Ka‘ohe, while Parker Ranch continued to lease the west side. The company hired immigrant stonemasons to build stone walls around their grazing lands in the 1890s; portions of these are still standing. (CARA)
“Through 1890 and the summer of 1892, the names of 29 Japanese laborers and 12 Chinese laborers appear in August Haneberg’s journal. They worked on various tasks, including shearing sheep, building walls, weeding, working on a cart road between stations, and constructing a telephone line between Kalai’ehā and Hopuwai.” (Peter Mills)
“Between 1893 and 1895, many miles of stone walls were built by several Japanese laborers who camped at the Humu‘ula headquarters. The fence along the south boundary, the kīpuka [oasis within a lava bed] of ‘Āina hou near Pu‘u Huluhulu, is still intact in portions along the Saddle Road.”
“Parts of the wall were buried in the 1935 lava flow. The north wall can still be seen meandering steeply up the Mauna Kea slope from the Humu‘ula-Mānā Road near Pu‘u‘ō‘ō.” (Billy Bergin)
“Billy Paris was saying that [with the] 1928 or ’29 earthquake, he was thinking too, that out at Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a when the earthquake happened, they brought in a lot of Japanese stone wall masons and they went into the mountain … to go rebuild the walls that were required.” (Kepa Maly)
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