A temporary exhibition is open on the beach of the Pokaibaai on the west coast of Oahu, one of the islands of the Hawaii archipelago. The drone photo above gives an overview of what can be seen. It concerns a total of 26 petroglyphs, drawings that have been carved into sandstone. The abstract images were estimated to be made more than 600 years ago by the original Polynesian population of Hawaii.
The drawings appeared in mid -July from under the sand, which had been temporarily washed away due to the local weather conditions and sea currents. In 2016 they became discovered for the first time Due to a Texan couple during a beach walk. At the time, archaeologists identified seventeen figures, but the time was too short to accurately map them. Shortly after the discovery, the branding covered them again with a new layer of sand.
Now a larger part of archaeological art seems to be uncovered, with 26 performances that extend over a width of 35 meters of beach. It concerns eighteen human -like figures, primitively drawn as stick people, and some abstract performances. They vary in size from 15 centimeters to more than two meters. Some have a line between the legs, which suggests that the maker meant that they are of the male sex.
The indigenous population has a religious meaning to the drawings. Resident Glen KilaIn their own words, a direct descendant of the Aboriginals who was the first to settle on the west coast of Oahu hundreds of years ago, sees the largest human figure that holds one hand up and one hand down a symbol for the emerging and setting sun.
Glen Kila with the petroglyphs.
Photos Mixshin Lin/AP
For Kila, the inscriptions tell the story of his ancestors. He interprets that the drawings now appear on the surface again as a supernatural warning for the rise in sea level.
The location is in a bay with holiday homes of the American army, and that fuels the old discussion about who belongs to the country. In the 1930s, the locals, including the Kila family, had to give way to the army.
But The US Army emphasizes That the beach is publicly accessible, and that it takes good care of the cultural heritage on its site. It reports that archaeologist Laura Gilda has now carefully captured the drawings with three -dimensional photography before they disappear under the sand again.
Hawaii has more of such locations with archaeological inscriptions. In the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is Pu’uloa with more than 23,000 Petroglyphen, which in Hawaiian ki’i pōhaku to be named.