Makua Valley blaze
uncovers cultural sitesThe Army reports unexpected
benefits from the runaway fire
Last week's two-day wildfire in the Makua Valley training area burned off vegetation that covered unrecorded archaeological and agricultural terraces, the Army says.
Army natural resource personnel and members of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service surveyed the 2,100 acres destroyed in the July 22 fire, Army spokeswoman Capt. Kathy Turner said yesterday.
Laurie Lucking, Army cultural resources manager, said that in the eastern portion known as Kahanahaiki Valley, "a number of archaeological and agricultural terraces of which we were previously unaware" were discovered.
There are at least 53 historical sites throughout the training area, some of which are being evaluated for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.
Kahanahaiki Valley is one of three valleys that make up the 4,190-acre Makua Military Reservation. Kahanahaiki Ridge separates Kahanahaiki Valley from Makua Valley, where most of the Army training takes place in an area marked off by a firebreak road. The Ukanipo Heiau, which some archaeologists believe was a place where bodies of the alii were placed until they were ready for burial in a designated cave, is located at the front of the valley.
Archaeologists believe that the heiau was a luakini, reserved for use by chiefs as a place of human sacrifice.
The controlled burn was supposed have taken place within the confines of the firebreak road, but winds in the valley shifted and flames jumped over the firebreak road into Kahanahaiki Valley and crossed portions of Farrington Highway. As late as Monday, city firefighters were called out to investigate complaints of smoldering debris oceanside of Farrington Highway.
