Dig turns up no artifacts
on Coco Palms property
LIHUE » Archaeologists searching the grounds of the shuttered Coco Palms Resort property for ancient Hawaiian burial sites, trails and other information to include in a cultural impact statement have come up empty so far.
"We haven't found any burials," said David Shideler, supervising archaeologist with Oahu-based Cultural Surveys Hawaii Inc. "It's really kind of disappointing."
The resort, which closed after Hurricane Iniki in 1992, is located in an area along and around the Wailua River that was once a gathering place for ancient Hawaiians.
The area was the ancestral home of Kauai's royalty in the 13th century and was also the home of Kauai's last reigning queen, Queen Debora Kapule, a wife of King Kaumualii, in the mid-1800s.
Those factors indicated that the area should have produced many more artifacts than have been found, Shideler said.
"The area has seen a great deal of transformation over its history, including rice development by the Japanese, a coconut plantation and, of course, the Coco Palms Hotel," Shideler said.
The cultural assessment should be completed within two months, he said.
The effort is one indication that a long-awaited renovation and eventual reopening of the Coco Palms property could move forward.