Pacific Studies Journal
Abstract
On 13 and 14 September 1945, Kenneth P. Emory of the Bishop Museum investigated what he later termed “Herbert C. Shipman Cave,” twelve miles from Hilo in the northern Puna District of Hawai‘i Island. His typescript of this investigation is frequently cited, but the cave remained unidentified until recently. In 1996 a Hawaii Speleological Survey team located a signature of Emory in the upper part of Keala Cave, at the site of a 1945 newspaper fragment previously found by another Hawaii Speleological Survey team. Other pukas explored and described by Emory as part of “Herbert C. Shipman Cave” unmistakably are entrances of Kazumura Cave, a different cave in a separate flow unit of the Aila‘au Flow Field of Kilauea Volcano. While he considered the possibility that he might be wrong, Emory mistakenly thought all his exploration to be part of a single “Herbert C. Shipman Cave,” which never existed per se. Use of this name should be replaced by proper designation of Kazumura and Keala Caves, depending on the context. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal in the section of Keala Cave visited by Emory strongly suggests but does not prove that the entire cave was explored by early Hawaiians.
Recommended Citation
Allred, Kevin; Kempe, Stephan; and Halliday, W. R.
(1999)
"KENNETH P. EMORY AND “HERBERT C. SHIPMAN CAVE”: A LONG-STANDING PUZZLE SOLVED,"
Pacific Studies Journal: Vol. 22:
No.
1, Article 6.
Available at:
https://digitalcollections.byuh.edu/pacific-studies-journal/vol22/iss1/6
Included in
Archival Science Commons, Geography Commons, Hawaiian Studies Commons, History of the Pacific Islands Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons