Two tourists from Texas stumbled onto a collection of Hawaiian petroglyphs in Wai‘anae. Sands shifted by the tide revealed at least 17 figures, stretching over roughly 60 of beach. While the figures may have been seen in the past… it’s the first time the State Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Land and Natural Resources is documenting the site.
The petroglyphs were only viewable for a short time, before being recovered by sand from the changing tide and DLNR officials say they are committed to protecting the discovery whether it’s visible or not. Alton Exzabe is an archaeologist with the Army and was one of the first on the scene. He was interviewed in a video released by the DLNR.
Exzabe and fellow archaeologists from the DLNR encourage people to look and not touch the petroglyphs if they become reexposed.
They say the process of scraping sand away by hand or with brushes can damage the integrity of the figures.
https://vimeo.com/178115352">Waianae Petroglphs Media Clips from https://vimeo.com/user10051674">Hawaii DLNR on Vimeo.
