NEW HAWAIIAN PETROGLYPHS DISCOVERED BY TEXAS TOURISTS:

Waianae Coast, Oahu, Hawaii.

Photograph from LiveScience.

In an August 10, 2016, story on LiveScience, contributing writer Stephanie Pappas reported on the discovery of petroglyphs on the beach at Oahu's Waianae Coast on the western side of the island.

Newly discovered petroglyphs on

the Waianae Coast, Oahu, Hawaii.

Photograph from LiveScience.

A layer of horizontal sandstone rock on the beach is normally covered by sands which can be shifted and moved by wave action. Two tourists from Texas were there at just the right time to see exposed engraving in the rock layer. At the time of Pappas' writing seventeen carvings have been found along the shoreline. Most of the images are human figures with one measuring 1.5 meters (almost 5 feet) tell.

Newly discovered petroglyphs on

the Waianae Coast, Oahu, Hawaii.

Photograph from LiveScience.

Finding petroglyphs right on the shoreline is rare, but some locals report that they have seen them before. They had not, however, been previously reported or recorded.

Newly discovered petroglyphs on

the Waianae Coast, Oahu, Hawaii.

Photograph from LiveScience.

"The plan for the preservation of the petroglyphs is still in its infancy, a Department of Land and Natural Resources spokesman told Live Science. The agency's State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) will work with the Army  to develop a plan. The petroglyphs are extremely fragile, and even brushing sand away from them can damage them, archaeologists said. They are an important part of Hawaii’s culture and while sands have covered them again, in time they will reappear and we want to make sure people know that they are fragile and culturally sensitive and should only be viewed; not touched," Alan Downer, SHPD administrator, said in a statement." (Pappas/LiveScience)

Newly discovered petroglyphs on

the Waianae Coast, Oahu, Hawaii.

Photograph from LiveScience.

If the Hawaiian SHPD stated that "even brushing sand away from them can damage them", one has to ask what the tide washing sand back and forth over them daily is doing, or do they believe that the water provides a cushion protecting them from sand erosion?

In any case the Waianae Coast petroglyphs provide an interesting and valuable new addition to knowledge of Hawaiian rock art.

REFERENCES:

http://livescience.com