Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Andrew Ruppenstein
Taken: July 25, 2008
Caption: Menehune Ditch - looking south (with marker visible between shrubs)
Additional Description: From HawaiianEncyclopedia.Com: "The stones of the Menehune Ditch are flanged and fitted so that the smooth, flattened surfaces fit closely together. This type of cut and dressed stonework is not found anywhere else in the Hawaiian Islands. The origins and methods used in the construction of the Menehune Ditch remain a mystery. Some researchers theorize that the Menehune Ditch was built by the early Marquesan settlers, who arrived in the Hawaiian Islands about A.D. 200 to 800, and are thus considered the first “native Hawaiians.” It is possible that these first settlers of the Hawaiian Islands were responsible for the unique method of stonework used on the Menehune Ditch. This type of craftsmanship is not seen in the projects of later Tahitian settlers, who began arriving in the Hawaiian Islands around A.D. 1.000."
Submitted: January 9, 2010, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.
Database Locator Identification Number: p92155
File Size: 1.002 Megabytes

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