Wind erosion and intensive prehistoric agriculture: A case study from the Kalaupapa field system,Moloka'i Island,Hawai'i

Wind erosion is a major problem for modern farmers, a key variable affecting nutrient levels in ecosystems, and a potentially major force impacting archaeological site formation; however, it has received scant consideration in geoarchaeological studies of agricultural development compared with more easily quantifiable environmental costs, such as vegetation change or fluvial erosion. In this study, soil nutrient analysis is used in the Kalaupapa field system, Moloka'i Island, Hawai'i, to detect an increase in wind erosion attributable to intensive agriculture following the burning of endemic forest. This practice began on a small scale in the 13th century A.D., expanded around cal A.D. 1450–1550, and continued until the near total abandonment of the fields after European contact in the 18th century. Nutrients that naturally occur in high amounts in coastal windward areas due to the long‐term, cumulative effect of sea spray were especially impacted. However, thanks to the unique landform of the Kalaupapa Peninsula, nutrient depletion in windward areas was offset by downwind enrichment and likely contributed to the long‐term sustainability of the system as a whole. Future research on tropical and arid agriculture should consider the cumulative environmental cost of increased eolian erosion attributable to anthropogenic landscape modification. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.