Understanding Hawaiian temples: a new angle on the role of ritual sites

The Hawaiian temple system developed over many centuries before being shut down in 1820. It was the arrival of Christianity on the islands that spelled the end for the old gods, but the beliefs associated with them were not forgotten. These had once been passed from generation to generation as part of a rich oral tradition, but with Christianity came literacy. In the decades after the closure of the temples, some islanders were encouraged to write down accounts of their history and culture. The result is a wealth of information about pre-Christian rituals, which is supplemented by earlier European voyagers’ accounts. Captain James Cook, for instance, visited in the late 1770s, when temple