Lamp

A rounded poho kukui (stone lamp). The vessel has a rounded base, sides flaring to the rim, and thick walls. In the original cataloguing, the vessel was identified as a kapuahi kuni. A kapuahi kuni is a stone container used in ritual practice.

In Hawaiʻi, stone was utilized extensively for both practical and ceremonial purposes. Stone lamps (poho kukui), commonly fashioned from porous lava, were filled with kukui or kamani nut oil and fitted with kapa cloth wicks. These lamps ranged from widely used cylindrical forms to specialized types. Stone cups likewise varied in form and function, serving in the preparation of kapa dyes, handling fishing bait, ritual offerings, and even percussive accompaniment in hula performances. In medicinal contexts, kahuna lapaʻau (medical practitioner) employed stone cups for therapeutic blistering treatments, while sacred vessels known as kapuahi kuni ʻanāʻanā were integral to the sorcery practice of pule anaana, in which personal remains were ritually burned and dispersed. Material and craftsmanship differed according to purpose, with utilitarian cups made from dense brown lava and ritual objects requiring more careful shaping and polishing.