Within decades of the first known contact with Europeans, in 1778, the Hawaiian language gained letters. For a brief period while petroglyphs were still a living art, letters, words, and sometimes dates were added to the great aggregation of carvings at Waikoloa.
Much of the information on this and my other Hawaii pages is from the highly recommend Spirit of Place: Petroglyphs of Hawaii, by Georgia Lee and Edward Stasack. It seems to be the most authoritative account of what we know about the carvings, and the difficulties of knowing what we know. The extensive data it lays out reflects an impressive amount of research, and the authors also appreciate the aesthetic impact of the petroglyphs. The book is out of print and copies are expensive, but you might try the library.
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