Fa'ahia

Faʻahia is an early Polynesian occupation site in the north-east of the island of Huahine, in the Society Islands [1]. With the neighbouring Vaitoʻotia site, it dates to between 700 CE and 1200 CE [1]. Because much of the site is waterlogged, artefacts made of organic materials have been well preserved, including wooden patu hand clubs, canoe parts and adze handles [1]. Subfossil bird bones have also been well preserved, providing much new information about the avifauna of the island around the time it was first settled by humans, demonstrating that even small islands could hold a rich variety of bird species [1]. Several excavations were conducted by Yosihiko H. Sinoto of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum [1]. Globally extinct species of land birds found at the site include two rails, the Huahine rail and swamphen; two doves, the great ground dove and Huahine cuckoo-dove; two parrots, the conquered lorikeet and Sinoto's lorikeet, and the Huahine starling [1].