Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures

DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_9105-2
# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Astronomical Monuments in Polynesia and Micronesia

César Esteban*
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

The pre‐European inhabitants of the Pacific Islands were skillful and frequent interisland navigators.
The most accurate directional indicators used by the Polynesian and Micronesian islanders – still
used today in several parts of Oceania – were the rising and setting positions of stars (Akerblom,
1968; Gladwin, 1970; Goodenough, 1953; Grimble, 1931; Lewis, 1994). The measurement of
stellar positions and their movement over the celestial sphere was an important task for the ancient
seafarers. In fact, astronomy was treated as a branch of navigation by the ancient Tongans (Collocott,
1922), and, as the Jesuit priest Fr. Cantova reported from castaways from Woleai (Caroline Islands)
at Guam in 1721, “The only thing they learn are some vague principles of astronomy to which most
apply themselves due to its usefulness in navigation” (Lewis, 1994, p. 112). The navigators defined
the sailing directions by the use of “star compasses,” which divide the horizon into a number of parts
identified by the rising and setting positions of the stars. There is ample evidence of the use of a 32‐
direction “star compass” by the ancient and contemporary navigators of the Caroline Islands
(Goodenough, 1953, pp. 5–24; Gladwin, 1970, pp. 147–165; Lewis, 1994, pp. 102–111). The
references for the use of a “star compass” in Polynesia are ancient and scarce. The most detailed
one is by Andía y Varela, who led a Spanish expedition to Tahiti in 1774 (Corney 1913–1919,
2, pp. 284–285; Lewis, 1994, p. 84).
There are few ethnohistoric references about systematic observation of the Sun or Sun worshiping
in Polynesia. For example, Behrens, in 1737, says that in the early morning, Easter Island inhabitants
“had prostrated themselves towards the rising sun and had kindled some hundreds of fires which
probably betokened a morning oblation to their gods” (Behrens, 1908, p. 133). There are some
vague indications of solstitial observation in pre‐European Pukapuka and New Zealand (Beaglehole
& Beaglehole, 1938, p. 349; Makemson, 1941, pp. 85–86) and the more explicit ones are in Hawaii
(see Kirch, 2004a, and references therein). However, the most clear evidence of Sun observations is
in Mangareva (Gambier Islands), where Buck (1938, pp. 414–415) indicates that “two stones were
set up to form sights” to determine the solstices exactly.
There are several ethnological studies about Polynesian names of stars, constellations, and the
calendar, the most important compilations being those by Makemson (1941) and Johnson and
Mahelona (1975). A new revised work by Johnson, Mahelona, and Ruggles is expected to appear
in 2014. In a recent synthesis of historical anthropology, Kirch and Green (2001, pp. 260–276) have
reconstructed essential aspects of ancient Polynesian time reckoning and ritual cycle. They describe:

1. An annual seasonal cycle divided in two parts originally based on a wet–dry seasonality and the
yam cultivation cycle.
2. A sidereal cycle based on the observation of the heliacal and acronychal rising of the Pleiades
(named Mataliki in Proto‐Polynesian).
3. An agricultural annual lunar calendar of 13 months.

*Email: cel@iac.es

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4. A system of intercalation for keeping the synchronization between the lunar calendar and solar
year. This system was based on the observation of Pleiades risings but, in some cases, at least in
Mangareva and Hawaii, also on solar observations at solstices.

It is surprising that there have been rather few attempts to correlate the ethnographic material
about celestial lore and the alignments of the ubiquitous ceremonial stone structures across the
whole Pacific area.
There are few archaeoastronomical studies in Polynesia and they are not systematic except for
Easter Island and – in recent years – Hawaii. In the case of Micronesia, the situation is even worse.
As far as I know, there has been no archaeoastronomical fieldwork on orientations of prehistoric
Micronesian stone monuments except the works by Esteban (2007, 2014). In the following, I will
review the main results of different research works in the Pacific area. Not all the islands groups are
included because an important number of them are lacking any kind of archaeoastronomical study.
Ferdon (1961) made the first report of astronomical alignments in Polynesia as part of the
investigations of the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition to Easter Island in 1955–1956. This
author proposed that a group of cup‐marked boulders (the so‐called Sun stones) at the village of
Orongo was oriented astronomically; however a reanalysis made by Lee and Liller (1987) has
shown that such claims can be discounted. The archaeologist Mulloy (1975) discovered the unusual
orientation of one of the scarce inland moai platforms (the moai are the large imposing Easter Island
statues): Huri A Urenga, which faces the point where the Sun rises at the June solstice. Liller and
Duarte (1986) performed an excellent analysis of the orientations located at this monument,
reinforcing the astronomical interest of the site and finding other possible astronomical orientations.
Mulloy (1961) and Smith (1961) also reported possible solar alignments in other coastal moai
platforms of Easter Island, such as those of Vinapu 1 and 2 (December solstice sunrise and equinox
sunrise, respectively) and Tepeu (December solstice sunrise).
Liller (1989) has made a systematic study of orientations defined by several hundred ahu (an ahu
is a raised platform inside a temple) and moai platforms on Easter Island, finding that there is
marginal evidence of alignments related to the solstices or equinoxes. He finds a definite trend
among coastal ahu being oriented parallel to the coast (approximately 90 %), with the sculptures or
moai facing out to sea. Considering the ahu with long sides nonparallel to the shoreline (a sample of
26 ahu), there is an overwhelming tendency for these monuments to be oriented in the direction of
the equinox rising points and an extra one or two ahu aligned in the direction of the solstice rising
points (Fig. 1). Regarding the inland platforms, Liller finds there is a weak tendency to have the moai
look in the direction of the rising of the Sun at the June solstice, and Huri A Urenga stands out as the
most remarkable case. More recently, Edwards and Belmonte (2004), considering the outstanding
ethnographic importance of Matariki (the Pleiades star cluster see, e.g., Tilburg, 1994, pp. 100–103)
and Tautoru (Orion’s Belt) as markers of ceremonies and agricultural activities in the traditional
calendar of Easter Island and the absence of solar references or cults, propose that the aforemen-
tioned solstitial and equinoctial alignments of the ahu platforms could be interpreted as being instead
alignments to the Pleiades and Orion’s Belt risings or settings. The declination of those asterisms is
incidentally very similar to those of the Sun at the June solstice (Pleiades) and to the Sun at the
equinoxes (Orion’s Belt).
Since the pioneering studies of the Hawaiian stone temples (heiau) by Stokes in 1906–1909
(published in 1991: Stokes, 1991), Emory (1924) and Bennett (1931) it has been usually considered
that the orientation of the heiau was determined by the local topography and environmental
considerations, commonly facing the sea or valley. Moreover, as Kirch (2004a) has pointed out,
the rich Hawaiian ethnohistory is largely silent about heiau orientations. Only the native Hawaiian

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8
JS E DS
7
6

Number
5
4
3
2
1
0
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150 165 180
Azimuth (degrees)

Fig. 1 Number histogram of the orientations of the perpendicular to the long side of 26 ahu within 500 m of the coast
and with long axes skewed by more than 20
to the adjacent shoreline of Easter Island measured by Liller (2000b). Data
are binned in 3
interval. JS, E, and DS indicate the azimuths of the rising sun at June solstice, the equinoxes, and
December solstice, respectively. Note the overwhelming tendency of east–west orientations (Diagram adapted from
Liller (2000b))

scholar Malo (1951) indicates that the cardinal directions could have been important for the
positioning of the audiences in the heiau during the ceremonies. Chauvin (2000) defends the low
probability of premeditated solar alignments in the stone temples considering that neither solstices
nor equinoxes played any role in the Hawaiian calendar or in religious practices. On the other hand,
Kirch (2004a) indicates that the major Hawaiian deities were associated with particular directions
and seasonal orientations on the basis of what is known of traditional Hawaiian theology. This
assertion suggests that the finding of astronomical alignments in temple platforms may not be
disregarded. On the other hand, Ruggles (2001) is also optimistic, at least in the possibility of some
symbolic celestial connections in the heiau taking into account the large number of names of stars
and other celestial objects in the traditional Hawaiian names for places in the landscape. Ethno-
graphical data give evidences of solar observations among the ancient Hawaiians. For instance,
Kamakau (1976, pp. 13–14) indicates the existence of persons who observe the stars and a class of
priests who advised concerning building and locating temples who were skilled in reckoning the
months of the year and following the Sun movement. This author (1976, p. 14) also describes solar
observation from the island of Kauai based on the rising or setting of the Sun over relevant
topographic features of the horizon in particular moments of the year.
Rubellite Johnson carried out the first archaeoastronomical studies in Hawaii in the 1980s. Da
Silva and Johnson (1982) first suggested a possible “astronomical‐directional register” in the Ahu
a ’Umi Heiau, a platform located on the island of Hawaii, the highest and the farthest inland heiau of
the Hawaiian archipelago. Johnson (1993) also studied the small island of Kahoolawe, where oral
tradition suggested that it had once been a place of important astronomical and navigational activity.
Meech and Warther (1996) have made an interpretation of some hula or sacred chants of the
Hawaiians in terms of astronomical alignments that can be found in the archipelago, specially
related to the solstices. However, reassessments based on more precise measurements have shown
that the alignments claimed by those authors are not sufficiently precise in most cases (Ruggles,
1999). Moreover, the results obtained by Ruggles seem to indicate an interest in solar zenith passage
as much as and perhaps more than in the solstices. In a subsequent paper, Ruggles (2001) presents
a systematic study in Kaua’i trying to correlate ritual and sky traditions with the architectural
alignments of a large sample of heiau, a promising new approach in Polynesia where many traditions
are still alive or collected in the rich ethnological legacy. In this last study, Ruggles finds no
consistent patterns with regard either to orientation upon topographic features or to orientation
upon celestial objects, although some intriguing relationships are found in some particular sites.

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8
7
JS E DS
6
5

Number
4
3
2
1
0
0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175
Azimuth (degrees)

Fig. 2 Number histogram of the orientations of the perpendicular to the back side of 32 stone temples of Necker Island
(Hawaii Archipelago) measured by Liller (2000a). Data are binned in 5
intervals. JS, E, and DS indicate the azimuths of
the rising sun at June solstice, the equinoxes, and December solstice, respectively. Note that the temples show two
preferred orientations: one east–west and the other around the December solstice sunrise (Diagram adapted from Liller
(2000a))

8
7 E S W
6
Number

5
4
3
2
1
0
5 55 105 155 205 255 305 355
Azimuth (degrees)

Fig. 3 Number histogram of the orientations of 23 heiau at Kahikinui (Maui Island, Hawaii Archipelago) measured by
Kirch (2004a). Data are binned in 10
intervals. The position of the cardinal points is indicated by letters. The data show
three clear concentrations: one facing the east, another facing east–north–east, and a third one facing north, Kirch
(2004a) believes these orientations were deliberate and likely related to a particular god of the Hawaiian pantheon

However, other works have been successful in finding rather clear astronomical orientations in
ancient Hawaiian temples. Liller (2000a) has studied the orientations of 32 stone temples in the tiny
Necker Island. This island has two relevant particularities: (a) it has an astonishingly large number of
temples considering the small size of the island and (b) the island center is located almost exactly at
the latitude of the Tropic of Cancer in the year AD 1000. This last particularity implies that the
ancient inhabitants of Necker would have realized that the Sun was directly at their zenith at midday
of the June solstice. In fact, Liller has found that 9 of the 32 temples of Necker are aligned with the
setting June solstice and/or the rising December solstice (Fig. 2). Finally, Kirch (2004a) has
performed an analysis of the orientations of a sample of 23 heiau of Kahikinui (Maui Island).
This author has found that temple foundations tended to have three preferred orientations: east,
east–north–east, and north (Fig. 3). Kirch has correlated these results with ethnohistoric and
ethnographic data proposing that:

1. The east orientations may be associated with god Kane, because this deity was associated with the
Sun and the east direction.

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2. The east–north–east cluster of orientations may be related to either the summer solstice sunrise or
the rising of the Pleiades. In fact the acronychal rising of this asterism determined the onset of the
Makahiki season and the new year; this group of temples may be dedicated to the god Lono, who
was linked to the annual rising of the Pleiades.
3. The temples oriented to the north face the summit of the high mountain Haleakala (“House of the
Sun”) and may be dedicated to Ku, a deity linked to high mountains, to the sky, and to forest.

Archaeoastronomical studies in islands of Eastern Polynesia, apart from the aforementioned ones
for Easter Island and the Hawaiian archipelago, are very scarce. Liller (1993) presents an analysis of
orientation data (obtained from direct measurements by the author and from good quality topo-
graphical maps) of over 50 ceremonial stone platforms in various archipelagos of Polynesia (Society
Islands, Hawaiian Islands, Rarotonga, and the Trilithon of Tonga) finding no clear astronomical
trends except perhaps in some isolated cases. In a subsequent paper, Liller (2000b) gives an excellent
review of archaeoastronomical fieldwork carried out in Polynesia and presents some new results
based on the reanalysis of large sets of published plans from the literature and some other new data
obtained by the author. Concerning the archipelagos of Eastern Polynesia, Liller presents histograms
of orientations of temples belonging to the Tuamotus (52 temples) and the Society Islands (105 tem-
ples) as well as some preliminary and sparse data of Mangareva, the Cook Islands, and the Austral
Islands. The general conclusion of that paper is that the orientation of the Polynesian ceremonial
platforms was controlled by the physical situation. Most of the monuments are located on the shore
and lie parallel or perpendicular to the immediate shoreline. Astronomical alignments are present
only in some isolated cases. The remarkable mara’e. (Mara’e, also spelled mala’e or maa’e, are
stone or coral slab temples) Tapu‐tapu‐a‐tea, possibly one of the most important in all Polynesia,
located on Raiatea (Society Islands) has its long inland‐facing wall oriented to an azimuth of 6.
30 .
Liller (2000b) suggests that the perpendicular to the wall may be oriented to the rising point of the
southern portion of the constellation of Orion: perhaps Orion’s Belt or Rigel. Other important marae
of the Society Islands, such as those of Tainu’u (Rai’atea), Matairea‐rahi and Anini (Huahine),
Marotetina (Borabora), Mahaiatea (Tahiti), and Tetii (Mo’orea), are also oriented to within a few
degrees of that of Tapu‐tapu‐a‐tea (Liller, 2000b). This finding could be relevant in the context of the
ethnohistorical accounts of Henry (1928, p. 363) who writes the following concerning the birth of
heavenly bodies in ancient Tahitian tradition: “the chiefs of the skies. . . were royal personages. . .
from the period of darkness, and they each had a star. They bore the names of those stars, and those
names have been perpetuated in their temples in this world.” This account suggests that the finding
of stellar alignments in the mara’e cannot be considered strange (Kelley & Milone, 2005, p. 347).
On the other hand, unpublished archaeological surveys of mara’e in the Faaroa Valley (Raiatea) and
Matairea Hill (Huahine) carried out by Edmundo Edwards indicate that a fraction between 20 % and
30 % of the monuments show solstice orientations, although Liller (2000b) considers that Edward’s
results, at least for Huahine, are only circumstantial.
As in the case of the aforementioned Necker Island in the Northern Hemisphere, there are several
islands of Eastern Polynesia located close to – in this case – the Tropic of Capricorn. Tubuai
(Australs) was located only 23 km north of this tropic in AD 1000 (Liller, 2000a). Vérin (1969)
found that four out of six mara’e reported on this island show alignment with the December solstice
sunset. However, Edwards (2003) indicates that those presumed orientations could be only acci-
dental considering that the nearby shoreline has precisely the same orientation. This last author
reports a survey of 92 mara’e on Raivavae (Austral Islands), an island also very close to the Tropic
of Capricorn, finding that about 14 % of the monuments are astronomically oriented. In particular,

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the large mara’e Unuaru (whose walls are not parallel to the shoreline) as well as other mara’e of
Raivavae are oriented very close to the true north.
The Mangareva Islands (also known as Gambier Islands) are the only case in Polynesia where
there is unequivocal ethnohistoric evidence for systematic solar observations. The account of the
priest Honoré Laval provides a description of traditional Mangarevan time reckoning and the
methods of solar observations at solstices and the places where they were performed (Laval,
1938, pp. 213–215). Peter Buck (1938) gives another detailed ethnographic account about these
activities. Here are some relevant astronomical information (see Kirch, 2004b):

1. Solstice observations were used to keep the lunations in sequence with the solar year and to divide
the year into two seasons.
2. The locations for solstitial observations are given. The observatory at Atituiti, named Te Rua Ra
(the pit of the Sun), is said to be the “most favorable position” for this purpose.
3. In at least one site, upright stones are used to mark the rising Sun at December solstice, and the
backsight was a big flat stone.
4. The observation of solar risings and settings on distant topographic markers was used to achieve
precision.
5. The movement of a shadow cast by a certain mountain was also used as a solstitial marker.

Kirch (2004b) has rediscovered the precise site of the Atituiti observatory, finding an uncommon
platform oriented along the cardinal directions and the central flat boulder where observations were
performed. That author has been able to confirm the most important aspects of the ethnohistoric records.
For example, the position of the December solstice sunset coincides with the western edge of the high
cliff Ana Tetea (the burial place of two renowned high chiefs of Mangareva) on Agakauitai Island; the
shadow of Auorotini (Mount Duff) is also cast onto the central flat boulder during the June solstice.
In recent years, the Centre d’Investigation en Ethnoastronomie Locale (CIEL) of Tahiti led by
L. Cruchet is carrying out ethno- and archaeoastronomical studies in the area of East Polynesia. In
his last work, Cruchet (2013) presents results for a number of mara’e and archer platforms in the
Society Islands. He proposes that they are oriented to the rising and setting of certain important stars
in Tahitian mythology (the so-called pillar stars) and that these relationships can be explained in the
light of linguistic and ethnographic data and even attending to their relation with the traditional
landscape. Although, in my opinion, these studies have certain methodological deficiencies, the
importance of some stellar alignments seems rather plausible.
In the Kingdom of Tonga, we have a remarkable and unique monument in Polynesia: the
Ha’amonga a Maui (Burden of Maui) trilithon which according to tradition, was built in AD 1200
(see Fig. 4). (A trilithon is a structure consisting of two large vertical stones supporting a third stone
set horizontally across the top) In 1967, the current monarch, King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV, discovered
that the lintel is aligned along the sunrise at December solstice; this was later confirmed by Liller
(1993) and Esteban (2002–2003). According to Collocott (1922), “the Tongan year is said to have
begun at about the same time as the Christian year” and this fact would indicate a possible
calendrical importance of the December solstice. As has been commented before, Makemson
(1941) and other authors state that in most of the Polynesian archipelagos (including Tonga), the
new year began in late November or early December with the first Moon after the acronychal rising
of the Pleiades. These dates are not far off but obviously do not coincide with the December solstice.
In any case, as Esteban (2002–2003) has suggested, the solstitial orientation of the trilithon may be
accidental because its axis is roughly parallel to other related archaeological structures and to the
nearby shoreline. Some controversy was raised by the presence of an enigmatic zigzag figure carved

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Fig. 4 Left: The Ha’amonga a Maui trilithon seen from the south (Heketa, Tongatapu Island, Kingdom of Tonga). This
is a unique monument in Polynesia that stands about 5 m tall. Right: View of the eastern horizon as seen from the lintel of
the trilithon. The position of the rising points of the Sun at solstices and equinoxes has been cleared of vegetation by the
Tongan authorities. The lintel is aligned approximately along the December solstice. The current Tongan monarch, King
Taufa’ahau Tupou IV, discovered this alignment (Images taken from Esteban (2002–2003). Reproduced with permis-
sion of University of Texas Press)

into the top of the lintel of the trilithon whose axes point roughly to the two rising solstice directions.
However, Dhyne (1994) argues that there are reasons to believe that the marks were made relatively
recently.
The most common archaeological features of Tonga are round or rectangular mounds of earth
with considerable size range. These mounds can be house platforms, burial mounds, esi mounds
(resting places for members of the chief’s family), and mounds for pigeon snaring (McKern, 1929).
The esi and pigeon mounds are usually situated upon natural rises that command a splendid view of
the surrounding countryside. The anthropologist Wragge (see Liller, 2000b; McKern, 1929, p. 17)
reported that the esi platform called Makahokovalu in Uiha Island (Ha’apai group) was a religious
site connected with ancient Sun worshipping. However, McKern (1929, p. 17) and Gifford (1924,
p. 68) failed to find any archaeological or ethnological evidence of Sun worship in the island. Liller
(2000b) reports that in McKern’s plan of Makahokovalu, the long axis is oriented at an azimuth of 2

(perpendicular 92
), suggesting some solar relation, but this is also the orientation of the nearby
shoreline. Esteban (2002–2003) has estimated the approximate orientation of the ramps of the
mounds from the plans published by McKern finding no clear trends.
Since the burial mounds of Tongan commoners are just earth mounds, the sites relating to the chief
and royal family have stone facing and are often loosely called langi. The langi are large rectangular
monuments with stone slab retaining walls, generally consisting of a number of terraces in the
manner of truncated pyramids. One of Collocott’s (1922) informants suggested a connection
between the skies and the great burials at Mu’a (Tongatapu Island) and elsewhere, and it is worthy
of note that the sky and vault are called by the same name: langi. In a detailed study of the largest
collection of langi at Mu’a, Esteban (2002–2003) finds that the general disposition of the tombs is
parallel to the shoreline, although much less probable stellar orientations related to sailing directions
are also discussed by that author.
Bellwood (1978) reports that Samoan ethnographic records indicate the existence of open spaces
for ceremonies (mala’e) as well as god houses. Scattered among Samoan settlements are the so‐
called star mounds. They are large, raised platforms with several rounded projections extending
from the central area and built with a loose rubble of basaltic stones. The interpretation of star
mounds has been controversial. Modern informants tend to view them as pigeon‐snaring mounds.
No evidence of use for habitation or burial was found. The mounds were perhaps also used for

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religious purposes, as some ethnological references have pointed out (Davidson, 1979), and also for
some divination rituals, as it is indicated in the information panels of the Tia Seu Lupe (literally
“earthen mound to catch pigeons”) star mound in Tutuila Island (American Samoa). Esteban
(2002–2003) considers it impossible to define useful alignments in these kinds of mounds taking
into account their common irregular shape and large number of rounded irregular projections.
The island of Sava’i (Independent Samoa) has what is quite probably the largest surviving prehistoric
monument in Polynesia, the Pulemelei stone mound. It is a huge flat‐topped and roughly rectangular
structure that covers 60 by 50 m at the base and is 12 m high. There are slightly sunken ramps to the top
on the eastern and western slopes. The monument was built between 1100 and 1300 AD. There are
several oral traditions about its purpose. Some tell that the mound was used to catch pigeons, while
others say it was the residence of former chiefs of the island. Moreover, no few local traditions consider
Pulemelei as the residence of gods and spirits. In any case, the archaeological investigations point out its
ceremonial character (Martinsson-Wallin, Wallin, & Clark, 2007). This huge monument is part of a large
complex of more or less contemporary structures as smaller mounds and traditional footpaths. It is
located within a coconut plantation and almost completely covered with vegetation, making it very
difficult to make accurate measurements of the orientation of the structure or the horizon without an
extensive clearing of vegetation. This took place during the 2002–2004 excavations led by Swedish and
Australian archaeologists (see Martinsson-Wallin et al., 2007). Talbot and Swaney (1998, p. 141) and
Esteban (2002–2003) indicated that the sides of Pulemelei were oriented approximately along to the
cardinal axes, which can be graphically confirmed on the detailed plans of the archaeological site
published by Martinsson-Wallin et al. (2007, Fig. 3a) and after correcting for magnetic declination.
Clarke and De Biran (2007) report that several of the other large mounds of Samoa also show their major
axes oriented along the east–west line, as does the stone platform known as Kine He’e in the relatively
nearby island of Rotuma (Fiji), culturally related to Samoa.
The largest island of the Republic of Palau (in Micronesia) is Babeldaob. From the astronomical
point of view, the most interesting prehistoric remains known in Palau are the unique sculpted stone
faces at Melekeok, on the eastern coast of Babeldaob. They are nine stones ranging from 1 to 2.5 m
in height and arranged very precisely in two rows parallel to the nearby shoreline. All the surviving
stones are facing the sea. Morgan (1988, pp. 14–15) collected the following legend concerning the
origin of these stones: Odalmelech, the god of Ngermelech Village in Melekeok, “and his council-
men set out to lay a huge stone work over the village ground. That night, they started bringing in
huge reef stones for the project, but the work was only partially completed when dawn approached.
Odalmelech, seeing that his cohorts could not accomplish the project before daylight, called his crew
together and told them of the shame of being caught working in the morning sun. So he ordered his
crew to carve all their faces on the monoliths and place them to eternally face the rising sun.” This
story indicates the possible astronomical motivation of the site. Esteban (2002–2003) finds that the
orientation of the faces may be close to the June solstice rising based on the site plan published by
Morgan (1988, p. 13). Direct measurements and additional ethnographic data on the site are
necessary to check this suggestive finding.
Nan Madol, in Pohnpei Island (Federated States of Micronesia), is the largest archaeological site
in Micronesia and perhaps of all the Pacific Islands. It consists of 92 human‐made rectangular islets
separated by many waterways. The islets are generally surrounded by retaining walls of long,
naturally prismatic basalt which are often built up over foundations of immense basalt boulders.
The site was constructed on a reef located in the southeast side of Pohnpei which is called
Sounahleng or “Reef of Heaven.”
Esteban (2007, 2014) has analyzed the orientations of several mortuary enclosures of the
monumental megalithic city of Nan Madol, finding that the most relevant one, Nan Douwas – the

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DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_9105-2
# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Fig. 5 Map of the southeast edge of Pohnpei including Temwen Island, Nan Madol area, and several small reef islands
(Na, Pweliko, Nahkapw, and others, map adapted from Morgan, 1988, p. 60; courtesy of the author and the University of
Texas Press). The location of the two largest funerary enclosures, Nan Douwas and Karian, is also indicated. The
continuous and long-dashed blue arrows indicate relevant astronomical orientations defined for Nan Douwas and
Karian, respectively. The short-dashed arrow indicates the orientation of the perpendicular to the long axis of the outer
wall of Nan Madol, which represents the dominant orientation of the southwest part of the city and coincides with the
rising point of the Southern Cross (Figure taken from Esteban (2014))

tomb of the former rulers of Pohnpei, located at the easternmost edge of the city – is rather closely
oriented with respect to the cardinal points. Towards the eastern horizon, Nan Douwas is facing
a narrow channel between two nearby small islands, Nahkapw and Pweliko. Sunrise at the
equinoxes or the midpoint in time between solstices occurs just on the north tip of Nahkapw.
Some legends tell that the islet of Pweliko – to where Nan Douwas is oriented – is a sacred area,
a transit place for the souls of the dead on their way to the final judgment (see Esteban, 2014 and
references therein). According to Eastlick (1995), the division between the dry and wet seasons in
the traditional Pohnpeian calendar occurs in March and September, approximately at the time of
equinoxes. All these facts suggest that the location and orientation of Nan Douwas were carefully
planned and that this huge enclosure had a rich ritual, funerary, and perhaps even calendrical
symbolism. Another possible astronomical marker on the eastern horizon seen from Nan Douwas
is the northern tip of the island of Na, which coincides with the point where the sun rises in the June
solstice. An alternative astronomical interpretation also formulated by Esteban (2007, 2014) for the
orientations found in Nan Douwas is based on the rising of stars or asterisms at the time of the
construction of Nan Madol (about 1200 d. C.). The monument is pointing approximately to the area
of the horizon where the stars of Orion’s Belt rise. This was an important asterism around the Pacific
and one of the directional points of the sidereal compass used by the traditional Micronesian
navigators. On the other hand, the northern tip of the island of Na could be related to the rising
point of the Pleiades, the most important constellation for the Pohnpeians. Like elsewhere in the
Pacific, the heliacal rising of this group of stars has a relevant calendrical significance (Fig. 5).

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Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_9105-2
# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

See Also
▶ Astronomy in Hawai’i

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