Hundreds of prehistoric stone mounds have been uncovered across Samoa thanks to drones and laser light technology, and now, a project bringing these megalith structures to the world could help answer the puzzling question: why were they built?
The Living Monuments project has recreated a high-quality virtual model of one of these mounds, known as Potini Tia, which is now accessible through virtual and augmented reality.
The model was launched at the megalith’s site at Sa’anapu, Upolu, and is also open physically to the public.
The Potini Tia is thought to be around 800 years old. It stands 11.5 metres high and 17 metres wide and is made up of about 30,000 cubic metres of stone and earth.
“It’s amazing to think that manpower basically constructed this by hand with literally tons and tons of basalt,” said Tiapapata Arts Centre director, Galumalemana Steven Percival.
Galumalemana said not only did the opening of the Tia at Potini create the potential for heritage tourism, but it also provided opportunities to carry out more research into why these megaliths were built.
The discovery of these mounds, which could be close to 1,000, indicated there were many enigmas in the culture still not understood by modern Samoans.
Many Samoan elders living near stone monoliths believe they were used to snare pigeons, which is why they are called Tia Seulupe.
But Galumalemana and other researchers believe this could have been a secondary purpose.
“Perhaps the knowledge was quickly erased because a lot of this knowledge was considered pagan by the early missionaries,” he said.
“So if there had been indigenous religious practices associated with these mounds, it’s very likely that the missionaries made it clear to the Samoans that this is something from the past that should be forgotten — and they erase the memory.”
The largest megalith is found in Savaii. Pulemelei is a star mound, and the sides of this rectangular pyramid align directly to the north, south, east and west.
Galumalemana interviewed an elder from the village who said the story passed down through generations was that it could have been a portal to another world.
“There was a gentleman from the village whose duty it was to go to the top of the mound at dusk every day and blow the conch shell.
“And in doing so, their belief was that this called any wandering spirits to enter the underworld or to return to the place where the spirits go and in that way not disturb the living at night.”
Galumalemana said he hoped the Living Monuments project could include other sites across Samoa, creating a better understanding of Samoa’s history and preventing unintended damage to archaeological sites.
This can be mitigated through education, he said.
“And partly that education can come through creating the 3D models of the state that they are naturally in without changing them, and I hope this will also then increase the appreciation and value that people have for these sites.”
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The Living Monuments project has worked closely with the Tuigaleava family, custodians of the ancient site at Potini, Sa’anapu(Supplied: Tiapapata Arts Centre)
This article was originally published by ABC Pacific and has been republished with permission.
