Marquesas named UNESCO World Heritage Site

Marquesas named

UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Marquesan Islands are the most isolated island group on the planet in the northern reaches of French Polynesia. They have abundant fresh water, fertile soil, many valleys, and an year round growing season. They were once the home of tens of thousands of Polynesians. Now the 12 islands are home to under 10,000 people.

According to the World Heritage Convention, The Marquesan Islands were recently named a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its "exceptional testimony to the territorial occupation of the Marquesas archipelago by a human civilization that arrived by sea around the year 1000 CE and developed on these isolated islands between the 10th and the 19th centuries. It is also a hotspot of biodiversity that combines irreplaceable and exceptionally well conserved marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Marked by sharp ridges, impressive peaks and cliffs rising abruptly above the ocean, the landscapes of the archipelago are unparalleled in these tropical latitudes. The archipelago is a major centre of endemism, home to rare and diverse flora, a diversity of emblematic marine species, and one of the most diverse seabird assemblages in the South Pacific. Virtually free from human exploitation, Marquesan waters are among the world’s last marine wilderness areas. The property also includes archaeological sites ranging from monumental dry-stone structures to lithic sculptures and engravings." https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1707

The ancient Marquesan anthropomorphic sculptures or tiki have received wide attention since they were first noted in 1595. Oral stories of their significance are difficult to come by as many have been lost. The Marquesan language has been all but lost to French in the islands although, presently there are many people trying to study it, use it, and keep it alive. Beginning in 1980's, there have been academic efforts to trace the history of Marquesan language, spirituality, and stone structures. Stylistically the Marquesan stone tiki followed certain social rules with similar characteristics to tattoos and material objects.

Copra, drying on the left, is a very common economy for local Marquesans

There are huge basalt pinnacles on Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas

by EDITOR

MUST SEE: LEVUKA, FIJI

THE ORIGINAL GUNKHOLES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC

Levuka is a town on the eastern coast of the Fijian Island of Ovalau. Up until 1877, it was the capital of Fiji. Currently, this strangely haunted town has a population of about 5,000. It is the economic hub of the largest of 24 settlements on the Island. Levuka was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in June 2013, in recognition of the port town's exceptional testimony to the late colonial port towns in the Pacific Ocean.

The modern town of Levuka was founded around 1820 by European settlers and traders as the first modern town in the Fiji Islands. Levuka quickly became an important port and trading post in the Pacific. A disparate band of settlers made up Levuka's population- traders, missionaries, shipwrights, speculators, vagabonds, and even respectable businessmen. Much of Levuka’s unique heritage is in its wooden architecture (highly vulnerable to fire).

The South Pacific’s first Masonic Lodge is Levuka’s only Romanesque building.

The South Pacific's first Masonic Lodge was built in 1913 and housed the Freemasons that were established in Levuka by Alexander Barrack in 1875. There is much controversy about the Masonic fraternity in Fiji. The dominant traditional Christian faiths consider the Masons to be devil-worshippers. The Masonic Lodge was burned down in the 2000 Fiji coup d'etat. The Lodge contained priceless historical artifacts and records of Levuka's history dating back to 1875. The arsonists have yet to be identified and prosecuted.

by EDITOR