Are the latte stone pillars related to Easter Island idols?
The Mariana Islands and Guam Island lie in the western Pacific Ocean, north of the Caroline Islands. The honor of their discovery belongs to the round-the-world expedition of Fernand Magellan, who landed on a new land in 1521. The savages seemed to have greeted the Europeans amiably, but everything was not so simple. As soon as the ship's crew relaxed their vigilance and disembarked, the natives swam up to the ship and took up their usual business - robbery. So the first name that the land discovered by Magellan received was Las Islas de los Ladrones, that is, the Thieves, or Robber Islands, since the savages not only cleaned the expeditionary vessel well, but also stole a boat left unattended from the sailors. Magellan, of course, was not up to the study of native attractions, he had to fight off property,burn down a couple of houses in Guam and even execute several robbers for an ostracism.
Chamorro, natives of Guam
The study of the islands began a century and a half later, when the first missionaries appeared on Guam. One of them, Diego Luis de San Vitores, changed the discordant name of Spain's Pacific possessions to the Mariana Islands, in honor of his queen Marianne. Since 1668, the so-called eradication of paganism began, which turned out to be a difficult and thankless task, since the local tribes were stuck in a primitive communal system. They called themselves chamorro, or chamori, which in their language meant either "what we have" or "leader". It was not possible to find out the exact meaning of the word. And today it will not succeed, since only a memory remains of the real Chamorros. The Jesuits did their best, they managed to break the resistance of the aborigines to the new faith and suppress a whole series of bloody uprisings that raged on the islands for over 20 years. However,wars between the aborigines and the Spanish colonialists ended not so much thanks to the successful mission of the Jesuits, but "thanks" to the smallpox and plague introduced into this native paradise. The natives began to die out rapidly, out of 100 thousand Chamorro counted by the Jesuits, by 1800 there were not more than a thousand left, and those who survived married new settlers from the Philippines and immigrants from Indonesia and China. And although the modern inhabitants of the Mariana Islands and Guam consider themselves Chamorro, they are all people of mixed blood.married new settlers from the Philippines and immigrants from Indonesia and China. And although the modern inhabitants of the Mariana Islands and Guam consider themselves Chamorro, they are all people of mixed blood.married new settlers from the Philippines and immigrants from Indonesia and China. Although modern residents of the Mariana Islands and Guam consider themselves Chamorro, they are all people of mixed blood.
The legacy of a thousand-year history
Latte is a kind of stone columns, tapering towards the upper part, on which hemispherical tops are installed. The smallest bases are about 60 centimeters high, the largest - almost 6 meters. One of the columns, never used, survived in the quarry on the island of Rota, it reaches 8 meters in length and weighs about 34 tons. However, for the most part, the height of the latte support stones is smaller - up to 3 meters. They were made from different materials - limestone, sandstone and even basalt. But for hemispheres or "heads" they used mainly corals, which were mined in coastal waters. The largest "head" weighs 22 tons. On all the islands inhabited by the Chamorro, lattes are found in huge numbers.
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For what they were used from 800 to 1700, there seems to be no doubt: the missionaries left both descriptions and sketches. A "head" (tasa) was placed on the column (in local - khali-gi), with the convex part towards the bottom. Four, seven and even ten such stone supports were installed in two rows, then a solid wooden floor was laid on them, on which a triangular roof made of reeds or palm leaves was attached, such a roof reaching the upper border of the stone "heads". Sometimes houses were made with walls and columns, sometimes the roof also served as walls. A wooden ladder led to the doorway. All household appliances (hearth, stone grain grinder) were located outside the dwelling. The missionaries thought that the Chamorro did not live in large houses, but kept their proa boats there or held tribal meetings. Archaeologists ridiculed this idea,assuming in return that the houses with latte props testified to the high status of their owners. True, this did not explain in any way why so many latte stones were found that it was possible to provide housing for all the islanders. In addition, in different periods over the thousand years, when the Chamorro built houses on stone pillars, they erected buildings directly on the ground. And the closer to our time, the more willingly they abandoned reliable foundations for their homes. Pile houses can also be built on wooden supports.they erected buildings directly on the ground. And the closer to our time, the more willingly they abandoned reliable foundations for their homes. Pile houses can also be built on wooden supports.they erected buildings directly on the ground. And the closer to our time, the more willingly they abandoned reliable foundations for their homes. Pile houses can also be built on wooden supports.
This arrangement of dwellings was typical not only for the Chamorro, but also for the inhabitants of the Philippines and Java. Here, the pillars were also round in cross-section, like the haligi latte. This form was chosen by the aborigines for the simplest reason - so that rats would not climb up and eat supplies. In the Philippines, for example, this is how rice storage facilities were built. And in Javanese Borobodur, wooden carvings have been preserved, which depict structures very similar to those of Chamorr. An interesting theory was put forward by seismologists: they saw excellent shock absorbers in lattes, capable of dampening seismic vibrations. On the islands, where there are several active volcanoes, this has always been relevant. And if a thick round log could save from rats, then only a reliable stone foundation could protect from an earthquake. In addition, violent storms driving waves onto landit was also more pleasant to wait out in dry and safe houses - not on the ground, but above the ground. This is probably why they were built like that: with multi-ton bases that could not move or knock down the blows of the elements.
True, some researchers associate lattes with stone idols from Easter Island - they say, the shape, if you forget that these are statues, are completely similar to khalig, and stone "hats" are analogs of "heads". But then you would have to draw a parallel between the Chamorro and the inhabitants of Easter Island, think about the ways of Pacific migration of the population and answer a simple question: why Easter idols did not become props for the dwellings of the local natives, or why lattes did not turn into stone idols.
From structure to symbol
Although the population of the Mariana Islands was in the Stone Age, their society was divided into two unequal castes - and the division was based on race. The highest caste was the Chamorro, who were divided, in turn, into the nobility (matua) and everyone else (achoti). Any achoti could take a high position and become a matua, and a guilty matua could turn into an achoti. But besides the Chamorro, there was a lower caste - the Manachana. And outwardly, according to the descriptions of the Jesuits, they differed sharply from the Chamorro - they were shorter in height and darker in skin. In addition, they were forbidden to marry the Chamorro and live with them under the same roof. In fact, they were slaves of the Chamorro and had no rights. They certainly did not live in houses with latte bases, but simply in huts on the ground.
To date, not a single authentic building with a base of latte stones has survived. They did not exist already 2-3 centuries ago. Archaeologists have found that the most ancient and systematically used structures were in the coastal zone. They stand on a cultural layer, which includes pieces of pottery, the so-called food bones, that is, the remains of chamorro meals - nutshells, stone tools, as well as the burials of the islanders. Many such graves were found near stone pillars. At the same time, in the interior of the islands, latte houses were used temporarily. For some reason, neither burial grounds nor a cultural layer were found there.
Some archaeologists believe that latte stones are not so simple. And that before 800, in even more ancient times, which the Chamorro did not remember, lattes were used for some other purpose. But most are convinced that these are props for houses. And they even built such houses in private and state parks, where they conduct excursions for tourists, feed them with dishes of national cuisine and tell local legends. Latte stones have become a tourist attraction. They even got on the flag and coat of arms of the Northern Mariana Islands, which, like Guam, after World War II received the status of an organized, not annexed territory of the United States.
Magazine: Mysteries of History No. 25, Nikolay Kotomkin