In Pitcairn island, which was uninhabited when occupied by the mutineers of the "Bounty" in 1789, are found many traces of a former Polynesian settlement. The maraes and stone figures are said to resemble those of Easter ; but a number of large stone chis els and broad-edged axes dug up in the soil are quite exceptional in type. Other small islands, uninhabited at the time of their discovery, but bearing evidence of former Polynesian settlement, include Palmerston, Flint, Malden, Christmas, Fanning, Necker (Hawaii). • Western Polynesia.—In Samoa and Tonga typical walled maraes are not found, but in the former island there are numerous flat-topped mounds and platforms of considerable antiquity. Some of these were substructures for temples; others were used for burial. But certain earth and stone mounds of exceptionally large size, in Upolu and Savaii, appear to have been constructed for defensive purposes. One of these, near Apia, measures approxi mately 1 ooyd. square at the base and is 35ft. high ; it is tradition ally supposed to have served as a platform for the houses of Ton gan chiefs. In the mountainous interior of Upolu (Samoa) is a group of upright basalt slabs on a paved floor (0 Le Fale-o-le Fe'e), evidently the supports of a former house or temple, while in Savaii there are remains of roads and raised causeways elab orately engineered but long disused, and partly destroyed by an overflow of lava.
The most striking example of a true megalithic monument is the trilithon (Haamonga) on Tongatabu; it consists of two uprights and a lintel stone mortised into them, i5ft. high, and is stated by tradition to have been erected in the 13th century by Tui-ta-Tui in connection with a Kava feast. Not far distant are a large upright slab and two stone-faced house platforms. On the north coast of Tongatabu are the equally remarkable "tombs of the kings" (langi), formerly reserved for the burial of sacred chiefs called "Tooitongas"; these are stepped or terraced platforms con taining burial vaults and are faced with hewn coral blocks measur ing up to 22ft. in length. The earliest of these also probably date from the 13th century, but the construction of similar tombs con tinued down to the middle of the 19th century. Some of them are merely enclosures of rough stones.
Stone fortifications occur on many islands, and reach their highest development in the terraced entrenchments and solid stone towers on the mountains of Rapa-iti. Of the petroglyphs, repre senting stylized human and animal figures, concentric circles, etc., which are found abundantly in Hawaii and the Marquesas, some by their situation seem to have had religious significance, while others are only "travellers' marks"; many are of recent date.
vated, viz.: Moa-bone Point Cave, near Christchurch, Otago, where the remains found in the lowest stratum prove the early inhabitants to have hunted the extinct moa. Although accurate dating is impossible, considerable antiquity is suggested by the fact that the coast has sunk several feet since the deposits were formed. The rock-paintings and the implements, which include knives, saws, drills, spear-points and finely "retouched" scrapers, of quartzite, obsidian, chalcedony and chert, indicate that the cul ture of the moa-hunters did not differ essentially, except in its higher standard of craftsmanship, from that of the historical Otago Maori.
The earthwork and stone fortifications belong for the most part to Maori (q.v.) culture, as do probably the pit dwellings and terraces of the Pelorus and Auckland districts and the artificial caves and figures carved in the soft tuff of Rotorua. Curious figures incised in a sandstone pit in Auckland and rock-carvings in the Kaingaroa plains representing canoes of modified Maori type are among the more interesting recent discoveries. The Chat ham Islands appear to have been colonized by pure Polynesians, the extinct Moriori (q.v.), coming from the South island of New Zealand in about the 12th century. Their stone implements re semble Maori types, with the exception of tanged obsidian blades; tree-carvings and much weathered bird figures incised on cliffs have been reported.
The most important monuments of Micronesia are found in the Caroline islands, where both on Ponape and Kusaie extensive groups of buildings intersected by canals were constructed on artificially enlarged reefs protected by sea-walls. They take the form of rectangular paved courtyards, frequently in contiguous clusters, constructed by laying natural columnar blocks of basalt lengthwise and crosswise in alternate layers. These walls rise in places to a height of more than 2of t., but were not roofed. The enclosures formerly contained houses of perishable material, traces of which remain; also platforms, terraced or pyramidal, in which were sepulchral vaults roofed with coral or basalt slabs. The most striking and best preserved of these structures is the royal ceme tery of Nan Tauach at Matolenim (Ponape), which stands in a double enclosure and contains four burial chambers. Enclosed burial platforms of a somewhat similar type occur farther west in Yap and the Bunaj islands. They have certain elements in com mon with the marae of Polynesia, to which they are possibly related either directly or as collateral branches from the same cultural stem. Although the date at which these "sacred cities" of the Carolines were begun is not clear, they were still inhabited at the time of their discovery, and the tradition of how they were constructed by means of inclined planes of tree trunks survives. The stone pounders, and shell and other objects found in the tombs, do not suggest a high antiquity.