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Samoan Material Culture

Ruins in Vaivasa Valley

Ruins in Vaivasa Valley

Prehistoric remains discovered in the mountains of Upolu in the neighborhood of the head waters of Vaivasa were stated to have been seen by Handley Bathurst Sterndale in an article written by his son, R. A. Sterndale (36). A great fosse excavated, built up, and further heightened by a parapet wall, a truncated conical structure "of such huge dimensions as must have required the labor of a great multitude to construct," cairns, a vault, and a triangular cromlech with a conch shell resting on it, form the imposing list of things seen. The truncated cone was formed of stones laid in courses some of which weighed a ton at least and must have been rolled or moved on skids to their places according to the explorer. In spite of the efforts of the Samoan Society to locate the spot, no one has seen the wonderful remains. The article was written 38 years ago. In the wars that took place between the Tongans and the Samoans and between the Samoans themselves, it was natural for defeated parties to take refuge in the mountain fastnesses. Such occupied sites were not places where people elected to live but where they were forced to by circumstances. The arrangement of stones to form house sites and to build burial cairns are to be expected. The traveller writing popular articles is liable to give his imagination full play and is not in the frame of mind to distinguish between the stones artificially arranged by man and the huge masses moved by nature. Identification takes place and man is credited with doing the impossible by some secret of engineering skill now supposed to be page 329lost. The "great multitude" required could not live cut off from breadfruit bearing trees, land adaptable to cultivation, and the food resources of the sea. A megalithic culture that preceded the Samoan cannot be seriously entertained unless supported by further data that can be checked. Cairns and arrangements of stone in caves have been reported but when closely investigated will probably be found to be well within the compass of Samoan culture.