Solstice Observations in Mangareva, French Polynesia: New Perspectives from Archaeology (2004)
Kirch, Patrick V. (Author)
Archaeoastronomy: The Journal of Astronomy in Culture
Volume: 18
Pages: 1--19
Archaeological investigations at Atituiti Ruga, Mangareva (French Polynesia), have discovered a stone-faced, earth-filled platform site that could have been used for solstitial observations. According to ethnohistorical sources, particularly the missionary Henri Laval, the Mangarevan calendar was based on a solar year consisting of 13 lunar months. Solstice observations were performed by Mangarevan priests to mark the changing of two seasons, named Pureva and Fipiri, and to "predict" the coming year's breadfruit harvests. It is suggested that the beginning of the lunar month Pipiri around the June solstice served to keep the lunations within the solar year. Solstice observations were reputedly made at several named observatories, one being at Atituiti. The platform site at Atituiti Ruga is oriented along cardinal directions and displays views toward the Ana Tetea cliff on Agakauitai Island, enabling the skywatcher to observe the setting Sun at the austral summer solstice. The site may also have been used during the austral winter solstice when the noon Sun casts a shadow onto the platform as the Sun passes behind the summit of Mount Duff. A radiocarbon date from a test excavation in the platform yielded a calibrated age of A.D. 1430-1470.
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