Nan Madol
A basalt Venice set on a Pacific lagoon: 92 to 93 artificial islets, columns weighing 5 to 50 tonnes.
- Location
- Micronesia · Asia & Pacific
- Civilisation
- Saudeleur Dynasty
- Period
- ~1180–1200 AD
- Technique
- Basalt columns, 750,000 t moved
- Studies
real support, not settled. A revisable snapshot of the state of research, never a judgement.
→ Show on the mapThe elements of the site
Where the site is
6.840° N, 158.330° E · satellite view
What science says
Uranium-thorium dating (²³⁰Th/U) on corals from the tomb of the first chief: the start of megalithic construction in columnar basalt around AD 1180–1200 (McCoy et al., Quaternary Research 2016). The coral islets began to be erected as early as AD 900; the columnar basalt megalithic phase begins at this later date.
The columnar basalt quarries are identified on Pohnpei island itself, notably at Sokehs (northwest), more than 20 km from the site by waterway. pXRF analysis of 221 architectural stones (McCoy & Athens 2011, 2016): 168 belong to the main phase of the volcanic shield (7–8 Ma).
Oral tradition precisely describes the Saudeleur hierarchy — consistent with the archaeology.
The uranium-thorium method (²³⁰Th/U) — more precise than radiocarbon — identified AD 1180–1200 as the start of monumental construction, marking the emergence of the first centralized chiefdom attested in the western Pacific (McCoy et al., 2016).
What remains unexplained
Related to
Studies & sources
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