Discover Ancient Polynesian culture - Marae Tour - Mo’orea Island скачать в хорошем качестве

Discover Ancient Polynesian culture - Marae Tour - Mo’orea Island

A marae is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. the term also means "cleared, free of weeds, trees, etc". The best way to understand the ancient Polynesian culture is to visit a marae, Today, most marae are just piles of stones, but before the arrival of Europeans in the 18th century, they were the center for social, political and religious activity. The Opunohu Valley has some of the most important and numerous marae in French Polynesia. Unusually, you can walk to them along marked tracks and there are explanatory panels in French and English. The complex comprises a range of partially restored remains including family and communal marae as well as dwellings, archery platforms and other structures. It’s believed the valley was continuously inhabited for six centuries, and the oldest surviving structures date from the 13th century. This agricultural community reached its apogee in the 17th and 18th centuries. The first excavations date from 1925. In 1960, Roger Green carried out the most complete research on the area, and 500 structures have been inventoried. Past the agricultural college, the valley road comes to a parking area beside the huge Marae Titiroa, on the edge of a dense forest of magnificent mape (chestnut) trees. From the marae a walking track leads to the tohua (council platform), and two smaller marae. Filmed May 2018