Micronesia [FSM] - Early History

Ancestors of the Micronesians settled the Caroline Islands over 4,000 years ago. A decentralized chieftain-based system eventually evolved into a more centralized economic and religious empire based principally in Yap and Pohnpei.

Nan Madol is the only extant ancient city built on top of a coral reef. Constructed in a lagoon and surrounded by water on three sides with a stone wall enclosing the complex, the city is often referred to as the "Venice of the Pacific." Few historic places in the Pacific are as intriguing as Nan Madol. The city ruins are on a coral reef in a lagoon on the tiny island of Temwen, adjacent to the eastern shore of the island of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. Before its abandonment, Nan Madol was a major political and spiritual hub for native Pohnpeians.

During its height, Nan Madol was the seat of the Saudeleur dynasty which united all of Pohnpei's estimated 25,000 people. The Saudeleur were originally a foreign tribe who came to Pohnpei and installed themselves as rulers of the island. The Saudeleur first appeared around the year 1100 and built Nan Madol around 1200.

The social system at Nan Madol is the earliest known example of such centralized political power in the western Pacific. The largest homes belonged to the chiefly elite and archeological excavations have revealed objects that mark their owners' status in society. The city was built so that the nobility were isolated from the general population. At its peak, Nan Madol may have been home to a thousand people, the majority of whom were commoners serving the nobility.

Throughout its 500 year life, from 1200 and 1700, the city served as a religious center, a royal enclave, a fortress, an urban marketplace, and the high seat of government for the island of Pohnpei.

In 1628, the warrior hero Isokelekel led an invasion of Pohnpei and defeated the Saudeleur tribe. Historians believe that Isokelekel was the leader of a band of Micronesian settlers from the nearby island of Kosrae. Isokelekel led his war band of warriors, women, and children to victory with the assistance of the oppressed Pohnpeian populace. With the defeat of the Sandaleur, Nan Madol's significance to Pohnpeians slowly eroded and it was eventually abandoned in the 18th century.

Relatively unknown outside of Micronesia, the city of Nan Madol is a hidden gem of Polynesian history and culture and a grand sight for modern visitors.

Yap, or Waab, the traditional name, is located 520 miles south west of Guam and 1,150 miles east-south-east of Manila in the Philippines. The island is full of relics of a vanished civilisation—embankments and terraces, sites of ancient cultivation, and solid roads neatly paved with regular stone blocks, ancient stone platforms and graves, and enormous council lodges of quaint design, with high gables and lofty carved pillars.

Yap is famous for its stone money, being the only place in the world that contains this type of ‘currency’. The stone money quarries in Palau and the stone money bank in Mangyol, Yap. The round limestone disks can vary from a few inches in diameter to over 10 feet, and they were initially carried on rafts and towed by traditional canoe from Palau to Yap, a distance of over 400 miles.

The ‘value’ of the stone money is not in its size but in the associated stories and hardships in acquiring it, particularly during the period when they were all transported by traditional means. In the later 18th century, a westerner named David O’Keefe established a trading station in beche-de-mer and copra, and for 30 years he assisted Yapese in transporting large quantities of stone money from Palau for Yap. It has been estimated that over 30,000 stone money disks are on Yap, located in 200 stone money banks in 134 villages. The stone money can change owners for services rendered, but they generally remain in the same bank.