South Pacific

Few are aware that a full-size, Mayan-like ziggurat pyramid was once on the island of Tonga-tabu, that  stepped ceremonial platforms still dot the Marianna and Marquesas Islands, that Tonga is home to an enigmatic megalithic archway, that the Komowin Wall of New Zealand is actually a ziggurat pyramid, that Nan Modol is the Venice of the Pacific, and that the undecipherable 'talking boards' of Easter Island are most similar to texts found in the ancient Indus Valley. These are but a few of hundreds of archaeological  mysteries and uncanny cultural connections to be found in and around the South Pacific realm.The mysteries of the South Pacific have been kept secret due in part to their isolated locations. Only in recent  years has travel to such remote places been feasible and affordable. Yet, despite modern travel  conveniences, precious few archaeologists have ventured into this unexplored realm of mystery and  intrigue; and the islands of the South Pacific still remain keepers of an ancient knowledge.

 There is still much conventional archaeology to be done in the South Pacific. Certainly sites should be  excavated, surveyed, mapped, and dated. However, following the premise offered by modern  paleo-climatological truths, there is another approach to South Pacific island research that has never  been tried - underwater archaeology.

We now conclusively know that world-wide sea levels were as much as 500 feet lower during the glacial  maximum of 12,000 BC. If there were civilizations, and the evidence indicates there were, living on the  South Pacific islands at such a time, their remains may lie just below the surface of the water. The mysterious origins of humanity may be old news to the sea mammals and fish of the South Pacific reefs and coral beds.

The Untold Mysteries of Easter Island

Few people are aware of the real history of Easter Island.

When Captain Roggeveen of the Dutch West Indian Company first landed on Easter Island in 1722, isolated in the deep Pacific, he found two populations of people - a red-haired, fair-skinned people with long-ears, and a darker Polynesian stock with smaller ears. According to their oral tradition, the fair-skinned people had first populated the island long ago, long before the arrival of the Polynesians. The 'Long Ears' oral tradition explained the they had inhabited the island prior to a devastating flood. At that time, Easter Island had been considerably larger they said. When the ocean waters continued to rise, the few Longs Ears who survived the deluge sought refuge on the mountain tops which became the island of Rapa Nui, or the 'Navel of the World'.

It was here they began to sculpt the Giant Heads or 'Moai' in dedication to their perished relatives and ancestors who died in the flood.

Do ancient ruins lie off Easter Island's shoreline, waiting to be located by underwater archaeologists?

In Brazil, a distinguished professor of anthropology at Sao Paulo University, Dr. Walter Neves, has made some startling revelations. An ancient skeleton he has been studying named 'Luzia' resembles the ancient people of the South Pacific and Australia. He believes these ancient people immigrated across the South Pacific during the last ice age, when the sea levels were lower.

Does Walter Neves' skeletons explain the similarities between Easter Island and the ancient Inca culture? Were the ancient 'Long-ears' the survivors of the Biblical flood? Were the Long Ears of the same culture who colonized Peru and were known by the Inca's as the Viracochas?

Where did the Long Ears come from? The scientist/adventurer, Thor Heyerdahl, believed from Peru, but could it have been the other way around? It is a scientific fact that the Polynesians did not have a written language. However, Easter Island's Long Ears held sacred what they called the 'Talking Boards'.

The sacred stone planks still exists and bear an undecipher­able text most similar to the ancient script of the Indus Val­ley. Did the Longs Ears stop on Easter Island while making their way to South America from an­cient Sumeria?

There is much more to be learned about the mysterious Easter Island...

Malta's Mysterious Megaliths

Many have believed that the mysterious and ancient culture on the island of Malta was the inspiration for Plato's Atlantis.

The small and unassuming archipelago of Malta, Gozo, and Common boast some of the world's most incredible megalithic ruins and temples. In engineering terms, these little discussed ruins have been said to outshine the work of ancient Greeks and Romans, as well as considerably predate them.

However, ancient temples are not the only marvels to behold on Malta. There are also ancient wagon trails that disappear directly into the surrounding Mediterranean Sea. Some tracks appear to lead right off rocky cliffs that drop to the ocean.

The Mysteries of the Ancient Outback

Much like the ancient Americas, early settlers of Australia were unlike the native people we generally associate with these islands. These mysterious people were strikingly similar to the Long Ears of Easter Island and to the Ainu of northern Japan. Yet, precious little is known about these ancient people. It has been speculated that the Australian aborigines, however, have traces of Caucasian genes. Even in this remote region, pre-pubescent teens are blond, men have abundant facial hair and experience premature balding - traits distinctly Caucasian in nature.

Are these trace genes the legacy of an early, lost civilization that once existed in the Indonesia and the Philippines regions?

Was Australia's Dream Time the forgotten age before the flood?

Do ancient ruins remain off Australia's famous beaches?

It is time to bring Australia's true history to light...

Nan Madol - 'The Venice of the Pacific'

Few are aware of the tiny island of Pompeii. Located west of the Tonga island chain, Pompeii is home to one of the most mysterious ancient ruins in the world - Nan Madol. Nan Madol is known as 'The Venice of the Pacific' because that is exactly what it is. Imagine an ancient city built of gigantic megalithic stones, but designed to be accessed by canal and boat. Nan Madol has hundreds of buildings, some forty feet high, and built of stone blocks weighing up to 50 tons. It is an archaeological enigma and all but ignored by western researchers.

Indigenous lore forbids invasion of Nan Madol by outsiders. The locals believe the city to be possessed by ghost and spirits.

Local Legend also indicates that more of the city remains underwater!

The construction of Nan Madol must have been a horrendous effort. The island simply is not big enough to support the kind of man-power necessary to construct such a masterpiece. Was Nan Madol constructed when the island was bigger and the sea levels were lower? Is this why the natives say there are more ruins underwater? Anyone who sees images of Nan Madol knows a mystery is at hand...

The Mysteries of New Zealand

The Maori of New Zealand are a strange indigenous people. Although warlike and savage, the Maori also hone wood into beautiful edifices and made artwork unparalleled by similar tribal communities. Some of there wood-working is very similar to work done by the Indians of America’s Pacific Northwest. Is there a connection? On New Zealand lies a curious structure - the Komowin Wall. The Komowin Wall was originally believed to have been built around 700 AD, when the first people supposedly landing on New Zealand. However, recently an ash layer from a volcanic explosion known to have occurred 2000 years ago was found on the wall.

This has many ramifications as you might imagine. There was not supposed to be anyone on New Zealand at that time! Yet, the mystery grows deeper. It now appears that the Komowin Wall may actually be a ziggurate pyramid, only buried and obscured by trees and erosion. Only excavation or ground-penetrating radar will reveal the mystery of the Komowin Wall. A ziggurate pyramid on New Zealand?!? What interesting consequences might this have?

The Ruins of Tonga-tabu

Tonga-tabu is the capital island of the Tonga Island chain. But, Tonga-tabu has other significance as well...A ziggurate pyramid once stood tall and proud on Tonga. However, within recorded history the temple was disassembled and the blocks used for local constructions - but not before some of Tonga's earliest artists depicted the temple for future generations to see. More ziggurate pyramids?!?

Tonga also has a plethora of stepped-ceremonial platforms and megalithic ruins. One of these ruins is a megalithic archway only comparable to Stonehenge and the Osirion of Egypt.

Tonga is a small isolated island. How could it have organized the work-force to construct such startling masonic creations? Perhaps once it was not so small.

Are there remains under the water around Tonga-tabu?

Why are ziggurate pyramids found everywhere from New Zealand, to Tonga, to Peru? Is this a mere coincidence?

The Legends of the Inca

There are still many mysteries surrounding the origins of South American cultures, like the Moche, Incas, Aztecs,Maya, and Teotiwachans. One common parallel in all of these diverse cultures, however, is their creation stories.

Whether it's the Viracochas or Quetzacoutal, the Meso-Americans believed that civilization was introduced to them from tall, fair-skinned, bearded individuals who saved them from savagery. In fact, the conquistadors of Pizarro and Cortez were helped by these beliefs because the Incas and Maya prophetized that someday the Viracochas would return. They returned alright, with sabers drawn.

The Incas themselves admitted to not having been the ones to build the road systems throughout Peru and Chili that are normally assigned to their lineage. Nor do they claim to have moved the giant stones that make the ancient temples in Cusco, Machu Picchu, and Tiwanaco (identical to masonry on Easter Island). Likewise, the Nazca lines were also the work of ancient, ancient hands.

The hands, they say, of the fair-skinned, auburn-haired Viracochas. It was the Viracochas who did all these feats, many thousands of years before the Incas, Mayas, and Aztecs added to, as well as restored the ancient foundations.

Were the Viracochas the same people who influenced Easter Island, Japan, New Zealand, and elsewhere? Perhaps the answer lies off the coast of Peru...

There are many other possible cruises

Following are a few additional ideas

Ancient Japan

The Temples of Cambodia

The Mysteries of Bimini

Mysteries of the Maya

The Origins of the Moche

Hawaii

Before the Polynesians

Elephants in Mexico?

The Legend of Mu

The Pacific Mysterious Symbols

Ancient America

Egypt and America

The "Man's Lost Legacy" Series - ©copyright 1998 Michael Arbuthnot