Ancient warrior stone bust found in a lake

Hello All

I wonder if the discovery was on the island that was once called Malekula?

 An anthropologist by the name of John Layard made some interesting discoveries on three offshore islands off Malekula and on Malekula itself, on the islands of Vao, Tolamp and Atchin in 1914-1915.

On Malekula he discovered a stone age culture with Megalithic elements including altars, Monoliths and Dolmens, much like European Megalithic culture. Before the culture there was officially grouped as the Laptia culture in the 1940's

He discovered that they had a complex funerary ritual with a juxtaposition of tomb, labyrinth and portrait statute of the dead. According to Layard the Malekulan Lapita culture was possibly connected to the island of Nias off the island of Sumatra in Indonesia in style of their complex funerary rituals. ( However this has not been fully proven )

The most important ceremony was called the Maki. The ritual was usually spread over 15 years. Which was a form of rebirth and ritual ancestor worship. Part of this ceremony was the erection of stone monuments of ancestors to act as a guardian to the land of the dead. This was to safe guard their spiritual survival.

Elaborate singing and dancing by rhythms from gongs, (Hollowed out tree trunks with a long slit) taller than a man and set vertically into the ground. The sounds of these gongs were taken as the sounds of their ancestors voices.

Another part of the Maki ceremony was the ritual slaughter of tusked boars to build up the celebrants,s power to face the guardian ghost at his own death and to face the journey of death. Formerly human sacrifices were used instead of pigs.

Layard discovered a giant monument which stood 12 feet above the ground. And another believed to to have been about 33 feet high but was broken off in 3 pieces. There was a very rare photograph of ancestor monolith.

Even if the wonderful stone head was not found on Maleluka but on other islands of the group it is an indication of widespread ancestor worship and evidence of a neolithic culture dating back around 3000 years.

Thank you nickadventure 1 for sharing with us your amazing find.

Hardluck.

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Hey all

Thanks you Hardluck for your complement

 

Luc

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Hello Fredio

The Photograph in all fairness are not exactly clear. Nickventure 1 has stated that it is sandstone but from the Photographs you might notice pock marks on the stone. This could possible indicative that the stone is not sandstone but Volcanic rock? The holes in the rock are gas pockets formed when the lava cooled.( like pumice )

With possible centuries of water immersion and bacterial growth it would be hard to identify the type of stone to some one not possibly familiar with geology. Nick could of naturally assumed it was sandstone.

You stated it looked hollow because the size of the stone and how comfortable nick appears to be holding it? If it is a form of Pumice the rock is much lighter than it looks. Vanuatu sits on the edge of the Pacific plate that is colliding with the Australasian plate. Lots of volcanic and earthquake activity.

As it being a fake. Nothing is impossible in this world as there some very clever forgers of antiquities around. I have written about that somewhere in other posts. However being a possible garden Ornament. If it was found near Port Villa then it could be possible that the head piece broken off a statue of a  sitting Buddha. However knowing Vanuatu if it was found in the remote areas from the capital then I seriously doubt that.

Vanuatu in not like advanced western countries. Outside of the capital some areas are little unchanged since neolithic times. 90% of the people are subsistence agriculture or fishing. The main source of wealth cattle and pigs. Life is very basic. A very alien world to our way of living. There are no supermarkets selling garden ornaments or like anything we imagine in that part of the world.

That's why it is such a great place to visit because much of the country is so untainted without the cheap "Made in China" trinkets that our counties seem to be flooded with and no Indian guy in your face trying to sell you mobile telephone plan every 5 minutes.

Ultimately I hope Nick gets a carbon dating on the object as it would be interesting see if he really has found an amazing piece of cultural history.

Hardluck

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