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Early History Of Tonga
The early history of Tonga covers the islands' settlement and the early Lapita culture through to the rise of the Tuʻi Tonga Empire. What is known about Tonga before European contact comes from myths, stories, songs, poems, (as there was no writing system) as well as from archaeological excavations. Many ancient sites, kitchens and refuse heaps, have been found in Tongatapu and Haʻapai, and a few in Vavaʻu and the Niuas that provide insights into old Tongan settlement patterns, diet, economy, and culture. The Old Tonga The Haʻapai of three thousand years ago was a bit different from the Haʻapai of today. Large flightless birds called megapodes bounded through the tropical rain forest while giant iguanas and various other lizards rested on tree limbs.Shutler, Burley, Dickinson, Nelson, & Carlson, Oceana Publications, ''Early Lapita Sites, the colonisation of Tonga and recent data from northern Ha'apai'' The skies hosted three different species of fruit bats, three different spec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, according to Johnson's Tribune, Tonga has a population of 104,494, 70% of whom reside on the main island, Tongatapu. The country stretches approximately north-south. It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna (France) to the northwest; Samoa to the northeast; New Caledonia (France) and Vanuatu to the west; Niue (the nearest foreign territory) to the east; and Kermadec (New Zealand) to the southwest. Tonga is about from New Zealand's North Island. First inhabited roughly 2,500 years ago by the Lapita civilization, Tonga's Polynesian settlers gradually evolved a distinct and strong ethnic identity, language, and culture as the Tongan people. They were quick to establish a powerful footing acr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Angelfish
The emperor angelfish (''Pomacanthus imperator'') is a species of marine angelfish. It is a reef-associated fish, native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from the Red Sea to Hawaii and the Austral Islands. This species is generally associated with stable populations and faces no major threats of extinction. It is a favorite of photographers, artists, and aquarists because of its unique, brilliant pattern of coloration. Description The emperor angelfish shows a marked difference between the juveniles and the adults. The juveniles have a dark blue body which is marked with concentric curving lines, alternating between pale blue and white with the smallest which are completely enclosed within each other located posteriorly. These lines become vertical at the anterior end. The dorsal fin has a white margin and the caudal fin is transparent. The adults are striped with blue and yellow horizontal stripes, a light blue face with a dark blue mask over the eyes and a yellow caudal fin. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lifuka
Lifuka is an island in the Kingdom of Tonga. It is located within the Ha'apai Group, Haapai Group in the centre of the country, to northeast of the national capital of Nukuʻalofa, Nukualofa. It is the administrative centre of the Haapai group of islands with Pangai being the administrative capital village. History Lifuka is the place where Captain James Cook dubbed Tonga "The Friendly Islands". Tofua is where the mutiny on the Bounty, mutiny on the ''Bounty'' occurred in 1789; this active volcanic island lies approximately 40 nautical miles west of Lifuka. The Captain William Bligh, Bligh voyage stands as the longest known successful passage ever recorded in an open boat without modern navigational aids. It was successfully recreated in 2009 by the Talisker Bounty team. Lifuka Island was the final anchorage of the ill-fated ''Port au Prince (1790 ship), Port au Prince''. In 1806 the natives off the northwest coast attacked the British privateer and whaler, slaughtering the maj ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temper (pottery)
A temper is a non-plastic material added to clay to prevent shrinkage and cracking during drying and firing of vessels made from the clay. Tempers may include: *Bone; *Chaff; *Charcoal; *Ground schist; *Wood ash; * Grit; *Sand or crushed sandstone; *Crushed limestone; *Crushed igneous rocks, such as volcanic rock, feldspar, or mica; *Grog; *Plant fiber; *Horse manure (dried and sifted); *Crushed mollusc shells (including fossilized) (see Shell tempering in the Mississippian culture); and *Freshwater sponge spicules. Some clays used to make pottery do not require the addition of tempers. Pure kaolin clay Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedra ... does not require tempering. Some clays are self-tempered, that is, naturally contain enough mica, sand, or sponge spicules that t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niuas
Niua is a division of the Kingdom of Tonga, namely the northernmost group of islands. It consists of three islands (Niuafoʻou, Niuatoputapu and Tafahi) which together have an area of 71.69 km2 and a population of 1,150. The largest village is Hihifo on Niuatoputapu. Piu'o Tafahi is the highest point with an elevation of 560 m. Geography The islands lie at approximately 15° south latitude and 175° to 173° west longitude, approximately 600km north of the Tongan capital of Nukuʻalofa, 300 - 375 km northwest of Vavaʻu, and 320 - 470 km south or southwest of Samoa. Niuafoʻou is geographically separated from the other islands, lying 200km to the west. The total area of the islands is . Climate The islands have a tropical climate, with a mean temperature of and a mean annual rainfall of (Niuafoʻou) or (Niuatoputapu). Geology The islands are the peaks of undersea volcanoes, towering from the sea. Niuatoputapu and Tafahi lie on the Tofua volcanic arc, and are not active ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tafahi
Tafahi is a small () island in the north of the Tonga archipelago, in fact closer to Savaii (Samoa) than to the main islands of Tonga. It is only north-northeast away from Niuatoputapu, and fishermen commute in small outboard motorboats almost daily between the two. The island has a population of 14 (in 2021). Other names for Tafahi are Cocos Eylant (coconut island) or Boscawen island. Geography Tafahi is a volcanic island and has the typical cone shape of a stratovolcano. The mountain is called Piu-o-Tafahi (fanpalm of Tafahi) and is high. (The island, , is smaller than Niuatoputapu, but higher). The soil is extremely suited for growing kava and vanilla, whose exports to the rest of Tonga and beyond is the main occupation of the population. The harbour (merely an opening in the fringing reef, only passable by small boats) is at the northwest of the island. A steep staircase leads up to the village, with about 69 residents at the census of 2001, located on a plateau on the nor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fruit Bat
Megabats constitute the family Pteropodidae of the order Chiroptera (bats). They are also called fruit bats, Old World fruit bats, or—especially the genera ''Acerodon'' and ''Pteropus''—flying foxes. They are the only member of the superfamily Pteropodoidea, which is one of two superfamilies in the suborder Yinpterochiroptera. Internal divisions of Pteropodidae have varied since subfamilies were first proposed in 1917. From three subfamilies in the 1917 classification, six are now recognized, along with various tribes. As of 2018, 197 species of megabat had been described. The leading theory of the evolution of megabats has been determined primarily by genetic data, as the fossil record for this family is the most fragmented of all bats. They likely evolved in Australasia, with the common ancestor of all living pteropodids existing approximately 31 million years ago. Many of their lineages probably originated in Melanesia, then dispersed over time to mainland Asia, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pigeons
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily feed on seeds, fruits, and plants. The family occurs worldwide, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. The family contains 344 species divided into 50 genera. Thirteen of the species are extinct. In English, the smaller species tend to be called "doves" and the larger ones "pigeons". However, the distinction is not consistent, and does not exist in most other languages. Historically, the common names for these birds involve a great deal of variation between the terms. The bird most commonly referred to as just "pigeon" is the domestic pigeon, which is common in many cities as the feral pigeon. Doves and pigeons build relatively flimsy nests, often using sticks and other debris, which may be placed on bra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megapodes
The megapodes, also known as incubator birds or mound-builders, are stocky, medium-large, chicken-like birds with small heads and large feet in the family Megapodiidae. Their name literally means "large foot" and is a reference to the heavy legs and feet typical of these terrestrial birds. All are browsers, and all but the malleefowl occupy wooded habitats. Most are brown or black in color. Megapodes are superprecocial, hatching from their eggs in the most mature condition of any bird. They hatch with open eyes, bodily coordination and strength, full wing feathers, and downy body feathers, and are able to run, pursue prey, and in some species, fly on the same day they hatch. Description Megapodes are medium-sized to large terrestrial birds with large legs and feet with sharp claws. The largest members of the clade are the species of '' Alectura'' and ''Talegalla''. The smallest are the Micronesian scrubfowl (''Megapodius laperouse'') and the Moluccan scrubfowl (''Eulipoa wall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iguanas
''Iguana'' (, ) is a genus of herbivorous lizards that are native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his book ''Specimen Medicum, Exhibens Synopsin Reptilium Emendatam cum Experimentis circa Venena''. Two species are placed in the genus, the green iguana, which is widespread throughout its range and a popular pet, and the Lesser Antillean iguana, which is native to the Lesser Antilles. Genetic analysis indicates that the green iguana may comprise a complex of multiple species, some of which have been recently described, but the Reptile Database considers all of these as subspecies of the green iguana. The word "iguana" is derived from the original Taino name for the species, ''iwana''. In addition to the two species in the genus ''Iguana'', several other related genera in the same family have common names of the species including the word "ig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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