Talietumu or Kolo Nui is an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

site in

Wallis and Futuna Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands (), is a French island territorial collectivity, collectivity in the Oceania, South Pacific, situated between Tuvalu to the northwest, Fiji to the southwest, Tonga t ...

in the southwestern part of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

Site

Talietumu is situated about southwest of the capital of ''

Mata-Utu Mata Utu (; , ) is the capital (political), capital city of Wallis and Futuna, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located on the island of Wallis Island, Uvéa (Uvea), in the district of Hahake District, Hahake, of which it is also the cap ...

'' and northeast of

Halalo Halalo is a village in Wallis and Futuna. It is located in Mua District on the southwest coast of Wallis Island Wallis () is a Polynesian atoll/island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the French overseas collectivity (''collectivité d'outr ...

in the

Mu'a Mua may refer to: *Mu'a (Tongatapu), the ancient capital of Tonga *Mu'a, a village on Niuafoou, Tonga *Mu'a, a village on Eua, Tonga, founded by people from Niuafoou *Mua District Mua (also spelled Mu'a, Uvean for "first") is one of the 5 dist ...

district on

Wallis Island Wallis () is a Polynesian atoll/island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the French overseas collectivity (''collectivité d'outre-mer'', or ''COM'') of Wallis and Futuna. It lies north of Tonga, northeast of Fiji, east-northeast of the Hoorn ...

(Uvea). The site was a fortified

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

n settlement called ''Kolo Nui'' and the whole fortress is surrounded by a strong

defensive wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with t ...

build of

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

with several entrances. Inside the fort there are a few preserved buildings and structures, lawns and the central elevated platform called ''Talietumu'' (a ''

Marae A ' (in Māori language, New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian language, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan language, Tongan), ' (in Marquesan language, Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan language, Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves reli ...

'' or ''Mala´e'', "Sacred Place"). The platform is of circular prolonged shape upon a circular stockade base. Raised walkways paved in stone start from the ''mala'e'' and radiate outward from within the fort.

History

The fort, built around 1450 during the expansion of the

Tu'i Tonga Empire Tu'i, also spelled more simplistically Tui, is a Polynesian traditional title for tribal chiefs or princes. In translations, the highest such positions are often rendered as "king". For details, see the links below various polities. Traditionally, ...

, was the last holdout of the Tongans on Uvea until they were defeated. French archaeologists Daniel Frimigacci, Jean-Pierre Siorat and Maurice Hardy of the French CNRS (

Centre national de la recherche scientifique The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...

) spent several years restoring the central platform using original techniques and completed that work around 1997. The platform now measures about 5 meters in height and about 80 m in length. Today the ruins of the fortress are a popular tourist attraction.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talietumu History of Wallis and Futuna Archaeological sites in Wallis and Futuna