Talietumu or Kolo Nui is an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

site in

Wallis and Futuna Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands (; french: Wallis-et-Futuna or ', Fakauvea and Fakafutuna: '), is a French island collectivity in the South Pacific, situated between Tuvalu to the northwest, Fiji ...

in the southwestern part of the

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

Site

Talietumu is situated about southwest of the capital of ''

Mata-Utu Mata Utu (; ʻUvean: Matāutu, ) is the capital city of Wallis and Futuna, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located on the island of Uvéa (Uvea), in the district of Hahake, of which it is also the capital. It is one of two ports in Wa ...

'' 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. Its population according to the 2018 census was 471 people. Just to the northeast is the archeological site of Talietumu Talietumu ...

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 (Wallisian: ''Uvea'') 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-nort ...

(Uvea). The site was a fortified

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 ...

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 with towers, bastions and gates ...

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 New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

'' 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 was 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, ...

and it 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 (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science Basic research, also called pure research o ...

) 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