9.1 Oceania: Peoples & Monuments

Three regions

The Pacific divides into Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Art served status, ancestry, and ritual across thousands of far-flung islands.

Moai

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) carved the monumental stone moai — giant ancestor figures set on platforms, facing inland to watch over their communities.

Nan Madol

Nan Madol (Micronesia) is a city of stone-and-coral platforms built over a lagoon — a ceremonial and political center of a Pacific chiefdom.

Key terms

Melanesia/Micronesia/Polynesia

the three Pacific culture regions

Moai

monumental stone ancestor figures, Rapa Nui

Rapa Nui

Easter Island, home of the moai

Nan Madol

stone-and-coral city over a lagoon, Micronesia

Function

Pacific art served status, ancestry, ritual

Try an AP-style question

The moai of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) likely represent…

1. foreign invaders
2. deified ancestors
3. sea animals
4. trade goods