THE PACIFIC 



ROLAND W. FORCE 

 Curator of Oceanic Archaeology and Ethnology 



MARQUESAS ISLANDS-ln 



eastern Polynesia lies a group of 

 eleven volcanic islands. High 

 peaks soar skyward and lush green 

 valleys are bisected by sparkling 

 waterfalls. The encircling beaches 

 reflect the blazing sun. These are 

 the Marquesas, discovered in 1 594 

 by a Spanish flotilla sent by Don 

 Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza. Vice- 

 roy of Peru. Mendana, the Com- 

 mander, named the group after the 

 Viceroy's lady, Las Islas Marque- 

 sas de Mendoza. Herman Mel- 

 ville in his famous Typee provides 

 a vivid account of native life in 

 these islands. 



Today the population of the 

 Marquesas has dwindled to a few 

 thousand — the old cultural milieu 

 is lost. No longer are beautiful 

 artifacts made; no longer do the 

 young desire to learn the ways of 

 their ancestors. The Marquesans 

 of old were renowned for the elab- 

 orate tattooing of their bodies, but 

 their craftsmanship reached its 

 highest development in the carv- 

 ing of wood and whale-tooth ivory. 



Carved ear 

 ornaments 

 of whale ivory. 



Head of a war club. 



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