274 Memoirs Bcrnicc P. Bishop Museum 



the pacpae, and then the house floor was walled and tilled until level with their 

 tops. Whether the plac.ing of the kc'ctu took place before or after the paving of 

 the front part of the paepae, could not be ascertained. Finally the surface of both 

 parts of the paepae. with the exception of the bed space of the house, was paved 

 with flat water-worn stones, those of the house floor being smaller and more care- 

 fully selected. Holes for the accommodation of the front posts of the house were 

 frequently left along the front edge of the floor. 



A curious feature not observed at the present time, is mentioned by Petit- 

 Thouars (48, p. 345) in his description of a chief's house on the island of Tabu 

 Ata. He says, "At either end of the single apartment which forms the house 

 there is a part of the pavement raised about thirty-five centimeters above the rest. 

 These two platforms apjiear to be more exclusively reserved for the king." 



One or two stone back rests were a rather common feature of dwelling 

 paepae in Hiva Oa. These back rests were simple slabs, usually undressed, set 

 into the i)avement of the veranda section and sloping at an angle of about 45 

 degrees. They were commonly placed at either end of the paepae and so arranged 

 that the occupant sat with his side toward the house. One interesting back rest 

 of this sort, of recent construction, was carved from the top of a large stone 

 set in the last course of the paepae wall (PI. xl. a. b). These objects appear 

 to have been simply a primitive form of easy chair, with no religious or ceremonial 

 significance, but it should be noted that similar l)ack rests were occasionally 

 placed within the bed spaces of houses within the jjrecincts of the me'ae of Hiva 

 Oa. \\'hen they were arranged in this position they were placed against the back 

 of the house, sloping inward, so that the occupant faced the front of the house. 

 A few stone back rests were observed in Nuku Hiva and Ua Pluku but they were 

 uncommon there. 



In the ])aved space before the house, many large Nuku Hivan paepae have 

 a rectangular pit running down to the original ground level. These pits are lined 

 with stones throughout and were certainly built at the same time as the paepae. 

 Two explanations of these pits were given by informants : That they were re- 

 positories into which objects that had become tapu were thrown and that they 

 were larders or small nia pits. It seems unlikely that they were used as ma pits, 

 however, as ma can only lie preserved projierly in pits dug in compact clay soil. 

 Several old informants claimed that they had seen objects which had become tapu 

 through touching the head of the oldest son thrown into such platform ]iits. In the 

 valley of Hatiheu, Nuku Hiva, a pit of this sort had been used as a burial place 

 for the owner's family, which had been wiped out by an epidemic. The house was 

 afterward burned and the place declared tapu. Similar pits are a constant fea- 

 ture of the simplest form of uie'ae in Nuku Hiva, but the majority of the paepae 



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