Nuku Hiva French Polynesia. The mysterious island of Nuku Hiva. Legends about the origin of Nuku Hiva

There are a great many on Earth mysterious places and amazing ancient monuments, but most of them still remain mysterious and unexplored.

One of these places is a village called Temehea Tohua, which is located on the island of Nuku Hiva. It is noteworthy that it is the largest atoll in French Polynesia in the Marquesas archipelago.

This stunning island is home to some of the strangest and most mysterious statues in the world. These statues mostly resemble aliens from deep space or parallel worlds, but who do they really represent? Perhaps these statues are nothing more than a figment of the artist’s extremely developed imagination, or maybe the ancient inhabitants of these lands tried to capture unknown creatures that once visited our planet?

At first glance it may seem that these are just large statues. However, upon closer examination, interesting details are revealed: large eyes, huge elongated heads, strikingly different body sizes of individual statues, and other features that make you wonder: Who or what inspired the sculptor to carve such inhuman features?

Some researchers claim that these statues depict the ancient alien race of reptilians.

It is interesting that many of the statues are depicted in family groups, women often with children.

And these, apparently, are the males of these creatures:

Reptilians have often been at the center of conspiracy theorist debates, in which they were credited with the ability to manipulate people and control their behavior. It is believed that reptilians are very evil, and, nevertheless, the most highly developed alien civilization in our galaxy. Could the Temehea Tohua statues represent some reptilian species? If this is so, then it is quite possible that reptilians were revered as gods by local tribes in those distant times.

Who the statues on the island of Temehea Tohua actually depict may forever remain a mystery, but it is more than obvious that these statues have nothing in common with the human form.

Also, nothing is known about who and when created these statues.
Historians believe that the first inhabitants of Nuku Hiva appeared about two thousand years ago; they were immigrants from the island of Samoa, who later also settled in Tahiti, Hawaii and New Zealand. But what it really was like is still a question. It is unlikely that these islands were always uninhabited before the beginning of our era.

But it also seems to me that these mysterious reptilian statues are very similar to the Japanese Dogu figurines. Currently, more than 3,000 such figurines have been found, depicting certain creatures reminiscent of modern astronauts. It is worth noting that some of the figurines are 10,000 years old.

Temehea Tohua is located on the island of Nuku Hiva, which is the largest atoll in the Marquesas Islands archipelago in French Polynesia.

On this unique island there are perhaps the most outlandish statues ever seen by man. Some ancient sculptures depict creatures that appear to be aliens. And everyone who comes to this earth wants to solve the riddle: who are they - the fruit of the sculptor’s wild imagination or something that really descended from the distant wastelands of space to this island?

At first glance, they seem to be simply “big statues”, but upon closer examination you notice more and more interesting features: unusually large eyes, massive elongated heads, puny/huge bodies and other attributes, the presence of which raises bewilderment regarding the origin of the “models” that inspired the creator of these sculptures.

Nuku Hiva is the largest island of the Marquesas archipelago in French Polynesia and an overseas territory of France in the region Pacific Ocean. The atoll was previously known as Madison Island.

Herman Melville wrote the book Typee, which is based on his experiences in the Taipiwai Valley in the eastern part of the island of Nuku Hiva. Robert Louis Stevenson's first landing during his 1888 Casco expedition took place in the area of ​​Hatihoi, located in the northern part of Nuku Hiva. Nuku Hiva also became the next location for filming the 4th season of the American reality show “Survivors,” which took place throughout the Marquesas archipelago.

Nuku Hiva Island Warrior, 1813

In ancient times, Nuku Hiva was divided into two regions: more than 2/3 of the island was occupied by the Te Li province, and the rest belonged to the Tai Pi community.

Recent research shows that the first settlers appeared here 2,000 years ago, arriving from Samoa, and then colonizing Tahiti in Hawaii, the Cook Islands and New Zealand. Legends say that the all-creating deity Ono promised a wife to the one who built a house in a day, and by gathering together the earth, he created islands, calling them parts of the house.

Thus, the island of Nuku Hiva is considered a “roof”. And he piled up everything that remained unused, forming the Ua Huka hill. For centuries, the population of this island increased, and at such a pace that by the time the first European arrived on this land, it ranged from 50 to 100 thousand inhabitants on this small piece of land in the middle of the ocean.

Of course, food was of primary importance here. The diet was based on fruits breadfruit, as well as taro, bananas and cassava. As for protein products, fish dominated here, although its quantity was limited, given the number of people it needed to feed. Pigs, chickens, and dogs were also the object of the culinary preferences of the island's inhabitants.

Breadfruit

There is still scientific debate about why so many Polynesian tribes practiced cannibalism. According to one theory, eating one's own kind was more likely to compensate for protein deficiency in the diet than to serve for ritual ceremonies. However, cannibalism played a large role for ritual purposes. Thus, the sacrifice made to the sea deity Ika was “caught” in the same way as a fish, and hung by a hook above the altar like an underwater inhabitant.

The one who was to become a victim of the sacred ritual was tied up and hung from a tree for a certain time, after which his brains were knocked out with a club. It is believed that women and children engaged in cannibalism only for food, while male warriors sacrificed to deities and ate enemies defeated in battle to gain their strength. For the same purpose, they kept the skulls of their defeated enemies.

In many places on our planet, archaeologists find unusual artifacts that do not reveal the mysteries of history, but only increase their number. One of these artifacts is the outlandish statues of the island of Nuku Hiva, which have no analogues on Earth.

Looking at them, you involuntarily think about what kind of wild imagination could create these mysterious creatures. Or perhaps alien reptilians who once visited the island served as models for ancient sculptures?

The quadrangular island of Nuku Hiva (formerly Madison) is an atoll with an area of ​​330 square kilometers, its length is 30 kilometers and its width is 15 kilometers. This is the most big island Marquesas archipelago of French Polynesia.

Nuku Hiva literally means “Majestic Island”, and this is quite justified. The nature here is incredibly beautiful. Lush greenery coexists with mountainous heights, in warm ocean waters there is a varied, colorful underwater world stuns the imagination of even the most experienced traveler.

This natural picture is complemented by two extinct volcanoes surrounded by pointed rocks. The crater of one of them filled with water, something like this can rarely be seen. Plus, there are no natural disasters or rainy seasons. Just heaven on Earth. We can say that Nuku Hiva is a sparsely populated island. Just over 2 thousand residents live here permanently.

FROM THE DEPTH OF CENTURIES

In the middle of the last century, American archaeologists conducted excavations on the island. Based on them, it was established that the first inhabitants appeared here back in 150 AD. e. They arrived from the island of Samoa, then they were gradually colonized New Zealand, Cook Islands, Tahiti and Hawaii.

The population was mainly engaged in pottery and stone processing. That is why stone houses, famous tiki sculptures and other structures stood on the island already in 1100.

Centuries passed, the population of the island grew at a tremendous pace. By the time the first Europeans appeared on Nuku Hiva, about 100 thousand inhabitants lived on this small piece of land in the middle of the ocean. During the existence of Nuku Hiva, there were attempts to capture the island by the Americans, but they were unsuccessful.

In 1842, the island began to belong to France, and construction began at the same time. Catholic Cathedral. But, even despite the constant visits of missionaries, Christianity took root here with difficulty. In addition, the population of the island gradually decreased. Intertribal wars claimed many lives. In addition, Europeans brought diseases here to which the natives had no immunity.

Thus, in 1863, about 1 thousand people died as a result of a smallpox epidemic. Peruvian slave traders replenished the supply of slaves here, and in 1883, opium brought by the Chinese finally “solved” the demographic problem. And in 1934, only about 600 people remained on the island.

Like any other people, local population there is a legend about the origin of Nuku Hiva. According to her, the god Ono boasted to his wife that he would build a house in just one day. To do this, he collected all the earth and created islands from it, each of which corresponded to a specific part of the house. Nuku Hiva in this design was the roof. Ono collected the remains of the land into a heap - thus creating the island of Ua-Huka, now located east of Nuku Hiva.

GOURMIES OF NUKU KHIVA

Since such a small piece of land was densely populated, the problem of food was perhaps the most important. Mostly the aborigines ate plant foods: breadfruit, bananas, cassava, etc. It is clear that protein was always in short supply. Even the fish that could be caught in ocean waters were not enough to feed so many mouths. Not to mention pigs and chickens; even dogs were not disdained here.

This may be why, according to scientists, many local tribes practiced cannibalism. More often to replenish protein in the diet than for ritual ceremonies. But the latter cannot be discounted either. The inhabitants of the island appeased the sea deity Ika, bringing him human sacrifices.

The unfortunate person was caught on a hook like a fish, and then he was tied up and hung on a tree above the altar. They didn’t touch the victim for a while, and then they started beating him on the head with a baton until his brains were knocked out.

And some scientists believe that eating their own kind was necessary only for women and childrenfor food. The men of the tribe thus appropriated the strength of the defeated enemy. For the same purpose, they collected the skulls of people they had eaten.

ALIENS

It would seem that there is nothing special in Nuku Hiva: beautiful nature, exotic local customs- everything is like on other Polynesian islands. Only on this island there is the village of Temehea Tohua, next to which there are several unique sculptures that have no analogues in the world.

Presumably the sculptures are stone deities of the ancient Polynesians, dating back to the 11th-14th centuries. Actually, are there not enough stone idols on Earth? Only tiki idols, as they are called, are special. They all have a strange appearance. It seems that the ancient sculptors carved clearly not earthly inhabitants from stone. The creatures immortalized in stone had bodies with bulging bellies, large oblong heads, on which huge eyes stood out.

And they were dressed in clothes very similar to spacesuits. Scientists have not yet been able to figure out what it is: the figment of the imagination of a crazy sculptor or the impression of an encounter with alien creatures. But even the most skeptical researchers are sure that there is nothing human in these statues.

Meanwhile, the tics are very reminiscent of the descriptions of guests from deep space that our contemporaries met. It turns out that the residents of Nuku Hiva saw them too? And they didn’t just see, but fell under their power if they were revered as deities and worshiped. The largest statue is 2.5 meters in height. Not a single sculpture repeats another; each depicts a specific deity. Locals They are still convinced that tics carry the power of the depicted god. One helps in military affairs, the second saves from trouble, the third contributes to a rich harvest, etc.

Those who subscribe to the alien theory believe that different groups of aliens served as models for tiki. Some sculptures look like reptilians - the most ancient and evil, according to ufologists, creatures in the Universe. By the way, their civilization reached a high level of development, and its representatives could easily control people. This is about tiki worship.

Another group of sculptures, the same ufologists believe, depicts “gray aliens.” They vaguely resemble a person with a frail body, thin arms and a huge head. Only the disproportionately large eyes and mouths give them away as alien creatures.

It is believed that reptilians first appeared on the island. They were able to enslave people, force them to worship, become deities for them. And then they created “gray aliens”, using them as slaves. That is why the sculptures are so different from each other. But all these are just assumptions, fantasies and conjectures. And who knows whether humanity will ever be able to unravel the mystery of the idols of the island of Nuku Hiva.

An archipelago located in the South Pacific Ocean volcanic origin — Marquesas Islands, the most large island which is Nuku Hiva - “Majestic Island”.

In the very center of Nuku Hiva is the sacred valley of Temehea Tohuana, where there are outlandish Tiki statues - stone sculptures, depicting deities worshiped by the ancient Polynesians. It would seem that there is nothing unusual, since stone idols have been found in other places on the Earth.

Photo: Rita Willaert/flickr

But what makes these idols special is their strange appearance. It seems that the sculptors posed for alien creatures, the same as we imagine aliens to be, based on individual facts of meetings with guests from deep space that allegedly occurred with our contemporaries. But how did the ancient aborigines of the island of Nuku Hiva know about them?

It is unlikely that this is the fruit of the sculptor’s wild imagination. Perhaps the ancient inhabitants of Nuku Hiva saw these strange big-eyed creatures, who apparently had some kind of magical power over the inhabitants, since they recognized them as their deities and worshiped them.

Archaeologists have determined that the first people settled on the island of Nuku Hiva in the first century AD. Their main occupation was stone processing; they also built stone houses, which is not surprising for an island of volcanic origin, which has a lot of building material. Most of the structures that have come down to us date back to the 11th-14th centuries; at the same time, the world-famous stone Tiki idols were created.

Photo: Tran Quility/flickr

The largest statue is almost 2.5 meters high. Tiki are different from each other, each of them is the personification of a specific deity and, according to the Polynesians, contains the magical power of this god. One idol helps in war, another protects against troubles and misfortunes, the third gives a large harvest, and so on.

Scientists have differing opinions about the originals from which Tiki statues were carved, however, almost everyone agrees that they depict some kind of aliens and there is nothing human in them.

Some researchers believe that Tiki idols were sculpted by two completely different groups of aliens. According to ufologists, reptilians, the most ancient people in the entire Universe, “posed” for some sculptures. This is very highly developed civilization with evil residents who can control people.

Photo: Rita Willaert/flickr

Other Tiki statues were carved from other aliens - “gray aliens”. Their appearance is more human-like, although their body is frail, their arms are thin, their heads are large with a nose, mouth and huge “inhuman” eyes.

Moreover, ufologists believe that some repeating features found on all Tiki sculptures indicate that the masters saw with their own eyes those from whom the statues were made.

It is believed that a race of reptilians appeared on Nuku Hiva earlier, winning the worship of people and becoming deities for them. The humanoids then created the "gray aliens" - an inferior race of slaves. And all these are just assumptions, fantasies and conjectures. But there is always hope that the mystery of the Tiki sculptures on the island of Nuku Hiva will be solved.

Site materials used

In many places on our planet, archaeologists find unusual artifacts that do not reveal the mysteries of history, but only increase their number. One of these artifacts is strange statues of the island of Nuku Hiva, which have no analogues on Earth.

Looking at them, you involuntarily think about what kind of wild imagination could create these mysterious creatures. Or perhaps alien reptilians who once visited the island served as models for ancient sculptures?

The quadrangular island of Nuku Hiva (formerly Madison) is an atoll with an area of ​​330 square kilometers, its length is 30 kilometers and its width is 15 kilometers. It is the largest island of the Marquesas archipelago of French Polynesia.

Nuku Hiva literally means “Majestic Island”, and this is quite justified. The nature here is incredibly beautiful. Lush greenery coexists with mountainous heights; in the warm ocean waters, a diverse, colorful underwater world stuns the imagination of even the most experienced traveler.

This natural picture is complemented by two extinct volcanoes surrounded by pointed rocks. The crater of one of them filled with water, something like this can rarely be seen. Plus, there are no natural disasters or rainy seasons. Just heaven on Earth. We can say that Nuku Hiva is a sparsely populated island. Just over 2 thousand residents live here permanently.

FROM THE DEPTH OF CENTURIES

In the middle of the last century, American archaeologists conducted excavations on the island. Based on them, it was established that the first inhabitants appeared here back in 150 AD. e. They arrived from the island of Samoa, then they gradually colonized New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Tahiti and Hawaii.

The population was mainly engaged in pottery and stone processing. That is why the island already had stone houses, famous tiki sculptures and other structures on the island in 1100.

Centuries passed, the population of the island grew at a tremendous pace. By the time the first Europeans appeared on Nuku Hiva, about 100 thousand inhabitants lived on this small piece of land in the middle of the ocean. During the existence of Nuku Hiva, there were attempts to capture the island by the Americans, but they were unsuccessful.

In 1842, the island became part of France, and construction of the Catholic Cathedral began at the same time. But, even despite the constant visits of missionaries, Christianity took root here with difficulty. In addition, the population of the island gradually decreased. Intertribal wars claimed many lives. In addition, Europeans brought diseases here to which the natives had no immunity.

Thus, in 1863, about 1 thousand people died as a result of a smallpox epidemic. Peruvian slave traders replenished the supply of slaves here, and in 1883, opium brought by the Chinese finally “solved” the demographic problem. And in 1934, only about 600 people remained on the island.

Like any other people, the local population has a legend about the origin of Nuku Hiva. According to her, the god Ono boasted to his wife that he would build a house in just one day. To do this, he collected all the earth and created islands from it, each of which corresponded to a specific part of the house. Nuku Hiva in this design was the roof. Ono collected the remains of the land into a heap - thus creating the island of Ua-Huka, now located east of Nuku Hiva.

GOURMIES OF NUKU KHIVA

Since such a small piece of land was densely populated, the problem of food was perhaps the most important. Mostly the aborigines ate plant foods: breadfruit, bananas, cassava, etc. It is clear that protein was always in short supply. Even the fish that could be caught in ocean waters were not enough to feed so many mouths. Not to mention pigs and chickens; even dogs were not disdained here.

This may be why, according to scientists, many local tribes practiced cannibalism. More often to replenish protein in the diet than for ritual ceremonies. But the latter cannot be discounted either. The inhabitants of the island appeased the sea deity Ika, bringing him human sacrifices.

The unfortunate person was caught on a hook like a fish, and then he was tied up and hung on a tree above the altar. They didn’t touch the victim for a while, and then they started beating him on the head with a baton until his brains were knocked out.

And some scientists believe that eating their own kind was necessary only for women and children
for food. The men of the tribe thus appropriated the strength of the defeated enemy. For the same purpose, they collected the skulls of people they had eaten.

ALIENS

It would seem that there is nothing special in Nuku Hiva: beautiful nature, exotic local customs - everything is like on other Polynesian islands. Only on this island there is the village of Temehea Tohua, next to which there are several unique sculptures that have no analogues in the world.

Presumably the sculptures are stone deities of the ancient Polynesians, dating back to the 11th-14th centuries. Actually, are there not enough stone idols on Earth? Only tiki idols, as they are called, are special. They all have a strange appearance.

It seems that ancient sculptors carved clearly non-earthly inhabitants from stone. The creatures immortalized in stone had bodies with bulging bellies, large oblong heads, on which huge eyes stood out.

And they were dressed in clothes very similar to spacesuits. Scientists have not yet been able to figure out what it is: the figment of the imagination of a crazy sculptor or the impression of an encounter with alien creatures. But even the most skeptical researchers are sure that there is nothing human in these statues.

Meanwhile, the tics are very reminiscent of the descriptions of guests from deep space that our contemporaries met. It turns out that the residents of Nuku Hiva saw them too? And they didn’t just see, but fell under their power if they were revered as deities and worshiped.

The largest sculpture is 2.5 meters in height. Not a single sculpture repeats another; each depicts a specific deity. Local residents are still convinced that tiki carry the power of the depicted god. One helps in military affairs, the second saves from trouble, the third contributes to a rich harvest, etc.

Those who subscribe to the alien theory believe that different groups of aliens served as models for tiki. Some sculptures look like reptilians- the most ancient and evil, according to ufologists, creatures in the Universe. By the way, their civilization reached a high level of development, and its representatives were quite capable of controlling people. This is about tiki worship.

Another group of sculptures, the same ufologists believe, depicts “gray aliens.” They vaguely resemble a person with a frail body, thin arms and a huge head. Only the disproportionately large eyes and mouths give them away as alien creatures.

It is believed that reptilians first appeared on the island. They were able to enslave people, force them to worship, become deities for them. And then they created “gray aliens”, using them as slaves. That is why the sculptures are so different from each other.

But all these are just assumptions, fantasies and conjectures. And who knows whether humanity will ever be able to unravel the mystery of the idols of the island of Nuku Hiva.

Galina MINIKOVA