Ha'amonga 'a Maui
On a low coral island with no metal, no wheels, no draft animals and no quarryable hard rock, how did Tongan builders cut three coral-limestone slabs of perhaps thirty to forty tonnes each, stand two of them upright, and then lift the third more than four metres into the air and drop it into mortise slots cut in their tops — and what was the finished gateway actually for?
Tu'i Tonga dynasty — traditionally c. 1200 CE, radiocarbon-dated c. 1320-1460 CE · Heketa, near Niutoua, Tongatapu, TongaAdded September 2026