Marae

A stone temple of Eastern Polynesia, comprised of courtyards and stone platform or ahu, where ceremonies took place. The court was walled, paved, or terraced. Marae are among the important remains on Easter Island, the Hawaiian Islands (especially Heiau), and the Tuamoto, Society, Cook, Austral, and Marquesas Islands. Ancestral forms probably go back to Early Eastern Polynesian settlement, c 500 AD. Figures of the gods were kept at the marae, often in special wooden containers housed in portable shelters. Large numbers of thin, tall wooden slabs were set up on the marae; they were carved with openwork geometric designs and topped with figures of birds, human beings, or spiked projections. Marae are especially characteristic of 1200-1800 AD. The term 'marae' also refers to an open space within a village in Tonga, Samoa, or New Zealand.

Stone temple of Eastern Polynesia, usually consisting of a stone platform [ahu] in a walled, paved or terraced court. The word marae (or malae) also refers to an open space within a village in Tonga, Samoa and New Zealand. Marae comprise important archaeological remains in Easter Island (here called simply ahu), Hawaiian Islands (Heiau) and the Tuamoto, Society, Cook, Austral and Marquesas Islands. Ancestral forms probably go back to the period of Early Eastern Polynesian settlement, around AD 500. See Maeva, Mahaiatea, Opunohu, Taputapuatea.