In Hanapaaoa Valley in the northern part of Hiva Oa Island, we found the ancient Marquesan site. It is quite difficult to find, without help of locals, almost impossible. Terraced on the hillside slope, on the outskirts of the small fishing village are remains of the marae (traditional religious site). It is different from the other such places we visited before. Stepped terraces mostly covered by vegetation lead to the top of marae, where ancient tiki statue stands as a guardian. Petroglyphs visible on some rocks nearby assure us about the importance of the place. This is tiki Moeone, the god of fertility. No doubt this tiki is a male with crown around his head.
On the way down, we look under the banyan tree. There are human bones, under another tree more bones and human skull. It turns out that these are burial places. Based on the old tradition, tree roots are the connection to the spiritual world and long living banyan trees assure that passage
