On the beautiful island located next to the International Date Line, ancient cities have emerged in a completely shocking way.
Using LiDAR, a remote sensing method that employs laser technology to map 3D hidden structures, a team led by Dr. Phillip Parton from the Australian National University (ANU) has discovered ancient cities built around 300 AD in Tonga.
According to a publication in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, these cities are located on Tongatapu, the main island of Tonga and home to the capital Nukuʻalofa.
Remnants of ancient cities revealed on LiDAR map – (Photo: ANU).
This island shows evidence of human occupation dating back to around 900-850 BC, but it is believed that the first cities were only constructed around 1000 AD.
However, researchers were shocked while mapping this stunning Pacific island in 3D.
Not only are these cities seven centuries older than previously thought, the urban system in Tongatapu is surprisingly complex.
It is not just a solitary city. The ancient inhabitants built an entire network of various urban centers interconnected by roadways.
“As settlements grew, they had to come up with new ways to support the increasing population. This type of setup – what we call low-density urbanization – led to significant economic and social changes. People interacted more and engaged in various types of work,” Dr. Parton stated.
What remains are just mounds that once served as the foundations of houses and the ruins of roads and fortifications.
Nevertheless, all of this is sufficient to reveal an incredible scale of an island that Westerners believed was still quite pristine at that time.
Tongatapu is also home to many prominent monuments of the Oceania nation of Tonga, including the three Haʻamonga ʻa Maui stones, ancient burial mounds, and the Tomb of Papae ‘o Tele’a.
Tonga is a small, beautiful island nation well-known for its proximity to the International Date Line and is one of the first places in the world to welcome the new day and New Year, just after Kiribati and the Chatham Islands of New Zealand, and simultaneously with Samoa.
