Nan Madol is an archaeological site next to the eastern shore of the island of Pohnpei, now part of the Madolenihmw district in Pohnpei state, Federated States of Micronesia, in the western Pacific Ocean. Nan Madol was the capital of the Saudeleur dynasty until about 1628. The city, built in a lagoon, includes a group of small man-made islands connected by canals. The main area, surrounded by stone walls, covers an area about 1.5 kilometers by 0.5 kilometers (0.93 miles by 0.31 miles) and contains 92 artificial islets—platforms made of stone and coral—surrounded by canals that fill with water during high tide.

The name Nan Madol means "within the intervals" and refers to the canals that cross the ruins. The original name was Soun Nan-leng, "Reef of Heaven," according to Gene Ashby in his book Pohnpei, An Island Argosy. It is often called the "Eighth Wonder of the World" or the "Venice of the Pacific."

History

Nan Madol was the main center for ceremonies and government of the Saudeleur dynasty, which united Pohnpei’s population of about 25,000 people until around 1628. Located between the main island of Pohnpei and Temwen Island, it had human activity as early as the first or second century AD. By the 8th or 9th century, construction of small islands began, and the unique large stone buildings were built between 1180 and 1200 AD.

In 1874, Polish ethnographer and oceanographer John Stanislaw Kubary provided the first detailed description of Nan Madol.

There is little confirmed information about how the large stone structures were built. Pohnpeian tradition suggests that people who built the Leluh site on Kosrae, also made of large stone buildings, moved to Pohnpei and used their skills to create Nan Madol. Radiocarbon dating shows that Nan Madol was built before Leluh, meaning it is more likely that Nan Madol influenced Leluh.

According to Pohnpeian legend, Nan Madol was built by twin sorcerers named Olisihpa and Olosohpa from the mythical Western Katau, or Kanamwayso. The brothers arrived in a large canoe to find a place to build an altar to worship Nahnisohn Sahpw, the god of agriculture. After several failed attempts, they successfully built an altar near Temwen Island, where they performed their rituals. In the legend, the brothers used a flying dragon to lift the large stones into place. When Olisihpa died of old age, Olosohpa became the first Saudeleur ruler. Olosohpa married a local woman and had twelve generations of descendants, creating sixteen other Saudeleur rulers from the Dipwilap ("Great") clan.

The first rulers of the dynasty governed kindly, but later rulers placed greater demands on their people. Their rule ended when Isokelekel invaded, though he also lived at Nan Madol. His successors later left the site.

Purpose and features

The elite center was a special place where nobles lived and where priests performed religious ceremonies. The population was probably no more than 1,000 people. It might have been even smaller. While some residents were chiefs, most were common people. Nan Madol was partly used by the ruling Saudeleur chiefs to control possible rivals by requiring them to live in the city instead of their home areas, where their actions were harder to watch.

Madol Powe, the mortuary area, includes 58 islets in the northeastern part of Nan Madol. Many of these islets once had homes for priests. Some islets had special uses: food was prepared on some, canoes were built on Dapahu, and coconut oil was made on Peinering. High walls around tombs are found on Peinkitel, Karian, and Lemenkou. The most notable is the royal mortuary islet of Nandauwas, where walls 5.5–7.5 meters (18–25 feet) tall surround a central tomb area in the main courtyard. This was built for the first Saudeleur.

On Nan Madol, there is no fresh water or food. Water had to be collected, and food had to be grown inland. During Saudeleur rule, Pohnpeians brought food and water to the island by boat. The Saudeleur received supplies at a specific islet: first at Peiniot, and later at the closer Usennamw.

Around 1628, when Isokelekel overthrew the Saudeleurs and started the Nahnmwarki Era, the Nahnmwarkis lived at Nan Madol but had to collect their own water and grow their own food. This likely led them to eventually leave Nan Madol and return to their home districts. Other reasons for the abandonment of the complex include a sudden drop in population.

Archaeology

Nan Madol is an archaeological site covering more than 18 square kilometers (6.9 square miles). It includes stone buildings built on a coral reef flat near Temwen Island, several artificial islands, and parts of the Pohnpei main island coastline. The central area of the site, surrounded by stone walls, covers about 1.5 by 0.5 kilometers (0.93 by 0.31 miles) and includes 92 artificial islands made of stone and coral platforms, separated by tidal canals.

Radiocarbon dating shows that large basalt stones used in construction were brought to Nan Madol around AD 1180 from a volcanic area on the opposite side of Pohnpei. Evidence suggests humans lived on Pohnpei as early as AD 1, but radiocarbon dating indicates human activity likely began around AD 80–200.

In 1985, Nan Madol was named a National Historical Landmark. Until 2012, items from the site were displayed at the Lidorkini Museum.

In 1978 and 1979, Arthur Saxe studied underwater areas near Nan Madol to search for submerged basalt columns and two ancient cities called Kahnihmw Namkhet and Kahnihmweiso. He found tall stone pillars covered in coral at depths over 25 meters (82 feet), but neither of the two cities was discovered. Some researchers suggested Kahnihmweiso might have been built over a collapsed cave, forming a blue hole that swallowed the city.

In 1988 and 1989, archaeologists from the University of Oregon studied underwater areas near Nan Madol. They found basalt columns on the seafloor and concluded they were building materials that had been discarded or fallen. They also examined pillars reported by Saxe and found two clusters of columns. When they tested one, they discovered it was made entirely of coral, not a man-made structure.

In 2013, Ishimura and others used sonar, underwater vehicles, and diving to study submerged features and the blue hole near Nan Madol. They found no evidence of human-made pillars or structures made of basalt. They also concluded the blue hole is a sinkhole formed in reef limestone during periods of low sea levels.

In popular culture and lost continent theories

The ruins of Nan Madol were used as the setting for a story about a lost race in a book by A. Merritt called The Moon Pool (1918). In the book, the islands are named Nan-Tauach, and the ruins are called Nan-Matal.

Some people think the ruins of Nan Madol are part of the lost continents called Lemuria or Mu. James Churchward wrote about this in his 1926 book, The Lost Continent of Mu Motherland of Man. However, there is no scientific evidence to support Churchward's claims. His writings about Mu are considered pseudoscience.

The ruins of Nan Madol were shown in episode two of a program called Ancient Apocalypse by Graham Hancock, which was broadcast on Netflix. The program made incorrect claims about how old the site is. Experts in Pacific geography and archaeology said these claims were very disrespectful to the ancestors of the Pohnpeian people who built the structures. They also connected these claims to 19th-century racist and white supremacist ideas.