visualskies | The main focus of the programme, the awe inspiring Nan Madol, is
an archaeological wonder adjacent to the eastern shore of Pohnpei. Few
places in the Pacific, indeed on the planet, are as intriguing and
mysterious as Nan Madol. Hardly known outside Micronesia, the lost city
of Nan Madol is a hidden gem of Polynesian history and culture and is an
awe inspiring sight for modern people lucky enough to visit or work
there. The name Nan Madol means ‘within the intervals’ and is a
reference to the canals that criss-cross the ruins. The city,
constructed in a lagoon, consists of myriad artificial islands linked by
this network of canals. The core of the site, with its monumental
basalt block walls and coral filled platforms, encompasses an area of
over 18 square kilometres and is the only extant ancient city built on
top of a coral reef. Nan Madol was the ceremonial and political capital
of the Saudeleur Dynasty until the early part of the 17th century;
although Nan Madol was the scene of human activity since the 1st or 2nd
century AD, the construction of the distinctive basalt block
architecture probably began in the 12th century. The colossal scale of
the beautiful edifices, their technical sophistication and the
extraordinary density of the megalithic structures bear testimony to the
complex social and religious organisations of the island society at
this time. In the north eastern part of the site lies the breathtaking
Nan Doas with walls of impossibly massive basalt blocks, in places over 7
metres tall. These surround a central tomb in an impressive courtyard
that was built for the first Saudeleur. These elaborate ruins represent
the ceremonial centre of the Saudeleur Dynasty; a vibrant period in
Pacific Island culture. According to local legend, the basalt blocks
used in the construction of Nan Madol were flown to the site by twin
sorcerors Olisihpa and Olosohpa using black magic. Although
archaeologists have located several quarry sites for the basalt at the
opposite end of Pohnpei, the method of transportation and construction
of these incredibly heavy stone blocks has still not been adequately
explained. The longer you spend at Nan Madol, the more these legends
indeed seem to be a reasonable explanation as to how the place was
built.
The site is inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to a
number of threats, notably the silting up of the waterways and the
unchecked, rapid growth of the mangroves and other vegetation that
undermine and otherwise destabilise the remains. The majority of the
megalithic complex at Nan Madol has been rendered almost invisible by
the aggressive invasion of the mangrove forest and other vegetation that
proliferate in the tropical climate on Pohnpei. As a corollary of this
it was impossible to document, digitise and visualise the remains using
any traditional survey techniques. There was simply too much vegetation
to be able to allow more than a tantalising glimpse of disparate parts
of the widescale megalithic structures; so an alternative methodology
had to be utilised. To allow the team to literally find the lost city of
Nan Madol Visualskies used our drone mounted LiDAR technology to
penetrate the vegetation canopy and reveal the remains that, to the
naked eye, remain hidden underneath. Working under intense pressure to
fly multiple sorties every day, in far from ideal weather conditions,
with no power close at hand and then to process and visualise the
results in a matter of days, Visualskies pushed the technology, the
hardware, the software and the team members to their limits and beyond.
For the team from Visualskies, working on Pohnpei was an incredible
journey into the past and a unique professional experience on a tropical
paradise.
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