Archéologie et fonction rituelle de la maison tapu: Les poteaux anthropomorphes sculptés des iles Marquises

In Polynesia, ancient ceremonial sites displayed various carved round figures or reliefs, either independent or associated to specialized structures. In Marquesas, aside the iconic red-tuff sculptures of tiki, some ritual houses were erected with wooden posts carved in human shape. Formal descriptions of these artefacts exist as they are considered as exceptional remains of ancient Polynesian aesthetic. However, these objects have never been archaeologically contextualized due to a lack of information on the sites themselves. Thanks to an extensive research program led on Ua Huka Island, we here propose to interpret the ritual function of the carved house posts with regards to the architecture to which they were associated. Our analyze of religious monuments and additional ethnohistorical accounts indicates that the posts were strongly connected to mortuary houses where the bodies of the dead were prepared. By comparing their function to other examples in Central Polynesia, including the upright coral slabs onnTuamotu marae, we highlight how these artefacts are not only markers of social places and ritual attractors but also materialize the role of ancestors in the permanence of the living communities.