Micronesia

This region encompasses, among others, the Caroline, Gilbert, Mariana (including Guam), and Marshall island groups, as well as the country of Nauru.

c. 900 C.E. - present

videos + essays

We're adding new content all the time!

Inlaid bird bowl, from Belau
Inlaid bird bowl, from Belau

The finely carved wooden bowl is shaped like a bird and was used as a container for sweet drink.

Nan Madol: “In the space between things”
Nan Madol: “In the space between things”

No one knows exactly how the people of Nan Madol created this royal capital made of giant stones.

Painted mask (tapuanu), Caroline Islands
Painted mask (tapuanu), Caroline Islands

Masks are rare in Micronesia—traditionally they are only found in the Mortlock group of islands

Kiribati armor
Kiribati armor

Making do with local materials, the I-Kiribati tailored armor from coconut fiber and wore porcupine-fish helmets.

Navigation Chart, Marshall Islands
Navigation Chart, Marshall Islands

Master sailors fashioned these maps from sticks and cowrie shells, registering relationships between land and sea.

Wooden sculptures from Nukuoro
Wooden sculptures from Nukuoro

The first Europeans to collect these sculptures judged them coarse and clumsy, but Giacometti and Moore disagreed.

Selected Contributors