‘Coral Houses’ Are Dotted Throughout the Pacific. Now Scientists Know Exactly When They Were Built

The Mangareva Islands are about 1,600 km southeast of Tahiti in French Polynesia. They get their name (which means “floating mountains”) from the way the sea spray breaking on the surrounding coral atolls, or motu, causes the ancient volcanic peaks to appear as if they are floating above the waves.

Today, the islands are home to about 2,000 people, many of whom work on the pearl farms in the idyllic turquoise lagoon. Dotted across the islands are the remains of dozens of remarkable pieces of architecture: homes built from coral.

As part of a larger project studying the transformations of everyday life in 19th-century Mangareva, my archaeology research team has documented dozens of these coral houses, including on the islands of Aukena, Akamaru, Mangareva, and Taravai.

Now, in a new paper published in the journal Antiquity, we have established the first precise construction timeline for these coral houses.

The results reveal new patterns in how Pacific societies shaped their built environment after European contact — and how that colonial legacy continues to shape life today.

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