Image: Guma Taga ruins, pre-1902

Description: Guma Taga (House of Taga) ruins on the island of Tinian in the Marianas, Micronesia, Oceania. The two pillars/columns are called latte (pronounced lætdi/læ'di) stones, a common architectural element of prehistoric structures in the Mariana Islands, upon which elevated buildings were built. Taga was a legendary Chamoru chief, and these ruins would have been the largest known structure of their kind in the archipelago. Earthquakes had toppled most of the latte stones at this site by the time this photo was taken; an earthquake in 1902 toppled the latte stone seen on the left, and now only the one on the right remains standing. The exact date that this picture was shot is unknown; it is found in the collection of the Museum of Guam.
Title: Guma Taga ruins, pre-1902
Credit: Guam Museum of Culture, Art and History
Author: Unknown
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No