Falemauga Caves
Falemauga Caves - large chamber (1957 photo)
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 location in Samoa
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| Location | central ridge of Upolu island |
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| Region | Tuamasaga district, Samoa |
| Coordinates | 13°54′58″S 171°49′20″W / 13.91611°S 171.82222°WCoordinates: 13°54′58″S 171°49′20″W / 13.91611°S 171.82222°W |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1940s |
| Archaeologists | Derek Freeman |
The Falemauga Caves are large natural caverns in a series of lava-tunnels situated in the Tuamasaga district along the central ridge of Upolu island in Samoa. The caves have been studied by archaeologists in Samoa with evidence of human occupation in pre-history. They were also used as a place of refuge by the people of Tuamasaga.
The caves were explored and excavated in the early 1940s by New Zealand anthropologist Derek Freeman who published his report in the Journal of the Polynesian Society in 1944. Platforms constructed of stacked rocks, charcoal, stone adzes and marine shells were found in the caves.
In the Samoan language, the name Falemauga can be broken down into two words, fale which means 'house' and mauga which means 'mountain.'
The Falemauga Caves are located in an inland area called Falemauga, about 6 miles south west from Apia, Samoa's capital. Entrance to the main system of tunnels is about five and a half miles south (inland) of the coastal village of Malie.
When Freeman studied the caves in 1941, they were all located on a plantation owned by a 'Mr. S. V. Mackenzie of Apia.' During his field work, Freeman stayed in Mackenzie's house in Falemauga, located about 900 feet from the caves. Prior to Mackenzie, the land had formerly been owned by a German, Herr Paul Ludwig Schroeder, whose son Mr. H. H. Schroeder, discovered the caves in 1914. The caves were visited in August 1914 by members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, which was occupying the country at the time. In 1920, they were visited by Dr. J. Allan Thomson, Director of the Dominion Museum in New Zealand. Other scholars who visited the caves include Jack Golson, who explored the caves in 1957 as well as eminent archaeologist Janet Davidson.
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