Latte stone

A latte stone, or simply latte (also latde), is a pillar (Chamorro language: haligi) capped by a hemispherical stone capital (tasa) with the flat side facing up. Used as building supports by the ancient Chamorro people, they are found throughout most of the Mariana Islands. In modern times, the latte stone is seen as a sign of Chamorro identity and is used in many different contexts.

Latte stones have been made of limestone, basalt, or sandstone. Typical pillars range in height from 60 centimeters to three meters, and generally narrow towards the top. The pillar was normally quarried and then transported to the construction site. For small to medium-sized lattes, the capstone was a large hemispherical coral head that was gathered from a reef. The massive capstones found in Rota were instead quarried, like the pillars.

In Oceania the latte stone is unique to the Marianas, though megaliths of differing construction and purpose are common to Oceanic cultures. Similarities between the latte stone and the wood posts made by the Ifugao sub-group of the Igorot in the Philippines, on which they build rice stores, have been pointed out. The rounded capstones help prevent rats from climbing up the pillar. A similar wood post construction appears to be depicted in a relief carving at Borobodur, Java, which has caused one scholar to put forward the disputed theory of a prehistorical cultural exchange between the Marianas and Java.

Latte stones varied greatly in size. The smallest were several feet tall. The largest latte still standing is 16 feet (5m) tall, located in Tinian. In Rota, quarried latte would have stood 25 feet (8m) high if erected. The largest shaft found here weighs 34 tons while the largest cap weighs 22 tons.

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