Marquesan culture

The Marquesas Islands were colonized by seafaring Polynesians as early as 300 AD, thought to originate from Samoa. The dense population was concentrated in the narrow valleys, and consisted of warring tribes, who sometimes cannibalized their enemies.

Much of Polynesia, including the original settlers of Hawaii, Tahiti, Rapa Iti and Easter Island, was settled by Marquesans, believed to have departed from the Marquesas as a result more frequently of overpopulation and drought-related food shortages, than because of the nearly constant warfare that eventually became a prominent feature of the islands' culture. Almost the entire remainder of Polynesia, with the exception of a few areas of western Polynesia as well as the majority of the Polynesian outliers, was colonized by Marquesan descendants centered in Tahiti.

Native Marquesan culture was devastated in the period following the arrival of European explorers. While the decline in Marquesan culture can in large part be attributed to the activities of Christian missionaries, the primary cause of its collapse can be directly linked to the catastrophic effects of alien diseases, especially smallpox, which reduced the population by an estimated 98%.

The Marquesas have a long history of complex geometric tattooing, covering the whole bodies of both men and women.

Early European explorers to the islands reported that children slept in the same room as their parents and were able to witness their parents while they had sex. Intercourse simulation allegedly became real penetration in some cases when boys were physically able. Adults were reported to have found simulation of sex by children to be funny, and both boys and girls were claimed to be initiated into sex at a very young age by older adults, with the children becoming eager participants. As children approached 11 attitudes shifted toward girls. Premarital sex, although not encouraged, was allowed in general, although it was forbidden for firstborn daughters of high-ranking lineages. Upon reaching puberty, both females and males underwent rites of passage, including tattooing and for males, genital surgery known as superincision.

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