The Kalimantan people on another island in Indonesia live in a communal style that is similar to the long houses of Taiwan's Aboriginal tribes.
Research has shown that the earliest Micronesians came from the Philippines and Indonesia. Over a thousand years of migration, they also went to the Palau Islands and Yap Island, and have established a trade circle based on "stone money." This stone money can be as large as the size of a house. "And such a stone money culture can be found in many Micronesian islands," said anthropologist Ho Chuan-kun.
For scientists, however, there are still a lot of mysteries waiting to be solved. One of them is the giant stone statues called Moai on the coast of Easter Island.
"The Polynesian people stopped their migrations after they reached Easter Island," Ho said. "But years after building those giant statues, the people and their cultures no longer exist. And the reason why the giant stone monoliths were built became a mystery."
For your information:
Discovering Austronesia is screened on PTS channel 10pm every Wednesday, from July 9 to Sept. 10.
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