HENRY

The faces commonly found on pottery from the 3,000 year old Polynesian Lapita culture are apparently turtles and not human faces

“Experts have long viewed the faces sometimes sketched by ancient potters on this pottery ware as almost certainly human in appearance, and they have considered them to be a sign that Pacific Islanders long ago may have worshiped their ancestors…(Terrell and Schechter)… have pieced together evidence of several kinds leading to a radically different understanding of the religious life of people in the South Pacific 3,000 years ago. Most of these mysterious faces, they report, may represent sea turtles.”

Posted on December 16th, 2006 by Simon Greenhill