APAMU :: le site des urgences de Polynésie française

(Sorry for the software automatic translation – corrections as soon as possible)

Extracted the book " Tahiti today and all these islands " by Arlette EYRAUD, with the editions J.A.

To 1650 km in the south-east of Tahiti, a little above the tropic of Capricorn (23° 27 south), the small archipelago of Gambiers includes, inside a crown 80 km length récifal, submerged in the south and the west, a group of high islands: Mangareva, Aukena, Taravai, Akamaru and some small islands.

With the motus of the reef and more distant sproutings, total surface does not reach 30 km². Only inhabited today, Mangareva counts less than 800 hearts. The climate is soft and even expenses during the southern winter which corresponds to the metropolitan summer. Although attached to Tuamotus on the administrative level, Gambiers of it are geographically very different and their stories is well individualized.

In May 1797, the English captain Wilson, ordering the " Duff ", côtoie the archipelago and gives him the name of the captain Gambier, descendant of French huguenots which had helped the company of the missions of London.

Insofar as the traditions make it possible to outline the broad outline of the past, Mangareva was a crossing point between the edges is and western large ocean. Polynesians coming from the West would have settled here starting from XIe century and the occupation of the island is confirmed towards 1200 by dating with carbon-14.

Other edge would have come the Tupa hero who split the reef into two. According to the archaeologists, marae of the small island of Tumoe present of the analogies with the Marchionesses which according to recent assumptions', would have passed to Mangareva on the road of the Easter Island.