Wreck of WWII Japanese Midget Tank, Lelu Harbour, Micronesia Photographic Print Elk III, John Buy at AllPosters.com Nopuko's Store: Micronesia Books WW2 Books Micronesia Shirts Island Videos Cell Phones & Service Computer & Video Games Cameras & Photo		The Leluh Ruins are the impressive remains of what was once the political and religious center of Kosraen society. Archeological and historical evidence suggests this society dates to around 1400 AD when a smaller Leluh society conquered other competing societies and unified the island.
		The first Europeans who arrived in 1824 were astounded to find a city with streets and canals and with immense walls around the compounds of the nobility, the king and sacred areas. Most of these huge walls were built over 400 years earlier. The capital center of Leluh housed the king, high chiefs, low chiefs, commoners, and servants. The crucial unit of Leluh was the walled compound. There were at least 100 compounds of three types--dwelling, royal mortuary and sacred. The nature of dwelling compounds varied according to the social stratum of the occupant. Commoners had compound areas with no or very low coral walls. Low chiefs evidently had residences in compounds with
			low coral walls at the west end of Leluh. High chiefs and the king lived in compounds in the center of Leluh, with high, thick walls of huge prismatic and round basalt stones, some of which weighed several tons. Leluh society was perhaps the most politically complex in Micronesia in hierarchical organization--equivalent in many ways to the Hawaiian and the Tonga societies in Polynesia. At the time of European contact the island of Kosrae was a unified nation of 6,000 estimated people. However, European contact brought disease, and by 1870 the
		population dropped to 200. Leluh was reduced to a hamlet. During the 20th century a large number of Leluh's walls were dismantled, and today walled compounds stand intact only in the center of Leluh Island. The Leluh Ruins possess immense research potential of great value. Because of its size, massive walls with unusual prismatic and block basalt stone, and its canal system, Leluh has been called a "wonder of the Pacific" along with Nan Madol on Pohnpei and the Easter Island statues. And be sure and check out our Micronesia Books