The Lelu Stone Ruins (Kosrae, Micronesia)

Cordy, Ross H. (1993). The Lelu Stone Ruins (Kosrae, Micronesia). Manoa: Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawaii at Manoa. ISBN 978-0-8248-1134-1.

Abstract: This volume presents archaeological and historical research carried out by Ross Cordy between 1978 and 1981 on the megalithic Lelu Ruins of Kosrae in the Eastern Caroline Islands of Micronesia. The Lelu research was funded by the Historic Preservation Program of the U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in Saipan, where Cordy worked as staff archaeolo- gist. The aim of Cordy's project was to provide modern baseline documentation of the Lelu Ruins, a remarkable 27 ha (Athens 1995: 37) prehistoric architectural complex of stone-walled compounds, paved path- ways, large tombs, and canals, built on arti- ficial fill on the reef next to a small lagoon island. As Cordy explains (p. xii), his inves- tigations involved two interrelated com- ponents: archaeological research (a total of three months of fieldwork) and a histori- cal reconstruction of traditional Kosraean society based on documentary sources.

Although the volume is basically descrip- tive and empirical, it is permeated by expli- cit theoretical and methodological con- cerns. There is substantial information for readers at any of several levels. The volume should be thought-provoking and should stimulate much discussion with new anal- yses and research. The main objection to the work is that many of the arguments regarding the character of Kosraean social complexity appear circular or subjective: for example, social and political organiza- tion inferred to have existed at contact must be the same in the archaeological record, and vice versa. In essence, Cordy's strength is at once his weakness. His continual refer- ence to feudal-type social organization is a symptom of this problem (see Graves 1986).