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Pulemelei Mound & Vao Sa Sacred Forest (Samoa)
Letolo Plantation, Palauli, Savaiʻi, Samoa
Samoa
Active (vao sa tapu); Pulemelei archaeological
Single grove
- Location
- Letolo Plantation, Palauli, Savaiʻi, Samoa
- Coordinates
- ~13.74°S 172.45°W
- Elevation
- Lowland
- Size
- Pulemelei 65×60 m, ~12 m high (largest stone structure in Polynesia)
- Age / Founded
- Pulemelei ~1100–1300 AD; vao sa traditional
- Status
- Active (vao sa tapu); Pulemelei archaeological
- Deity & Religion
- Tui Fiti (forest spirit, dwells in ifilele grove); Samoan traditional religion
- Community & Guardians
- Samoan ʻāiga
- Vernacular name
- Vao sa (sacred forest) / Pulemelei mound
- Record type
- Single grove
Cultural practices & uses
Vao sa — tapu forest of Tui Fiti in a grove of large ifilele trees; Pulemelei ceremonial/burial mound
Plant species
Ifilele (Intsia bijuga) sacred grove; lowland rainforest
Biome & fauna
Savaiʻi lowland forest
Threats & protection
Tapu-protected sacred forest; mound overgrown/archaeological
Source
Pulemelei Mound (Wikipedia); Tui Fiti (Wikipedia) — vao sa