Case file · Folklore / legend
Haʻamonga ʻa Maui solstice claim
In 1967 King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV proposed that marks on the Haʻamonga ʻa Maui trilithon, built around 1200 under the Tuʻi Tonga Tuʻitātui, track the solstice sunrises.
1967 CE · -21.13, -175.04 · status: disputed
The account
Tradition calls it the 'burden of Māui', carried by the demigod. The king observed sunrise alignments on the solstice and argued it served as a calendar.
The sceptical view
Archaeologists accept the trilithon as a royal gateway but debate whether the marks and alignments were intended.