Latte also latde is a CHamoru term that refers to stone pillars and cup-shaped capitals or capstones, which represent house supports and are ascribed to the ancient people of the Mariana Islands.
In some accounts, they are also referred to as casas de los antiguos houses of the ancients. When relatively undisturbed, latte can be found at ancient sites in two parallel rows of pillars that enclose a rectangular space. While megalithic construction is widespread in Oceania, no other culture is known to have used this particular form of stone architecture: limestone, basalt, or sandstone pillars and capstones arranged in sets of six, eight, ten, twelve or fourteen pillar-and-capstone pairs.
The pillars vary in height from about sixty centimeters to more than three meters and are generally wide at the base and narrow at the top. Latte resemble wood post constructions for rice storage, built by the Ifugao of the Philippines. These house posts are arranged in two rows, and each has a rounded disk near the top to discourage rats from climbing up into the house.
A ninth-century carving at Borobodur, Java, depicts such a wood structure. There are no known drawings of structures supported by latte stones but eyewitnesses in the s and s wrote that some Chamorro dwelling houses were erected upon stone pillars.
According to an early account, stone pillars supported large canoe houses, which served as community gathering places. Written accounts from the 16th — 17th century describe such houses standing on the top of upright stones. These were important structures — meeting houses. In such houses were gathered youngsters and they were taught the art of seafaring. Here were built ocean going boats — proas and they were stored under the meeting houses.
It seems that in every village there was at least one latte structure. Villages most likely fell in construction frenzy and competed — who will have the most impressive latte strone structure. The deceased villagers were buried next to latte stones, thus strenghtening the bond between the ancestors of village families, the living people and their homes.
Nowadays latte stones serve as a symbol of Chamorro identity. Unfortunately many latte stones are removed from their original locations — recklessly destroyed or used for landscaping of private gardens. According to local legends in latte stone sites one can meet taotaomoa — the spirits of Chamorro ancestors. People try to avoid these sites and have much respect to these sites.
The sites of latte stones near the coast differ from the ones inland. Coastal latte stones were based in cultural layer with signs of habitation and human burials near the stones.
Inland latte stone sites lack this cultural layer and might have been abandoned soon after their construction or used only for some ritual practices. Guam — the largest island in Micronesia — is ,3 km 2 large. The landscape of this island has been modified to a large extent by US military bases and multiple settlements but nonetheless there have been preserved interesting natural and archaeological landmarks.
One of the most fascinating groups of archaeological monuments are prehistoric structures made of stones — megaliths. Through the ages, people have loved to strain their minds to find a sensible explanation to the many riddles posed by megaliths. The iconic buildings are the 8 lati stones that represent the symbol of the Chamorro civilization. Lati Rock Park, located directly opposite the Guam Administration Building, is still necessary to visit.
This park is large in scale and has a very long history. There are many beautiful boulders in the park. It feels great to visit here.
The scenery is really good. A small park on the road opposite the Plaza de Espana, with dense trees, moved here eight Lattic stones representing Chamorro culture. Near the hillside were two entrances to the air defence works.
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