KOROR STATE GOVERNMENT MARINE TOUR GUIDE ... - C3

4.5 Rock Island Art and Historical Importance
The southern Rock Islands are considered to be the location of the earliest settlements
in Palau. The expanding population later moved north, where agriculture was easier on
the flatter more fertile lands of Babeldaob.
On top of the Rock Islands, remains of ancient stone pathways and village sites can be
found overgrown with dense jungle. Pathways can be seen about 40ft above the
waterline on many of the island cliffs. Some believe these are the eroded remains of
previous wave undercuts before the sea level dropped to present levels. Several of the
pathways are flat, over 6ft wide and give the impression of being man-made. Most are
overgrown and difficult to see, but some can be seen from boats.
Caves are often hidden along these paths, with pottery shards or human remains
evident. These areas were obviously inhabited by people centuries ago, and cannot be
confused with caves where Japanese soldiers fought during WWII. The Japanese caves
are along the waterline, some with metal gun shells or pieces of guns evident. Also,
almost all Japanese pottery was glazed, while the old Palauan pottery shards are
unglazed and primitive.
Hundreds of pictographs can be found on the cave walls and along the pathways of the
Rock Islands. The same yellow and red paints are used although stylistically, every site
is different.
On Ulong Island, one of the largest collections of pictographs can be found. The
drawings here are of a symbolic design, more impressionistic than others found so far.
The designs almost seem to be stenciled onto the rocks.
Another site, called White Cliff, is close to the Lighthouse Channel in Koror. One can
easily see the red paintings on the pathway from a boat. The pictographs here clearly
show human figures, hand prints and canoes, and are of a very different style. At both
sites, caves can be found behind the pathways, containing pottery shards and some
human bones. One of the caves at Ulong has a cooking pit inside it with shell tools and
pictographs evident deep inside the cave. The pictures inside are badly eroded due to
moisture.
Pictographs have been found on 8 different islands and many more may exist hidden
behind vegetation. This rock art shows no resemblance to any known rock art in
Micronesia and has not been dated. Palauans were only familiar with the rock art at
Ulong and explained it as being the work of the god called Orachel. Orachel was
practicing his painting on these rocks before going up north to show the Palauans how to
decorate their meeting houses with paint.
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