World Atlas Core Records · Community

Chief Roi Mata's Domain

c. 17th century-present memory · Vanuatu

Settlement, burial and cave sites associated with Roi Mata are interpreted through archaeology and living oral traditions maintained by communities in central Vanuatu.

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AI-generated evidence-guided visualization related to Chief Roi Mata's Domain, c. 17th century-present memory. — AI-generated visualization based on the cited record and period context. It is not documentary evidence or an authenticated reconstruction of a single event. It does not depict burial, cave, taboo or restricted community knowledge.

How the setting appeared

Coastal villages, gardens, reef passages, a burial island and cave places form a connected land-sea landscape.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-CHIEF-ROI-MATACIT-CORE169-ROI-MATA-ANU Setting and material context · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

How people lived

Families sustained gardening, fishing, canoe travel, exchange and customary governance across islands.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-CHIEF-ROI-MATACIT-CORE169-ROI-MATA-ANU Lifeways and community · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

How people worked

Canoe building, navigation, horticulture, fishing, weaving and ceremonial preparation supported communities.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-CHIEF-ROI-MATACIT-CORE169-ROI-MATA-ANU Work, tools and exchange · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Belief, ritual and worship

Sacred and taboo places remain governed by customary owners; public interpretation must follow community permissions.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-CHIEF-ROI-MATACIT-CORE169-ROI-MATA-ANU Belief, ritual and evidence limits · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

World-atlas stage: Oceanic empires
Region: Oceania · Vanuatu
Languages and scripts: Lelepa; Nafsan; Bislama; English; French
Important people: Chief Roi Mata; José Garanger
Events and changes: Oral histories and archaeological evidence associate Chief Roi Mata with political and social reorganization in central Vanuatu around the early 17th century CE.; Roi Mata's residence at Mangaas, death at Fels Cave and burial on Artok are linked within one remembered cultural landscape; exact dates and biographical details remain bounded by oral and archaeological evidence.; Archaeologist José Garanger excavated the collective burial on Artok in 1967 CE in research guided by community oral traditions.; Chief Roi Mata's Domain was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2008 CE.; Communities on Efate and Lelepa continue to transmit, protect and interpret the associated places and oral traditions in the present.
Evidence confidence: Strong community-led oral and archaeological evidence; exact chronology and restricted narratives are not generalized.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-CHIEF-ROI-MATACIT-CORE169-ROI-MATA-ANU Dates, place, language, people, events and confidence · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Historical geography

A dated anchor, not an exact border

The local map uses modern coastlines only for orientation. The marker identifies this record's geographic anchor, not the full reach of a community or polity.

Map geometry loads only when requested. Modern outlines are orientation only; historical geography and identities changed through time.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-CHIEF-ROI-MATACIT-CORE169-ROI-MATA-ANU Historical-geography anchor and stated limits · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Evidence register

Guides used for this record

Each registered source ID is paired with its institutional URL for independent checking. Source count is transparent, and duplicate URLs count only once.

CIT-CORE-CHIEF-ROI-MATA

Chief Roi Mata's Domain: record evidence guide

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1280/

whc.unesco.org

CIT-CORE169-ROI-MATA-ANU

Community Management of Cultural Tourism at a World Heritage Site

https://researchportalplus.anu.edu.au/en/publications/community-management-of-cultural-tourism-at-a-world-heritage-site/

Australian National University

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