1-649-644 - Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images

'House of the Ancients, Island of Tinian', c1820-1839. Plate 31 from Le Costume Ancien et Moderne by Jules Ferrario. Examples of distinctive stone structures known as latte stones on the Mariana Islands built by the ancient Chamorro people. They were built to support important structures in villages. The construction of the latte is thought to have begun in the 9th century AD, but by the time Europeans discovered the islands in the 16th century they were no longer being built.