Albert Lin takes his crew and LIDAR technology to the mysterious stone monuments -mostly temples and tombs- built by the mighty Saudeleur dynasty who took absolute power in the Micronesian archipelago state Nan Mandol, around the island Poghnpei, 600-900 years ago. Most are flooded and/or overgrown by mangroves, so site visits are greatly augmented by LIDAR scanning, revealing a geometrically ordered city of over 50 artificial island at the capital, behind a sea wall. The hard rock was cut at immense effort from the sole 'vertical quarry', a mountain, probably over water, as basalt blocks were found on islands at many miles, a great complex on Ant Atoll, as well as mysterious corral pillars in the ocean. Distinct traces, such as detailed iconography, are found far over the South Sea, proving the ocean connected Oceanian cultures, which remain poorly known as the left no writing system, such long-corrupted oral traditions.
—KGF Vissers