Falefa Valley is situated inland on the east side of

Upolu Upolu is an island in Samoa, formed by a massive basaltic shield volcano which rises from the seafloor of the western Pacific Ocean. The island is long and in area, making it the second largest of the Samoan Islands by area. With approxim ...

Island in

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

. The valley forms part of the traditional domain of

Falefa Falefā is located on the north eastern coast of Upolu island in Samoa. It was the ancient capital during the ‘''Malo’'' (‘government’) of ''Tupu Tafa'ifa'' (King) Fonoti. After having defeated his siblings Va'afusuaga and Samalaulu for ...

with the southern part at Le Mafa pass forming the natural boundary between Falefa and neighbouring

Lotofaga Lotofaga is a village on the south coast of Upolu island in Samoa. Lotofaga is also the name of the larger Lotofaga Electoral Constituency (''Faipule District'') which includes Lotofaga village and two other villages, Vavau and Matatufu. The vi ...

. The area has been excavated and studied by

archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

, in particular a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

team led by

Roger Curtis Green Roger Curtis Green (15 March 1932 – 4 October 2009) was an American-born, New Zealand-based archaeologist, Professor Emeritus at The University of Auckland, and member of the National Academy of Sciences and Royal Society of New Zealand. He ...

and

Janet Davidson Janet Marjorie Davidson (born 1941) is a New Zealand archaeologist who has carried out extensive field work in the Pacific Islands throughout Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia. Career Davidson carried out field work in the Society Islands a ...

. Towards the north of the valley is

village. The valley is situated in the political district of

Atua Atua are the gods and spirits of the Polynesian peoples such as the Māori or the Hawaiians (see also ); the Polynesian word literally means "power" or "strength" and so the concept is similar to that of ''mana''. Today, it is also used for the ...

. To the north east is the smaller district of Va'a-o-Fonoti which includes an extensive conservation area. A main island highway runs north to south on the east side of the valley connecting the north coast of the island to the east and south coast settlements including the Aleipata Islands and

See also