Editing Guam (section)

=== Pre-Contact era ===
{{Main|Mariana Islands#Prehistory}}
[[File:Chronological dispersal of Austronesian people across the Pacific.svg|left|thumb|A map showing the [[Neolithic]] [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian migrations]] into the islands of the [[Indo-Pacific]]|368x368px]]
Guam, along with the other [[Mariana Islands]], were the first islands settled by humans in [[Remote Oceania]]. It was also the first and the longest of the ocean-crossing voyages of the [[Austronesian peoples]], and is separate from the later [[Polynesian people|Polynesian]] settlement of the rest of Remote Oceania. They were first settled around 1500 to 1400 BC, by migrants departing from the [[Philippines]] which was followed by a second migration from the [[Caroline Islands]] in the first millennium AD. A third migration wave took place from [[Island Southeast Asia]], likely the Philippines or eastern [[Indonesia]], by 900 AD.<ref name="Hung">{{cite journal |last1=Hung |first1=Hsiao-chun |last2=Carson |first2=Mike T. |last3=Bellwood |first3=Peter |last4=Campos |first4=Fredeliza Z. |last5=Piper |first5=Philip J. |last6=Dizon |first6=Eusebio |last7=Bolunia |first7=Mary Jane Louise A. |last8=Oxenham |first8=Marc |last9=Chi |first9=Zhang |title=The first settlement of Remote Oceania: the Philippines to the Marianas |journal=Antiquity |date=2015 |volume=85 |issue=329 |pages=909–926 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00068393|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Zotomayor">{{cite journal |last1=Zotomayor |first1=Alexie Villegas |title=Archaeologists say migration to Marianas longest ocean-crossing in human history |journal=Marianas Variety News and Views |date=March 12, 2013 |page=2 |url=https://issuu.com/aleksea/docs/mv_3-12-13/2 |access-date=October 25, 2020 |archive-date=October 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021085833/https://issuu.com/aleksea/docs/mv_3-12-13/2 |url-status=live }}</ref>

These original settlers of Guam and the [[Northern Mariana Islands]] evolved into the [[Chamorro people]], historically known as Chamorros after first contact with the Spaniards.<ref name="Carano">{{cite book|last1=Carano|first1=Paul|last2=Sanchez|first2=Pedro C.|year=1964|title=A Complete History of Guam|location=Tokyo|publisher=Charles E. Tuttle Company|oclc=414965}}</ref>{{rp|16}} The ancient Chamorro society had four classes: {{transliteration|ch|chamorri}} (chiefs), {{transliteration|ch|matua}} (upper class), {{transliteration|ch|achaot}} (middle class), and {{transliteration|ch|mana'chang}} (lower class).<ref name="Carano" />{{rp|20–21}} The {{transliteration|ch|matua}} were located in the coastal villages, which meant they had the best access to fishing grounds. The {{transliteration|ch|mana'chang}} were located in the island's interior. {{transliteration|ch|Matua}} and {{transliteration|ch|mana'chang}} rarely communicated with each other. The {{transliteration|ch|matua}} often used {{transliteration|ch|achaot}} as intermediaries.<ref name="Carano" />{{rp|21}}

There were also "{{transliteration|ch|makåhna}}" or "{{transliteration|ch|kakahna}}", shamans with magical powers and "'{{transliteration|ch|[[Suruhanu|suruhånu]]}}" or "{{transliteration|ch|suruhåna}}", healers who used different kinds of plants and natural materials to make medicine. Belief in spirits of ancient Chamorros called "{{transliteration|ch|[[Taotao mo'na]]}}" still persists as a remnant of pre-European culture. It is believed that "{{transliteration|ch|suruhånu}}" or "{{transliteration|ch|suruhåna}}" are the only ones who can safely harvest plants and other natural materials from their homes or "{{transliteration|ch|hålomtåno}}" without incurring the wrath of the "{{transliteration|ch|[[Taotao mo'na]]}}." Their society was organized along [[matrilineality|matrilineal]] clans.<ref name="Carano" />{{rp|21}}

The Chamorro people raised colonnades of megalithic capped pillars called {{transliteration|ch|[[latte stone]]s}} upon which they built their homes. Latte stones are stone pillars that are found only in the Mariana Islands. They are a recent development in Pre-Contact Chamorro society. The latte-stone was used as a foundation on which thatched huts were built.<ref name="Carano" />{{rp|26}} Latte stones consist of a base shaped from limestone called the {{transliteration|ch|haligi}} and with a capstone, or {{transliteration|ch|tåsa}}, made either from a large brain coral or limestone, placed on top.<ref name="Carano" />{{rp|27–28}} A possible source for these stones, the [[Rota Latte Stone Quarry]], was discovered in 1925 on [[Rota (island)|Rota]].<ref name="Carano" />{{rp|28}}