Of the twelve upright stones sketched by British explorer George Anson during his 1742 visit to Tinian, only one remains standing.

[4] The As Nieves Rota Latte Stone Quarry is believed to be the Marianas origin of the period of these megalith structures.

According to legend collected by Spoehr, a 10 feet (3.0 m) tall Guam chief named Taga married a Rota woman.

Taga escaped from his father by jumping off a cliff on Guam and landing on Rota, almost 50 miles (80 km) away.

His reputation had preceded him, and the chief of Tinian presented several challenges to test Taga's strength.

Taga carved the latte stones to single-handedly build his Tinian house and a village for his people.