The architectural tradition of Fiji comes from the ancestors of Polynesian people, with a set of pottery of a tradition of stilt buildings over the water or on the shore near the coastline. Gradually these settlements shifted inland as the islands were colonized and today no stilt buildings can be found in the Fiji Islands. This can be explained by a development, in the course of which buildings were rather built on earthen platforms, rather than on stilts; in fact, the earthen platforms provide a high floor, similar to the stilt house, and keep the inhabitants safe from ground moisture. The archipelago of Fiji Islands shows a variety of examples of vernacular achitecture, according to the specific location, as in Fig. 15.