The head of the tiki is disproportionate while the rest of its body often forms a compact mass. The sculptors give it a lot of importance because 'mata', the face in Marquesan, is the most 'tapu' (taboo) part of the body but also designates the eye, or the knot of the fishing net. Omnipresent in the art of the Marquesas, the tiki represents the familiar figure of the first man and of the deified ancestors.