The Rongorongo

Studies continued in the following decades. In 1932, Wilhelm de Hevesy tried to find a connection between the written and Rongorongo Hindu. He had found a correlation between the two in 40 examples of written symbols, but their conclusions were not on. In 1950, Thomas Barthel was the first linguist to become interested in contemporary Rongorongo. Barthel stated that the system was composed of 120 basic elements that, combined, formed fifteen hundred different signs that represent objects and ideas. The translation is extremely difficult because a single symbol can represent a whole sentence. A major achievement was to identify the Barthel an artifact known as Mamre as a lunar calendar. The latest research has been conducted by linguist Steven Fisher. Among the many examples he studied writing stands out a piece that belonged to a native chief of the island. The object is covered with pictographs. Studying these figures, Fisher found that the units of meaning Rongorongo triads are composed of three signs. One of the texts soon proved to be a religious song and the study of other linguist led to conclude that all the texts of Passover are related to creation myths. Writing Rongorongo continues prompting the researchers. Today, only 25 tablets and objects survived the ravages of time. Anthropologists and archaeologists have hope of translating pictograms which can reveal the mystery of the Moai, the colossal statues of the island. Some believe that the Moai erected foramk pelosúltikmos remnants of the lost continent of Lemuria, which, according to occult tradition, hosted the third Third Race humanity or human, when men were "giants" similar to the statues.

Very little. We will probably never know what the tablets mean: too few have survived. Let us then be content with the little of which we can be sure. Each tablet was prepared before carving. Shallow grooves were cut lengthwise, probably using an adze with a blade of shell or of obsidian. They are 10 to 15mm wide, and can be clearly seen in a photo pp.64­65 of Catherine and Michel Orliac's excellent little book. The signs themselves were engraved in those grooves, probably with shark teeth or obsidian flakes, as oral tradition has it. Of the 21 tablets we have, three bear almost exactly the same hieroglyphic text. A fourth one, called "Tahua" or "The Oar" bears only part of that text, and in a very different, more lapidary, style. Indeed this tablet is an oar made of European ash, as were used in the British navy two centuries ago. At the earliest, it could date from the beginning of the eighteenth century, at the latest, from the end of the nineteenth. There must therefore have been then literate Easter Islanders, because this "Oar" is not a mere copy. It looks like a compilation, a digest of earlier texts, lost, except for its beginning, found on those other three tablets (see "On a Fragment of the Tahua Tablet" in the Journal of the Polynesian Society, December 1985). The overwhelming majority of the hieroglyphs are anthropomorphic. They are little figures, facing you, or sideways; standing with dangling arms; or sitting with their legs sometimes stretched, sometimes crossed; with a hand up, or down, or turned to the mouth; some hold a staff, some a shield, some a barbed string. Some sport two bulging eyes (or are they ears, or coils of hair?); some a huge hooked nose with three hairs on it; some have the body of a bird. The writing often looks like an animated cartoon. You can see the same little fellow repeated in slightly different postures. One tablet shows the same figure in three successive postures, sitting sideways, playing, it seems, with a top. Or is it a potter at the wheel? A jeweller with a drill, making shell beads? There are also many zoomorphic figures, birds especially, fish and lizards less often. The most frequent figure looks very much like the frigate bird, which happens to have been the object of a cult, as it was associated with Make­Make, the supreme god. When you compare the tablets which bear the same text, when you analyze repeated groups of signs, you realize that writing must have followed rules. The scribe could choose to link a sign to the next, but not in any old way. You could either carve a mannikin standing, arms dangling, followed by some other sign, or the same mannikin holding that sign with one hand. You could either carve a simple sign (a leg, a crescent) separate from the next, or rotate it 90 degrees counterclockwise and carve the next sign on top of it. All we can reasonably hope to decipher some day is some two to three lines of the tablet commonly called "Mamari". You can clearly see that they have to do with the moon. We happen to have several versions of the ancient lunar calendar of Easter Island. The most interesting was collected by William Thomson in 1886, whose report was published by the American National Museum in 1889, in a monograph "Te Pito te Henua, or Easter Island". Thanks to Thomson, we know for instance that the night called "kokore tahi" corresponded to 27 November 1886. Using an almanac of 1886 or astronomical software, we can match his list against the actual phases of the moon at the time of his stay on Easter Island, and use this comparison as a key to deciphering the hieroglyphs of the calendar (see " The lunar calendar of Tablet Mamari", Journal de la Société des Océanistes, Paris, 1990). Thomson also collected the names of the months with the corresponding dates in our calendar. By an extraordinary stroke of good luck, the traditional Easter Island year corresponding to 1885­1886 happened to have 13 months, whereas all other authors reported only 12 months. By calculating the dates of the phases of the moon in 1885 and 1886 we can reconstruct this ancient calendar and, to a certain extent, how it worked, and when the extra month ("embolismic month" in technical jargon) had to be inserted (see "A propos des mois de l'ancien calendrier pascuan", Société des Océanistes, Paris, 1992). Some day, perhaps, someone will discover a tablet the hieroglyphs of which are the names of the months, or which contains the rules for deciding when this thirteenth embolismic month was to be inserted. I have mentioned failed attempts at decipherment. Many have claimed that the Easter Island hieroglyphs are the spit image of the writing of this or that extinct civilization, from India to the Andes, and made the Easter Islanders their descendants. First, this is untrue. The Easter Island hieroglyphs have a distinct style, unique in the world. Second, this is downright silly. There are not a million different ways of drawing a "mannikin standing", a "fish", a "staff", a "bow", an "arrow". Ask a four­year old to draw you a "man with a stick" and compare that with the hieroglyphs of Easter Island. You are sure to find a few that look very much like that "man with a stick". Does that make the child an heir to the ancient Easter Islanders?

There are also many zoomorphic figures, birds especially, fish and lizards less often. The most frequent figure looks very much like the frigate bird, which happens to have been the object of a cult, as it was associated with Make­Make, the supreme god.
When you compare the tablets which bear the same text, when you analyze repeated groups of signs, you realize that writing must have followed rules. The scribe could choose to link a sign to the next, but not in any old way. You could either carve a mannikin standing, arms dangling, followed by some other sign, or the same mannikin holding that sign with one hand. You could either carve a simple sign (a leg, a crescent) separate from the next, or rotate it 90 degrees counterclockwise and carve the next sign on top of it.
All we can reasonably hope to decipher some day is some two to three lines of the tablet commonly called Mamari. You can clearly see that they have to do with the moon. There are several versions of the ancient lunar calendar of Easter Island.

PETROGLYPHS

On Easter Island, petroglyphs are located in every sector of the island where there are suitable surfaces. Favored locations are smooth areas of lava flow (called "papa" in Rapanui), or on smooth basalt boulders. Most of these surfaces occur along coastal areas and often are associated with major ceremonial centers. Some important ahu have, as part of their structure, elegantly carved basalt stones (pa'enga), with petroglyphs on them. Paintings survive in caves or in some of the stone houses at 'Orongo where they are protected against the weathering process.
Thousands of petroglyphs - rock carvings - can be found on Easter Island. Many represent animals, notably birds or anthropomorphic birdmen.
One of the most famous motifs on Easter Island is that of birdman - a half-man, half bird image that was connected to cult events at the sacred site of 'Orongo. A bit of background on the culture is necessary to explain this unusual cult.
After the demise of the statue building, in the last days before the invasion by Peruvian slave traders, there arose a cult of the Birdman (Tangata Manu). The birdman was seen as the representative on earth of the creator god Makemake, and eventually, this cult surpassed the traditional power of the king ariki.

Once a year, representatives from each clan would gather at the ceremonial village of Orongo and swim to Motu Nui, a nearby Islet to search for the egg of the Sooty Tern. On his return, the competitor presented the egg to his representative who was then invested with the title of Tangata Manu. He then went down to Mataveri and from there was led in procession to the southwest exterior slope of Rano Raraku, where he remained in seclusion for a year. The Birdman ritual was still in existence when Europeans arrived on Easter Island - therefore historically documented. It was also featured quite prominently in Kevin Costner's film "Rapa Nui".
In Hanga Roa -a sprawling and pleasant community where the island's 2,775 residents live because it's the only area on the island with electricity and running water. The most interesting souvenirs are miniature wood and stone carvings of moais, though some stone samples up to 6 feet tall are available.

Moai Kavakava
A bearded emaciated man whose ribs and vertebrae are grotesquely extended.
It is said to represent the spirits of dead ancestors.
According to the local tradition, as Chief Tuu-ko-ihu was returning home, he saw two such spirits who had protruding ribs and hollow bellies. These Aku Aku later appeared to him in a dream.
Other Rapa Nui wood carvings include: statues of female figures (moai pa'a pa'a), paddles (rapa), clubs (ua), staffs ('ao), lizards and birdman images (tangata manu).
Today, most of the original wood sculptures reside in museums around the world - estranged from their ancestral home. The islanders still carve these statues; continuing a tradition which, to this day, commands respect and admiration from visitors.

M.H. de Young Memorial Museum

TATOO



Wearing a tatoo in various parts of the body is a popular custom.

CANNIBALISM

Every Easter Islander knows that his ancestors were kai-tangata, 'man-eaters'. Some make jokes about it, others take offense at any allusion to this custom which has become in their eyes barbarous and shameful.
According to Father Roussel, cannibalism did not disappear until after the introduction of Christianity. Shortly before this, the natives are said to have eaten a number of men, including two Peruvian traders. Cannibal feasts were held in secluded spots, and women and children were rarely admitted. The natives told Father Zumbohm that the fingers and toes were the choicest morsels.

Table 2: Icon, Rebus and Progressive Forms in the Rongorongo Script Glyph Direction: Sign orientations carry logical connotation but exceptions exist. In general, left-facing is past-related, right-facing denotes present/future. Upward facing is 'good' downward facing is 'bad'. Far left: Two Lunar Crescents—horns point left on a ‘done moon’ (event); horns point right upon a presently occurring (calendar) moon (non-past). Centre Left: Fish down denotes weakening or demise; Fish up denotes engorgement. Near Left – an exception: Opposed Lands. Glyph Agglutination: Glyphs combine to form compounds. ‘Cutting ’ 6 and ‘deeds4’ yield the agglutinate: ‘Deeds of cutting ’ 4.6 (in reference to a rebellion plot). Synecdoche Forms: ‘Functional’ parts of a detailed glyph are used as shorthand expressions of the full glyph. The anthropoid’s open hand— short form for ‘deed’, or ‘work’ (Krupa 1972: 21) combines with the downward directed fish tail (short form for ‘weaken’) to form a new compound 'deed of demise’ (near left). Thomson's translation is 'poisoning' and the fishtail synecdoche does resemble a cup. Animations (Progressions): Glyphs groups ‘enact’ a concept. From Ka ihi uiga: “Make way for the frightened Pasquan?⋅ Here, here, the Pasquan arrives.” (doubled glyph?) Possible Meaning: The fearful man regains composure. Anthropoid Assemblages: Analogous to Mayan forms, anthropoid body parts may be agglutinated to build grammar and glyph meaning. Barthel nomenclature is ‘cranium - membrum inferious - membrum superious’. Anthropoid glyph: 383, therefore, becomes "Speak·begin·reprobation” –Speak of the beginning of condemnation. The composite ‘particles’ from leftmost to near left: Gaping Mouth: Speak: C-shape: begin, bent land, or null valued connector. Wavy foot: tuku-unfurl or seated. Adze tip: reprobation. Visual Language: Far left, English visual language-- 'BiLL' shaped as bird bill. Centre left, rongorongo symbols: Wave: peril. C-shape: begin, bent land, null valued connector. Horizontal fish tail: lateral movement. Near left: ‘Begin a perilous lateral movement’—rongorongo particles arranged in the shape of a voyaging canoe. Motifs: Rongorongo bases are stylized to mimic the forms of wellknown glyphs. Left, Barthel 53y in the ‘Motif’ of Barthel 6. Possibly, the motif sets the theme and the component glyph(s) elaborate upon it. Rebus Forms: – A common noun glyph is a homophone of an abstract concept and substitutes for the intangible form. Far left, the concepts of squatting and unfurling (beginning) ‘tuku’ are homophones. Near left, ‘hu’a rangi’ (hatted-sky) is a possible rebus for ‘haurangi ‘ – harangue. Metonym ‘Icon’ Forms: A glyph serves as a proxy for a concept (such as a rabbit to illustrate the concept of speed). In Polynesian mythology, Tane—represented by a stylized bird--supported the heavens (Krupa 1973: 115). His rongorongo function apparently associates to passage of day and night. Far left, two postures of Tane from the Marami Lunar Calendar (Barthel 670). Near left, an agglutinate of Tane glyphs (Barthel 680), presumably denoting the concept of ‘always’ or ‘for all time’.

ok