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Old 19th August 2011, 06:13 PM   #10
fearn
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Join Date: Dec 2004
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Agreed, and there are no authenticated Rongo-Rongo carvings that date to before Contact, and there are proposed translations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decipherment_of_rongorongo).

I'd also make a correction to Vandoo's original statement: the Andean cultures did not have a written language. While they had extensive artwork and certainly a pattern language (as do we), the closest they had to a written language were the knotted quipus.

All available evidence (archeological, linguistic, and genetic) strongly points to Rapa Nui being settled by Polynesians coming out of South East Asia. There certainly was contact between Polynesians and South Americans: Polynesians got the sweet potato, South Americans probably got a chicken, and there may have even been a Polynesian settlement in Chile. However, the Polynesians were the ones to make contact, not anyone from mainland South America.

Getting back to the initial post: yes, they are neat clubs, and I think that they are being carved for tourists even now. Thanks for showing them here!

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