EASTER ISLAND CLUBS

Tim Simmons · 18th August 2011, 07:15 PM

Modern genetics suggests the origins of Easter Islanders are Polynesian. I cannot read the script but the glyphs look Mayan to me.

Gustav · 18th August 2011, 07:45 PM

Actually nobody can read this script: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rongorongo

Possibly I am wrong, yet this last tablet (#2) looks like a tourist item to me.

Tim Simmons · 18th August 2011, 07:57 PM

I meant the glyphs on the bluey white pendant stone above this one.

Gustav · 18th August 2011, 08:07 PM

Sorry for the misunderstanding, Tim. They are Mayan.

Battara · 18th August 2011, 11:29 PM

Gustav is right those are Mayan glyphs.

However the Rongorongo board is depicting 2 figures involved in the Birdman cult of late Easter Island before contact and before the civilization fell apart.

Gustav · 19th August 2011, 08:03 AM

There are just 26 authentic rongorongo inscriptions on different wooden objects and it isn't sure even if they all are genuine.

But there is also a real rongorongo-industrie which started at latest in the sixties.

tom hyle · 19th August 2011, 03:56 PM

weren't the lower class Easter Islanders natives and the rulers Polynesian? Am I remembering that correctly?

fearn · 19th August 2011, 06:13 PM

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!

F

18th August 2011, 07:15 PM	#1
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,843	Modern genetics suggests the origins of Easter Islanders are Polynesian. I cannot read the script but the glyphs look Mayan to me.

18th August 2011, 07:45 PM	#2
Gustav Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,273	Actually nobody can read this script: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rongorongo Possibly I am wrong, yet this last tablet (#2) looks like a tourist item to me. Last edited by Gustav; 18th August 2011 at 08:11 PM.

18th August 2011, 07:57 PM	#3
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,843	I meant the glyphs on the bluey white pendant stone above this one.

18th August 2011, 08:07 PM	#4
Gustav Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,273	Sorry for the misunderstanding, Tim. They are Mayan.

18th August 2011, 11:29 PM	#5
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,272	Gustav is right those are Mayan glyphs. However the Rongorongo board is depicting 2 figures involved in the Birdman cult of late Easter Island before contact and before the civilization fell apart.

19th August 2011, 08:03 AM	#6
Gustav Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,273	There are just 26 authentic rongorongo inscriptions on different wooden objects and it isn't sure even if they all are genuine. But there is also a real rongorongo-industrie which started at latest in the sixties.

19th August 2011, 03:56 PM	#7
tom hyle Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Houston, TX, USA Posts: 1,254	weren't the lower class Easter Islanders natives and the rulers Polynesian? Am I remembering that correctly?

19th August 2011, 06:13 PM	#8
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	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! F