Read the full article on KETV 7
– So, they found (graphic whooshes) a new Easter Island head, which first of all, did you know that was even a possibility, (graphic whooshes) because I did not know that that was a possibility. To me, that sounds like somebody saying, “Hey, did you know that if you look at Mount Rushmore from the side, you can kind of spot Millard Fillmore’s Face hanging out there too. But one of our writers here at “Pop Mech” found the story, and it turns out they really did find a new one of these statues, which are otherwise called Moai, at the bottom of a lake bed. You see, the area was drying out, and so that revealed a previously unknown Moai that had long been hidden by the water and tall reeds all around it. Even more interesting, the experts don’t think this was a one-off. They suspect even more Moai may be hidden under the sediment. Salvador Atan Hito, the vice president of the group that oversees the island’s national park said of the new discovery, “Even the ancestors, our grandparents, didn’t know.” And believe me, I can relate to that because I also have an ancestral connection to something at the bottom of a lake. Of course, in my case, it’s great Uncle Tony (logo whooshing) who owed a lot of money to some, some bad, bad people. (logo whooshing)
Advertisement
Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:For decades, archaeologists have debated whether the writing system of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), known as Rongorongo, was invented independently or influenced by Europeans.A study that uses radiocarbon dating to assess the age of four Rongorongo tablets shows that one of the tablets predates the arrival of Europeans in the 1720s.However, the date only reflects when the wood was felled, and sample size of one isn’t large enough to be entirely certain.Today, humans inhabit—or have, at the very least, explored—pretty much every corner of the planet. But that immense proliferation of Homo sapiens across the globe was a slow process. With the first humans leaving Africa between 60 to 90 thousand years ago, the species slowly spread across the Earth over many millennia. And one of the last places these ancient humans made their way to was the southeastern Pacific island of Rapa Nui, known more broadly as Easter Island.Located 2,360 miles off the coast of Chile—which annexed the country back in 1888—Rapa Nui is one of the most isolated places in the world. Its native people, who are also named the Rapa Nui, first arrived on the island’s shores between 1150 and 1280 CE, and lived in isolation until the arrival of Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen in 1722.While Europeans eventually discovered the impressive moai statues for which the Rapa Nui are best known, they also stumbled upon a yet-undeciphered script known as Rongorongo—a three-dimensional writing system that uses pictorial signs known as glyphs.But because this script wasn’t first described until 1864, archaeologist and historians have since pondered an enduring question: Did the Rapa Nui independently invent this language, or were they influenced by Europeans?Now, a study is attempting to solve this linguistic conundrum by suggesting that, using radiocarbon dating, one of the 27 wooden objects containing Rongorongo inscriptions pre-dates the arrival of Europeans, at around 1493 to 1509. This finding suggests that the Rapa Nui could’ve possibly invented Rongorongo independently—a rare feat throughout human history, and one usually associated with complex states.The other strong piece of evidence for this homegrown language theory is that Rongorongo functions much differently than European languages, which would appear to suggest no discernible outside influence. Lead author Silvia Ferarra, an archaeologist and linguist at the University of Bologna, Italy, published her team’s findings in Scientific Reports in 2024.“The question is of crucial importance, as it implies the possibility of an independent invention of writing, similarly to what happened in other parts of the world where writing was an original creation, e.g., in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and Mesoamerica,” the paper reads. “If Rongorongo predates the arrival of external travelers, it could represent another, and the latest, invention of writing in human history.”While one of the four wood tablets examined provides pre-European evidence for the language, the discovery also comes with a few caveats. For one, radiocarbon dating can only detect when a tree was cut down, not inscribed—though, Ferrara suggests that centuries old wood would be unsuitable for such a task. But, more importantly, the wood tablet provides only a sample size of one, as the other examined tablets all fell on the other side of the European divide.To gather further evidence, Ferrara would have to examine the other remaining tablets, which are all that is left of the long-forgotten language. But they’ve been scattered across the globe, and are not easy to access. For now, the search continues in the effort to place the contributions of these native people in the correct historical context.
Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:
- For decades, archaeologists have debated whether the writing system of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), known as Rongorongo, was invented independently or influenced by Europeans.
- A study that uses radiocarbon dating to assess the age of four Rongorongo tablets shows that one of the tablets predates the arrival of Europeans in the 1720s.
- However, the date only reflects when the wood was felled, and sample size of one isn’t large enough to be entirely certain.
Advertisement
Today, humans inhabit—or have, at the very least, explored—pretty much every corner of the planet. But that immense proliferation of Homo sapiens across the globe was a slow process. With the first humans leaving Africa between 60 to 90 thousand years ago, the species slowly spread across the Earth over many millennia. And one of the last places these ancient humans made their way to was the southeastern Pacific island of Rapa Nui, known more broadly as Easter Island.
Located 2,360 miles off the coast of Chile—which annexed the country back in 1888—Rapa Nui is one of the most isolated places in the world. Its native people, who are also named the Rapa Nui, first arrived on the island’s shores between 1150 and 1280 CE, and lived in isolation until the arrival of Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen in 1722.
While Europeans eventually discovered the impressive moai statues for which the Rapa Nui are best known, they also stumbled upon a yet-undeciphered script known as Rongorongo—a three-dimensional writing system that uses pictorial signs known as glyphs.
But because this script wasn’t first described until 1864, archaeologist and historians have since pondered an enduring question: Did the Rapa Nui independently invent this language, or were they influenced by Europeans?
Now, a study is attempting to solve this linguistic conundrum by suggesting that, using radiocarbon dating, one of the 27 wooden objects containing Rongorongo inscriptions pre-dates the arrival of Europeans, at around 1493 to 1509. This finding suggests that the Rapa Nui could’ve possibly invented Rongorongo independently—a rare feat throughout human history, and one usually associated with complex states.
The other strong piece of evidence for this homegrown language theory is that Rongorongo functions much differently than European languages, which would appear to suggest no discernible outside influence. Lead author Silvia Ferarra, an archaeologist and linguist at the University of Bologna, Italy, published her team’s “>findings in Scientific Reports in 2024.
“The question is of crucial importance, as it implies the possibility of an independent invention of writing, similarly to what happened in other parts of the world where writing was an original creation, e.g., in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and Mesoamerica,” the paper reads. “If Rongorongo predates the arrival of external travelers, it could represent another, and the latest, invention of writing in human history.”
While one of the four wood tablets examined provides pre-European evidence for the language, the discovery also comes with a few caveats. For one, radiocarbon dating can only detect when a tree was cut down, not inscribed—though, Ferrara suggests that centuries old wood would be unsuitable for such a task. But, more importantly, the wood tablet provides only a sample size of one, as the other examined tablets all fell on the other side of the European divide.
To gather further evidence, Ferrara would have to examine the other remaining tablets, which are all that is left of the long-forgotten language. But they’ve been scattered across the globe, and are not easy to access. For now, the search continues in the effort to place the contributions of these native people in the correct historical context.
