Located off the coast of Chile, Easter Island attracts the attention of researchers from around the world with its unique culture and mysterious head-shaped monuments called moai.
Recently, scientists discovered another amazing phenomenon on this island: the mysterious Rongorongo script, which may represent an unusual writing system unique to the island. The research was published in the journal Scientific reports.
Researchers studying Rongorongo writing have noted that it is unlike any other known form of writing. This suggests that it was invented by locals and not influenced by foreign writing systems.
Furthermore, radiocarbon dating of several ancient objects revealed that the earliest carvings predated the arrival of Europeans on the island. This supports the idea that the Rongorongo script was developed by the local population, independently of outside influences.
However, the history of writing in Rongorongo is shrouded in mystery. In 1864, outside observers first noticed engravings with Rongorongo script. But all these signs were destroyed or sent abroad. To date, only 27 examples of writing are known, and none are on Easter Island itself.
Researchers trying to decipher the Rongorongo script describe it as long texts written with graphic characters called glyphs. The shapes of these signs represent different types of images, including human postures and body parts, animals, plants, tools, celestial bodies and more.
Scientists note that the graphic symbols of the Rongorongo script have no analogues among the known scripts, but are similar to the motifs of ancient rock art found on the island.
This observation supports the idea that the Rongorongo script developed independently, similar to the inventions of writing in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and Central America.
However, there are some mysteries associated with the Rongorongo writing system. The only two tablets are made from trees that were cut down in the first half of the nineteenth century, when contact with Europeans had already been established.
For further study, the researchers radiocarbon dated four more tablets that were removed from the island by missionaries in 1869 and are now kept in Rome, Italy.
The results showed that three of these tablets were made from wood felled in the nineteenth century, and that the fourth was made several hundred years earlier, between 1493 and 1509.
Thus, the tablet appeared 200 years before the arrival of foreigners on the island. This supports the idea that the Rongorongo script may have been developed in complete isolation.
However, it is interesting to note that the sign is made from a tree that does not grow on Easter Island, but is the national tree of South Africa.
Scientists suggest that this tree may have been thrown onto the island from a sunken European ship. It is impossible to say exactly how long the piece of wood spent at sea before being used to make the tablet.
