Rjabchikov, Sergei V.

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On an Easter Island rock drawingSergei V RjabchikovKrasnodar, Rus iaAs has been shown earlier, an integrated analysis of thepetroglyphs and hieroglyphs offers a clearer view of themysteriou culture of Easter Island (Rjabchikov 1994 1995a,1995b). Let us consider an additional exanlple. A panel in tlleAnakena area has some signs (Lee 1992: 176, figure 6.12)which read a 6-7 Hatu (an epithet of the god Tiki, or Hotu,the first part of Hotu Mat 'u's name; the signs repre ent aperson [6=hal and a star [7=luu], 7= luu and 19=ki accordingto my per onal decipherment of the Rapanui script(Rjabchiko 1987:362-3). The latter petroglyph is a drawingof a rat (cr. my interpretation of the glyph 19 as the 'rat's'symbol (ibid. 1993: 135, Appendix l).Rapanui legends tell of the landing of the first king, HotuMatu'a, at Anakena Beach (Mctraux 1940). On tlle otherhand. it is known tllat Hotu Matu'a's oul was incarnated asa rat (Englert 19-18:74). I conclude that the reading "fuu'apparently signifies 'the tribal union Tu'u which includes thetribe Miru--the tribe of the paramount chiefs.o some petroglyphs illform the legendary history of thei land.ReferencesEnglert, Sebastian. 1948. La Tierra de /lOtli Matll 'a historia,etl/ologia y lenglla de fa i la de Pasclla. Padre Las Casas.L~~. .eorgia. 1992. Rock Art 0/ Easter Island. 'Ymhols 0/ Power,Prayers to the Gods. Los Ang~les. Institute of ArehacologPublications.MC\rau:\.l\lfred 1940. Ethnology o/Easter Isfand. Bishop Mu cumBullctll1 160.R.labchiko ,Scrgcl V., 1987. Progress rcport on the decipherment ofth~ East~r 1 land writing s stcm. JOllrnal 0/ the PolynesianSociety. 96:361-7.Rjabchikov, 'crgci V.. 1993. Rapanuyskie tcxty (k problcmerasshifrovki) IRapanui inscriptions to Ule problem ofdeciphering]. Elnograficheskoe obozrellie, 4: 124-41.Rjabchikov, Sergei V., 1994. Tayny ostrova Paskhi f111e mysteriesof Easter Island; in Russian I. YoU, Krasnodar, Ecoinve·1.Rjabchikov. Sergei V. 199-a. Tayny ostrova Paskhi ['nle m steriesof Easter Island~ in Russian I. VolA Krasllodar, Ecoinvest.Rjabchikov. ergei V. 1995b. Thc eel and Ule palm (according to thedata orthe rock art and the writing of Easter Island). Le BI/lletindl/ ('ercle d 'Etl/des Sill' I'ile de Pciql/es et la Polynesie, 3:2.INTERNATIONAL NEWSAccording to Popular Science (May 1995) which cites theGuinness Book of Records, Tristan da Cunha is the mo tremote inhabited island in the world, not Rapa uj. Tristanda Cunha lie 1510 mile (2-l16 km) outhwest ofSI. Helena.its neare t neighbor. They place Rapa Nui 1260 miles (2016km) from Pitcairn, its nearest inhabited island: however, tlledistance is actually 1320 (2112 km). Easter Island is west ofRapa Nui Journal 22South America at 2300 miles (3680 km) whereas Tristan daCunha is 1950 miles (3120 km) west of Africa. [But, whenyou are out there in that big ocean. what's a few hundredmiles more or less?]SpainAn exhibition titled Los moai de la isla de Pascua. Arfe ycultura de los Mares del Sur was held in Barcelona. Spain.from 26 September to 26 November. The exhibit drew wideattention because of an unfortunate accident that damaged amoai borrowed from La Serena, Chile (see R J 9:4).The Barcelona exhibition drew fifty thousand i itors to theCentro Cultural de la Fundaci6n. A catalog aecompanied theexhibit: Els Afoai de I'I/Ia de Pasqua. Art I Cullures rl/s AlaI'sDel Sud. Edicion Bilingue CatalanlEspafiol. 270 page: ISB84-7664-527-9. Editado por Fundacio La Caixa, Barcelona.The catalog, containing 7 articles, sold some 3.000 copie .Papers included are: "La Isla de Pascua y la Polinesia" by G.Orefici; "Arte y cultura de los mares del sur" by C. Huera: "Lana egacion en el Pacifico" by M. Biscione: "Vegetacion ycivilizacion en la Isla de Pa cua" by J. R. Flenley: "Lae cultura en madera de la Isla de Pa cua" by C. and M.Orliac: "EI arte de Rapa ui. El cullo a1 hombre pajaro". byG. Lee: and "Piezas excepcionales del Pacifico" b) G. Ortil..Assi ting at the inauguration of the exhibit were Rapanuigovernor. Jacobo Hey: the Amba ssador of Chile, AlvaroBriones: the president of the Museo Fonck de Vifia del Mar.Norma Sanguinetti: the Directors of the exposition, GuiseppeOrefici and Carmen Huera: and the Director of theorganization, Lluis Monrcal.The damaged moai was repaired by Eduard Porta of theMuseo Arqueologico de Catalunya in Barcelona.The exhibit. which \ a a smash hit in Milan. Ita I) . is nO\\headed for Bordeaux, France. where it \ ill open In March1996 and run through the end of summer.United StatesMore moai sightings: Ancien! Artsyle (PO Bo:\ 524.Huntington, WV 25710) is advertising ceramic "My teriousMoais" [sic], either full figure or head onI. and in colors:Antique Clay, Antique White. Pure White. or atin Black.The beatle-browed eowling figure are 91j,," high and sell for$49. A real Rapanui hand-carved pumice figure can bepurchased for much less on the island but. of cour e. ou haveto GO there to get one.ChileAs reported in RNJ, very well-attended exhibition ofRapanui artifacts, including an authentic full-sil.ed moai.were mounted la t ear first in Milan. Italy, and then inBarcelona, Spain. The sho\ is due to open soon in Bordeaux,France. Among the pieces on displa are se eral dOLentreasures from the Fonck Archaeological Mu eum in Vifia delMar where the Mullo Library is situated.However, it has been reported to the editors of this journalthat the financial obligations of the museum in Milan havenot been met: after nearly a year, the Italians still owe moreVol 10 (I) March 19961Rjabchikov: On an Easter Island rock drawingPublished by Kahualike, 1996

On an Easter Island rock drawing

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On an Easter Island rock drawing

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