3800 kilometers from Chile, which in 1888 annexed this island, Rapa Nui is one of the most isolated places in the world. Its native inhabitants, also known as Rapa Nui, first arrived on the island between 1150 and 1280 AD and lived in isolation until 1722. the Dutch sailor Jacob Roggeveen did not arrive.
While Europeans eventually discovered the impressive moai statues for which Rapa Nui is best known, they also discovered an as-yet undeciphered script called rongorongo, a three-dimensional writing system that uses visual signs called glyphs.
Since this writing was first described only in 1864, archaeologists and historians have since wondered whether the Rapa Nui people invented it themselves or were they influenced by Europeans?
Now a new study attempts to solve this linguistic conundrum, as radiocarbon dating shows that one of the 27 wooden objects bearing rongorong inscriptions dates back to around 1493-1509, before the arrival of Europeans. This finding suggests that the Rapa Nui could have independently invented the rongorong, a rare occurrence in human history usually associated with complex states.
Another strong piece of evidence in support of this theory is that Rongorongo functions quite differently from European languages - which seems to indicate that there was no noticeable outside influence. Silvia Ferrara, lead author of the study and an archaeologist and linguist at the University of Bologna, Italy, published her team’s findings in the journal Scientific Reports.
“This question is very important because it suggests that writing may have been invented independently, similar to other parts of the world where writing was the original creation – such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and Mesoamerica,” the article says. “If rongorongo appeared before the arrival of European travelers, it could be another and the latest invention of writing in human history.”
Although one of the four wooden tablets examined is evidence of a pre-European language, the discovery has several caveats. First, radiocarbon dating only allows you to determine when the tree was cut, not when the inscription was made on it – although Ms Ferrara believes that centuries-old wood would be unsuitable for such a task. But more importantly, the wooden table is just one example of a sample.
To gather more evidence, Mr. Ferrara should study other remaining tables, which are all that remains of the long-forgotten language. However, the latter are scattered all over the world and are not easy to reach. For now, the search continues, as do efforts to put the Rapa Nui people’s contributions into their proper historical context, writes Popular Science.
