Rongorongo Puzzles
Yuri Kuchinsky
http://www.trends.net/~yuku/tran/a2.htm
The most difficult problem is to determine which language exactly was spoken on EI in the earliest period. And here, of course, we need to deal with the historical theories of Heyerdahl. According to him, the earliest language was probably S American.
In his essay, Heyerdahl provides evidence to show similarities between rongorongo and some extremely obscure ancient S American scripts, especially the Cuna script of Panama, and native writing systems in the area of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. He also lists some interesting associated cultural parallels between these areas. Also, he details some rather intriguing iconographic parallels between rongorongo and the carvings on the famous Gateway of the Sun in Tiwanaku.
As described by Heyerdahl, there's significant evidence of reliable native Rapanui informants indicating that some oldest tablet texts, or parts of texts, may have been read in some obscure old language different from Rapanui language of the 19th c. We even have one seemingly ancient chant, first attested by Routledge, and rediscovered on EI by Heyerdahl in 1956, that is almost completely incomprehensible to anyone on Rapanui. This is the _he timo te ako-ako_ chant.
I tend to agree with Jacques that it is probable that the actual knowledge of the rongorongo script may have been forgotten for quite some time on EI even before the Europeans first appeared on the scene.
In this essay, Heyerdahl also describes in detail and analyses a very unusual trove of written materials that he came across while digging on Rapanui in 1956. These previously unknown texts, written on paper, were provided to him by some islanders. Barthel's essay in the same volume confirms the importance of these documents, while pointing out that much of their content was based on Bishop Jaussen's dictionary lists that somehow made it back to the island from Tahiti. These previously unknown texts, dating approximately to the turn of the present century, show that some modern Easter Islanders were still keenly interested in rongorongo and tried to work out some of its mysteries for themselves.
Well, *Everybody* knows that the people found on Easter Island originated from the Eurasian side of the Arctic Circle, and were pushed down into what is now known as Iran/Persia during the last major Ice Age.
Then, due to the pressures of other peoples fleeing the same catastrophes and changes, took to boats and began their own version of the Long March, but by sea... mostly.
They mixed languages and bloodlines along the way, and had splinter groups going all over the place, including the eastern coastal areas of eastern coasts of Africa, the Central American neck, the US, and north Pacific. But, the main group wandered down to New Zealand and the south Pacific AO.