Undeciphered writing Rongorongo, found on Easter Island, preceded the contact with Europeans.
This is stated in the material of the publication Ancient Origins.
The history of writing of the inhabitants of Easter Island
Rongorongo are wooden tablets with hieroglyphic writings of the inhabitants of Easter Island. There has long been mystery and intrigue around these wooden inscription tablets found on the tiny remote island in the south. Since these 27 inscription tablets were found by explorers in 1864, the ever-present question has been, "Did their writing have a truly ancient origin that preceded the arrival of the first European colonizers in the early 18th century?"
After all, if the written language of Rapa Nui, called Rongorongo, developed independently of European influence, it would represent a rare example of a pure language created in historic times. To find answers, a team of scientists from Italy and Germany conducted a radiocarbon study on a set of four tablets from Easter Island.
Research results
The data obtained during the tests confirmed the pre-European origin of the Easter Island writing. In fact, the findings revealed that one of the tablets was carved on wood made in the late 15th century (between 1493 and 1509). This is strong evidence that the islanders invented writing long before they met Europeans. In particular, the photo shows a Rongorongo tablet dating back to the 19th century.
A total of three of the four tablets were made from wood dating back to the 19th century. In addition, the selected wood that was used to make the older tablet was not a common specimen on Rapa Nui. The tablet is more similar to a tree that only grows in southeast Africa. Scientists who have studied the specimen believe: it most likely ended up on the island as a broken trunk washed ashore by waves.
"If the exceptional age of Tablet D indicates that the local population of Rapa Nui could have invented a writing system without influence or input from outside agents, then Rongorongo may represent one of the few independent inventions of writing in human history, adding a level of complexity to the story of the cultural and historical development of the inhabitants of Rapa Nui," the scientists said.
Beliefs vs. facts
Although this statement is somewhat cautious in what it proclaims, scientists do believe that they have found convincing evidence that the inhabitants of Rapa Nui knew how to speak and write their unique language.
However, it is worth noting that although scientists were able to determine the age of the tablet (over 500 years), this should not mean that the inscription on the tree was made that long ago. There was little wood on Rapa Nui, so the islanders could reuse it. In addition, the scientists noticed that the tablet with the inscriptions actually had cutouts on the sides, meaning that at some point it was probably used as a cord reel.
"Considering the circumstances of preservation, we cannot assume a much later date for the engraving than when the tree that was used for the tablet was cut," the scientists concluded.
The elegant and complex glyphs used as letters in the Rapa Nui written language do not resemble European letters at all. The lead author of the study, Silvia Ferrara, a philologist at the University of Bologna, noted: "Historically speaking, if you borrow a writing system, you keep it as close to the original as possible."
"This is a wonderful development. I actually believe that rongorongo is one of the few independent inventions of writing in human history, like the Sumerian, Egyptian and Chinese scripts. But belief is different from hard data..... so ideally we would like to test all tablets," said Rafal Wieczorak, a chemist from the University of Warsaw who has also studied tablets from Easter Island inscribed with Rongorongo.
Historical background
Rongorongo refers to a mysterious writing system used by the indigenous people of Easter Island (also known as Rapa Nui), a territory of Chile in the South Pacific Ocean. The writing consists of hundreds of symbols representing images of people, animals, plants, and abstract shapes. It is believed that these symbols could have been used to record myths, legends, ritual songs, genealogy, or other texts important for the Rapa Nui culture.
The surviving rongorongo artifacts are very rare, as only a few pieces have survived to this day. Currently, some of the tablets are kept by Catholic nuns in Rome. Their study continues to arouse great interest among scholars, particularly linguists, historians and archaeologists, as this discovery could shed more light on the history and culture of Easter Island, one of the most isolated inhabited places on Earth.
"Apostrophe" wrote earlier that archaeologists discovered a 2000-year-old pagan temple near Rome.