A New Study Hints at the Origins of an Ancient Easter Island Script

A new study on Rongorongo, an indecipherable script found on artifacts on Easter Island, finds it could have been independently created.

Deze nieuwe ontdekking op Paaseiland herschrijft mogelijk de geschiedenisboeken

Recent onderzoek schijnt nieuw licht op het ontstaan van het mysterieuze Rongorongo-schrift op Paaseiland. 

A New Discovery at Easter Island Could Rewrite History As We Know It

Radiocarbon dating of ancient scripts suggests a groundbreaking origin story.

Rapa Nui’s Rongorongo Tablets in Rome Radiocarbon Dated - Archaeology Magazine

The invention of writing on Rapa Nui (Easter Island). New radiocarbon dates on the Rongorongo script - Scientific Reports

Placing the origin of an undeciphered script in time is crucial to understanding the invention of writing in human history. Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, developed a script, now engraved on fewer than 30 wooden objects, which is still undeciphered. Its origins are also obscure. Central to this issue is whether the script was invented before European travelers reached the island in the eighteenth century AD. Hence direct radiocarbon dating of the wood plays a fundamental role. Until now, only two tablets were directly dated, placing them in the nineteenth c. AD, which does not solve the question of independent invention. Here we radiocarbon-dated four Rongorongo tablets preserved in Rome, Italy. One specimen yielded a unique and secure mid-fifteenth c. date, while the others fall within the nineteenth c. AD. Our results suggest that the use of the script could be placed to a horizon that predates the arrival of external influence.

Mysterious Writing System From Easter Island May Be Completely Unique

New radiocarbon dating reveals astonishing insights.

TAVOLETTA LIGNEA INSCRITTA PROVENIENTE DALL'ISOLA DI PASQUA POTREBBE ESSERE ANTECEDENTE ALL'ARRIVO DEGLI EUROPEI - Daniele Mancini Archeologia

Una tavoletta lignea inscritta proveniente dall'isola Rapa Nui, nel Pacifico orientale, è antecedente all'arrivo degli europei

Undeciphered script from Easter Island may predate European colonization

A wooden tablet inscribed with the undeciphered rongorongo script from Rapa Nui (also known as Easter Island) dates to the 15th century, long before Europeans arrived. This early date suggests that the Rapa Nui people invented their own script without European influence.