This article is about the system of glyphs. For the ancestor of some Māori tribes, see Rongorongo (mythology). For the settlement, see Beru Island.
Not to be confused with Ngorongoro.
Rongorongo
Script type
Undeciphered
Time period
Time of creation unknown; writing ceased and most tablets lost or destroyed in the 1860s
Direction
Reversed boustrophedon
Languages
Assumed to be Rapa Nui
ISO 15924
ISO 15924
Roro(620), Rongorongo
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
Rongorongo (/ˈrɒŋɡoʊˈrɒŋɡoʊ/; Rapa Nui: roŋoroŋo[ˈɾoŋoˈɾoŋo]) is a system of glyphs discovered in the 19th century on Easter Island. It is not yet known whether rongorongo represents true writing or proto-writing. Numerous attempts at decipherment have been made, but none have been successful so far. Although some calendrical and what might prove to be genealogical information has been identified, none of these glyphs can actually be read. If the system is writing and proves to be an independent invention, it would be one of very few independent inventions of writing in human history.[1]
Two dozen wooden objects bearing rongorongo inscriptions, some heavily weathered, burned, or otherwise damaged, were collected in the late 19th century and are now scattered in museums and private collections. None remain on Easter Island. The objects are mostly tablets shaped from irregular pieces of wood, sometimes driftwood, but include a chieftain's staff, a tangata manu statuette, and two reimiro ornaments. There are also a few petroglyphs which may include short rongorongo inscriptions. Oral history suggests that only a small elite was ever literate and that the tablets were sacred.
Authentic rongorongo texts are written in alternating directions, a system called reverse boustrophedon. In a third of the tablets, the lines of text are inscribed in shallow fluting carved into the wood. The glyphs themselves are outlines of human, animal, plant, artifact and geometric forms. Many of the human and animal figures, such as glyphs 200 and 280, have characteristic protuberances on each side of the head, possibly representing eyes.
Individual texts are conventionally known by a single uppercase letter and a name, such as Tablet C, the Mamari Tablet. The somewhat variable names may be descriptive or indicate where the object is kept, as in the Oar, the Snuffbox, the Small Santiago Tablet, and the Santiago Staff.
^Robinson, Andrew (2009). "The death of RongoRongo". Writing and Script: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191579165.
Rongorongo (/ˈrɒŋɡoʊˈrɒŋɡoʊ/; Rapa Nui: roŋoroŋo [ˈɾoŋoˈɾoŋo]) is a system of glyphs discovered in the 19th century on Easter Island. It is not yet known...
There have been numerous attempts to decipher the rongorongo script of Easter Island since its discovery in the late nineteenth century. As with most undeciphered...
Rapa Nui also bear a boustrophedonic script called Rongorongo, which remains undeciphered. In Rongorongo, the text in alternate lines was rotated 180 degrees...
Text G of the rongorongo corpus, the smaller of two tablets located in Santiago and therefore also known as the Small Santiago tablet, is one of two dozen...
petroglyphs, but these did not encode language. Rongorongo, said to have originally been called kohau motu mo rongorongo ("lines of inscriptions for chanting out")...
bearers of the island's culture, history, and genealogy besides the rongorongo experts.: 86–91 Estimated dates of initial settlement of Easter Island...
language. However, the decipherment of rongorongo is an ongoing process and it is not yet clear whether Rongorongo is a form of writing or some other form...
Text Y of the rongorongo corpus, known as the Paris Snuff Box, is one of two dozen surviving rongorongo texts. Y is the standard designation, continuing...
Rongorongo (/ˈrɒŋɡoʊˈrɒŋɡoʊ/; Rapa Nui: [ˈɾoŋoˈɾoŋo]) is a system of glyphs discovered in the 19th century on Easter Island that appears to be writing...
Isthmian script Zapotec script Mixtec Script Rongorongo – Rapa Nui (aka Easter Island), before 1860. Rongorongo One very similar concept is that of false...
Rongorongo is a system of glyphs discovered in the 19th century on Easter Island that appears to be writing or proto-writing. Text B of the rongorongo...
Text Z of the rongorongo corpus, also known as Poike, is a palimpsest inscription that may be one of two dozen surviving rongorongo texts. The authenticity...
were encircled by rings of bird bone. Obsidian was used to inscribe the Rongorongo glyphs. Obsidian can be used to make extremely sharp knives, and obsidian...
Text C of the rongorongo corpus, also known as Mamari, is one of two dozen surviving rongorongo (/ˈrɒŋɡoʊˈrɒŋɡoʊ/; Rapa Nui: [ˈɾoŋoˈɾoŋo]) texts. It contains...
through the approval process. For other scripts, such as Numidian and Rongorongo, no proposal has yet been made, and they await agreement on character...
appears to feature in the rongorongo script of Easter Island (as glyph 07: ), and one reimiro is preserved with a long rongorongo text. Although the human...
used in traditional Tahitian tribal drumming. Makoʻi was used for the rongorongo tablets of Easter Island. Since the advent of aluminium-hulled boats in...
as totemic symbols. Dolphins are most clearly represented in Rapa Nui Rongorongo, and in the traditions of the Caroline Islands they are depicted similarly...
Greek eta, ⟨η⟩, as a graphic approximation of ⟨ŋ⟩. It is assumed that rongorongo, a possible undeciphered script once used on Rapa Nui, transcribes the...
rongorongo corpus, the smaller of two tablets in Vienna and therefore also known as the Small Vienna tablet, is one of two dozen surviving rongorongo...
Text R of the rongorongo corpus, the smaller of two tablets in Washington and therefore also known as the Small Washington tablet, is one of two dozen...
Island script) – used to write the Carolinian language (Refaluwasch). Rongorongo – possibly used to write the Rapa Nui language. Gagarit Abada – used to...
Text X of the rongorongo corpus, known as the (New York) Birdman, is one of two dozen surviving rongorongo texts. X is the standard designation, from Barthel...
Oceanía, 2006. The "Hanau Eepe", their Immigration and Extermination, Rongorongo. "Tupac Inca Yupanqui" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography....
Text P of the rongorongo corpus, the larger of two tablets in St. Petersburg and therefore also known as the Great or Large St Petersburg tablet, is one...
Global Information
and 280 
, have characteristic protuberances on each side of the head, possibly representing eyes.