{"title":"Rock art on excavated monolithic statues (moai), Rano Raraku statue quarry, Rapa Nui (Easter Island): context, chronology and the crescent motif","authors":"JO ANNE VAN TILBURG","doi":"10.1002/arco.5253","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>\n \n <p>Monolithic statues (<i>moai</i>) of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) are three-dimensional objects and unique to the ancient public art of Eastern Polynesia. The primary purpose here is to summarize the specific landscape and statue production contexts of <i>moai</i> 156 and <i>moai</i> 157 in Rano Raraku, the statue quarry, demonstrating that they are embellished with rock art applied post-production (sixteenth to seventeenth centuries) and after they were upright and partially buried by colluvium in a named quarry chamber. Secondly, motif analysis reveals that crescents are present on <i>moai</i> 156 and 157 and incorporated into other motif types at 'Orongo, Rano Kau. The crescent is the central motif in a diagrammatic schema of Rapa Nui design development. Thirdly, iconographic norms allow controlled comparison with other <i>moai</i> for applied rock art. Although Hoa Hakananai'a differs in material, size, and situation from all others, the motifs on it are within the conventions of the iconographic corpus. Rano Raraku and Rano Kau are validated as ritual places on the dualistic, regionalized Rapa Nui landscape. The internal affinities and overall continuity of Rapanui cultural expression is established within an evolving anthropogenic environment during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.</p>\n </div>","PeriodicalId":46465,"journal":{"name":"Archaeology in Oceania","volume":"56 3","pages":"239-266"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2021-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Archaeology in Oceania","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/arco.5253","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ANTHROPOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Monolithic statues (moai) of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) are three-dimensional objects and unique to the ancient public art of Eastern Polynesia. The primary purpose here is to summarize the specific landscape and statue production contexts of moai 156 and moai 157 in Rano Raraku, the statue quarry, demonstrating that they are embellished with rock art applied post-production (sixteenth to seventeenth centuries) and after they were upright and partially buried by colluvium in a named quarry chamber. Secondly, motif analysis reveals that crescents are present on moai 156 and 157 and incorporated into other motif types at 'Orongo, Rano Kau. The crescent is the central motif in a diagrammatic schema of Rapa Nui design development. Thirdly, iconographic norms allow controlled comparison with other moai for applied rock art. Although Hoa Hakananai'a differs in material, size, and situation from all others, the motifs on it are within the conventions of the iconographic corpus. Rano Raraku and Rano Kau are validated as ritual places on the dualistic, regionalized Rapa Nui landscape. The internal affinities and overall continuity of Rapanui cultural expression is established within an evolving anthropogenic environment during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
期刊介绍:
Archaeology in Oceania is published online and in print versions three times a year: April, July, October. It accepts articles and research reports in prehistoric and historical archaeology, modern material culture and human biology of ancient and modern human populations. Its primary geographic focus is Australia, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and lands of the western Pacific rim. All articles and research reports accepted as being within the remit of the journal and of appropriate standard will be reviewed by two scholars; authors will be informed of these comments though not necessarily of the reviewer’s names.