Rapa Nui 2016
Expedition
Building on the data collected in the first PIRI Rapa Nui expedition, this project focused on three large concentrations of petroglyphs located in close proximity to important ceremonial areas where astronomer priests could have trained the next generation of skywatchers
Places of Knowledge
Here Capt. Lynn Danaher is at Ahu Tongariki, the first area of focus that the team documented in order to understand how priests would observe the celestial signs to announce changes in seasons and their ritual calendar. The second location was Papa Vaka Papa Moa, located at the interior of Hanga Hoonu Bay where some petroglyphs carry astronomical names connected with the lunar cycle. The third was Ava o Kiri, a sacred dwelling place of paramount chiefs.
Orongo Petroglyphs
In addition to the 3 main areas of focus the team documented additional sites on the island. Here are the petroglyphs at Orongo, depicting images connected with the Tangata Manu ceremony of the ‘Bird Man Cult.’ This was a ceremony conduced in later times after the construction of the Moai, in preparation for choosing a chief where young men would swim to the treacherous hatching grounds of the sooty tern from the islet Motu Nui (in the background of the photo) and scale back up the cliffs to Orongo with an egg.
Left to Right: Linda Alexander, Brian Hansen, Jim Alexander, Alexandra Edwards, Sandra Cook, Edmundo Edwards, Lynn Danaher, Dewey Ward, Julie Wallace, Alex Wallace, Ryan Bennett and Jeane Wilcke
Captain Lynn Danaher, Logistics, Field Assistant, Photographer
Alexandra Edwards, Field Assistant
Edmundo Edwards, Expedition Leader, Archaeologist