Rongorongo: The Mini Glyphs

Chauvet, Stéphen-Charles; on-line translation by Ann Altman () [] L'île de Pâques et ses mystères (Easter Island and
its Mysteries), Paris: Éditions Tel

.
Clifford C. Richey
November 2014

For more information related to the rules of depicted sign language composition please see:
academia.edu/Universal-Prehistoric-Depicted-Sign-Language
It explains the use of Form, Imagery, Gesture Signs, Stance, allusion,
and position as used in composing glyphs.
 Rongorongo
Above

East West

Below

The great one,

Awaiting flight.

The great one,

His location,
at
The water-source,

Taken downwards,
In the tunnel,
On the surface,
of
The Earth,
to
A vertical-place,
Below,
and
Held down.

The great journey,

Arising,
Up the side,
In the west.

The warrior,
Unseen,
in
In the east.

The warrior, the steward,

Arising,
In the west,
on
A hidden pathway.
It is interesting that the Rongorongo was inscribed on the Paddle part of a modern oar. A wooden
Paddle found in the British Museum1 is said to have been used in a dance. Three Paddles of a very
similar shape have been found inscribed on the back of a Morai. Steering Paddles of this shape are in
use to this day. The concept behind this Form appears to be that the Paddle represented, the one who
steers the vessel –a helmsman. Synonyms for the helmsman are: captain, chief, foreman, head,
headman, leader, and master, among others.

Illustration 1: Three Steering

Paddles

Paddle number one, on the left side of the Moai, alludes to the Ear (an orifice, positionally, on the
side, of the earth). The Total Form of this section is that of a Large Phallus indicating, a great man.
This further divided into two more sub-Forms a lower Vertical Rectangle, meaning a vertical-place, a
place that has height and depth. The upper sub-Form is based on the glans penis and indicates a male
spirit whose Stance is, heading-upwards. Paddle number two is difficult to see in the photograph so we
will move on to Paddle number three.

1 http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/loans/dance_paddle.aspx A wooden paddle very similar to the ones found in

the Moai composition are described as used in dances. This may provide us with the general idea that the dances related
to important ancestors. This paddle is presently in the British Museum but the photo from the Science Museum is
clearer.
 Illustration 2: The
Helmsman; Color
Coded

Paddle can be broken down into further Form, Imagery and Gesture signs. We are immediately aware
of a Face, his appearance, at the top of the Paddle. The Face is within a (brown) Vertical-Rectangle, a
vertical-place. The Nose separates the Dark (in the darkness) Eyes, the Eye of the Sun, Venus, and
alludes to the Nostrils as the dual holes in the Left, east and Right, west. The Eyes are also incised
holes.

The (pink) Mouth reflects the associational Imagery that indicates a water-source. Stemming from the
Mouth almost like drooling water is a (green) Long (deep) Vertical Rectangle or vertical-place sign.
This terminates in a very (blue-green) Large Water drop, the great water part-icle. Positionally, below
the Water Drop is another (green) vertical-place sign. The great water-particle does not mean great in
terms of size but rather of importance. Important because it is the spirit of the Helmsman, the leader
that resides within the water-particle. There is also the possibility that the Paddle is Dual Imagery that
indicate the Helmsman's Tongue with a straight line at its Tip. This would refer to the gesture sign for a
great and truthful speaker. At this time we cannot say if this dual meaning was intended or not. This
will have to wait until we find a more obvious context.

There are two (yellow) small Circles at each side of the Mouth that indicate, the one, his location on
the eastern and western sides of the water-source perhaps a reference to the ocean from which Venus
arises.
 Illustration 3: Another Sign
Color Coded

This composition is in the Form of a, relatively large, Phallus indicating, the great man. The Shaft of
the Phallus is a (green) Double Lined (unseen or hidden),and, positionally, below. The Form of the
Shaft is one of the curved arising sign. The (red) Triangle is the sign for the earth-female. The (light-
blue) Large ”U” shaped sign indicates great-turning, positionally, on the side. The great one, the
man, arising, below the earth, his great turning on the side of the earth.

Basically the Rongorongo signs are the same as those found on the Morai and petroglyphs found on
Easter Island. The Morai represent the great ones, the Helmsmen based on their large size. The
Helmsmen could not be leaders of a highly centralized government due to their large number. Even at
an unlikely 3-4 leaders per century (during the estimated five hundred years that the culture lasted) the
number of leaders would not reach the nearly 900 Morai found on the island. Thus the Easter Islanders
must have been organized around clans or villages that glorified their leaders through Morai
individually.