Rapa Nui Journal Volume 18 Issue 2
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Item Item Publications(2004-01-01)Item News and Notes(2004-01-01)Moai Sightings
What's New Elsewhere
What's New in the Pacific
What's New in Hanga Roa
Item Letters to the Editor(2004-01-01)For the spring issue of RNJ, Vol. 18 (1), I wrote an article with the title "The Riddle of the Pre-contact World Maps", giving a review of the book 1421, The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies. This book is relevant to Rapa Nui because on page 402 it shows a map on which Easter Island figures as one of the "Chinese bases across the Pacific Ocean".
Item Early Visitors to Easter Island, 1864-1877. The Reports of Eugene Eyraud, Hippolyte Roussel, Pierre Loti and Alphonse Pinart (Review)(2004-01-01) McLaughlin, ShawnTWELVE YEARS AGO the Easter Island Foundation undertook its first voyage into book publishing; a voyage that would bring to Rapanuiphiles and scientists an unprecedented look at Easter Island and the realms of Oceania; a voyage that one could conceivably trace to the first visitors on Easter Island who described what they saw. For, in the words of Eyraud, Roussel, Loti, and Pinart, the world first became aware of this remarkable little island. And because of the dedicated efforts of Georgia Lee, Frank Morin, and Ann Altman, we can all share those words, that awareness, and those first voyages.
Item Ra'ivavae. Archaeological Suvey of Ra'ivavae, French Polynesia (Review)(2004-01-01) Millerstorm, SidselTHANKS TO THE TENACITY of the editors of Easter Island Foundation, Edmuno Edwards' long awaited Ra'ivavae. Archaeological Survey of Ra'ivavae, French Polynesia, was published in late 2003. This work is perhaps the first comprehensive archaeological survey of its kind in Polynesia.
Item The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilisation (Review)(2004-01-01) Lee, GeorgiaTHE TITLE OF FAGAN'S BOOK, "The Long Summer. .. " refers to global warming that began some 18,000 years ago with the end of the last Ice Age, and which has since continued. According to the author, Earth's climate has shaped civilizations. Fagan states: "Climate is, and always has been, a powerful catalyst in human history ...."
Item Getting to Know You(2004-01-01) Love, Charles M.This issue of Rapa Nui Journal inaugurates a new feature, a mini-history of those doing current and important research on Easter Island. We begin this series with a thumbnail history of Charlie Love, a familiar name to Rapanuiphiles the world over.
Item A Peek Backward(2004-01-01)We received a small clipping taken from the San Francisco Examiner for 30 January, 1914, and excavated by Calvin Malone. The item is titled "Wed Dusky Belles? Never, Say Sailors". The text begins with a subhead, "Wrecked Mariners Here, Declare They Fled From Matrimony".
Item Images of the Marquesas from the Krusenstern Expedition(2004-01-01) Ivory, Carol S.The first Polynesian islands encountered by Europeans were the Marquesas Islands, Te Henua 'Enana. This occurred in 1595 when Alvaro de Mendafia, sailing under the patronage of the Viceroy of Peru, sighted Fatuiva, the southernmost island of the archipelago. Since this initial meeting, visitors have tried to capture in both words and graphic images, the fierce beauty of both Te Henua, the land, and Te 'Enana, the people.
Item Travel Round the World Onboard the Ship Neva Performed in 1803, 1804, 1805, and 1806(2004-01-01) Horley, PaulYuri Fedorovich Lisyanskiy (1773-1837) was born in Nezhin, Ukraine. He is one of many famous Russian Navigators [Prohorov 1973:505] and devoted his life to a naval career starting in his youth.
Item Feast and Famine: A Gourmet's Guide to Rapa Nui(2004-01-01) Lee, GeorgiaA few years back I received a letter asking if I could recommend a cookbook that described and discussed the cuisine of Rapa Nui. Before there is a rush to Amazon.com, let me assure readers that, to date, no Rapanui cookbook exists. If there were one, it would be very slim indeed. Not that there is anything wrong with the traditional food of Easter Island, it is just that, in the past, choices were very limited. When an old Rapanui was asked to describe what life was like in the 'old days', she replied, "Here we begin at birth by eating sweet potatoes, then we go on eating sweet potatoes, and finally we die" (Metraux 1971:153).
Item Studying Easter Island's Molluscan Fauna(2004-01-01) Raines, Bret K.The intent of this paper is to briefly enlighten readers of the RNJ to an area of research which is often overlooked. Malacology, or the study of mollusks, is not Easter Island's most notable subject, yet more advancements in this area have taken place during the last six years than ever before. At the same time, there seems to be a misconception regarding the island even among those in this field of study. I am often asked, 'Why do you study Easter Island mollusks? Hasn't that been done already?' The truth is, while the anthropological and archaeological mysteries of Easter Island have been studied for decades, we still know relatively little regarding the island's molluscan fauna.
Item Where in the World are the Moai?(2004-01-01) Sharp, Len; Nottage, FranDuring the Spring of 2004, Liverpool High School Freshman Annex (700 students) was taken over by twenty-five replicas of Easter Island's statues. This was the result of the "moai project, initiated by art instructor Fran Nottage and Earth Sciences teacher Len Sharp.
Item Phytolithic Evidence for the Introduction of Schoenoplectus Californicus Subsp. Tatora at Easter Island(2004-01-01) Vrydaghs, L.; Cocquyt, C.; Van de Vijer, T.; Goetghebeur, P.Rapa Nui is a volcanic island situated on the East Pacific rise by 27° 07' S and 109° 22' W making it the most isolated inhabited place in world. Formerly forested (Selling 1961; Flenley and King 1984; Flenley et aI, 1991; Orliac 2000), it now presents an open grassy landscape with several introduced plants such as banana, sweet potatoes and sugar cane. As to the sedge species nga 'atu (Schoenoplectus californicus subsp. tatora (Kunth) T. Koyama syn. Scirpus californicus) the status of this species appears more controversial.
Item Rongorongo and the Rock Art of Easter Island(2004-01-01) McLaughlin, ShawnOf all the mysteries about Easter Island, none is as unresolved or as controversial as rongorongo, the enigmatic script rust reported in the latter half of the 19th century. A lot of ink has been spilled about Easter Island's rongorongo and no shortage of vitriol, too. If you thought disagreements over Heyerdahl's defunct diffusionist theories took a hyperbolic course, then you haven't done your rongorongo homework.
Item From the Editors(2004-01-01)This issue is making its appearance as the V1th International Conference on Easter Island and the Pacific, held this year in Chile, is ending. We plan to have news about the meetings and the papers presented in our next issue. A great deal of planning and effort went into making the V1th International Conference a success, and we thank all of those involved for their hard work. While it is a tad far-afield, according to the author of Art and History in Paestum (2003), the word symposium originally meant a "drinking bout." Well, our lips are sealed.