More on Hoa Hakananai‘a: Paint, petroglyphs, and a sledge, and the independent value of archaeological and historical evidence

Abstract

It was a privilege to be able to study Hoa Hakananai‘a in the British Museum, in the quiet of the Wellcome Trust Gallery at night. My hope was not just to learn new things, but also to encourage debate about one of the museum’s under-appreciated exhibits. I was delighted to see responses in the Rapa Nui Journal, one to my article in the same edition (Pitts 2014), and the other to an earlier magazine feature (Pitts et al. 2013). The editor offered me the chance to comment on these, but I preferred to wait until more of our peer-reviewed articles had been published, which they have now been (Miles et al. 2014; Pitts et al. 2014; see also Miles et al. in press). Jo Anne Van Tilburg (2014) has usefully traced the buyer of the photo I reproduced, taken in 1868 (Pitts 2014:Figure 3). Georgia Lee and colleagues have made a significant contribution in finding an original print of the second 1868 photo (Lee et al. 2014:Figure 3). I agree with Van Tilburg (2014:50) that the identity of the photographer remains uncertain.