Rapa Nui rock art in context: Steps toward an understanding of the inscribed landscape inside the caldera of Rano Kau Volcano

Abstract

One of the most important and most studied rock art locales on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is the ceremonial complex of ‘Orongo, the center of a uniquely Rapanui festival of the birdman and adolescent initiation rites, located on the southwest rim of the ~1.6km wide, 200m deep caldera of Rano Kau volcano. Some of the other rock art sites on the rim and in the interior of the caldera have also been studied, but the published data on these sites is limited primarily to drawings of selected motifs. Little or no information is currently available on the geographic and topographic contexts of the motifs, the formal and functional characteristics of the sites themselves, and their place in the cultural landscape. Fifteen rock art sites located in the interior of the caldera are described and analyzed as the first step in working toward an understanding of the making of the inscribed landscape of the caldera and its relationship to ‘Orongo and other places on Rano Kau. The analysis shows that some of the rock art, which includes both petroglyphs and rare pictographs, closely resembles that found at ‘Orongo, hinting at the possibility of a previously unknown ceremonial center similar to ‘Orongo inside the caldera.