World › Chile
Rapa Nui Sacred Toromiro & Rongorongo Tradition
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Chile
Historical (toromiro extinct in wild; tradition broken 19th c.)
Historical / archaeological
- Location
- Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
- Coordinates
- ~27.11°S 109.35°W
- Elevation
- Volcanic island
- Size
- Island-wide (groves largely deforested)
- Age / Founded
- Pre-European (rongorongo wood dated late 15th–early 16th c.)
- Status
- Historical (toromiro extinct in wild; tradition broken 19th c.)
- Deity & Religion
- Ancestors & atua; Rapa Nui traditional religion (Make-make)
- Community & Guardians
- Rapa Nui people
- Vernacular name
- Sacred toromiro wood / rongorongo
- Record type
- Historical / archaeological
Cultural practices & uses
Sacred toromiro (Sophora toromiro) used to carve rongorongo tablets — 400+ glyphs (birds, fish, plants, humans), an independently-invented script/communication system, still undeciphered
Plant species
Toromiro (Sophora toromiro) — sacred carving wood, extinct in the wild (survives ex-situ)
Biome & fauna
Once-forested Polynesian island (now grassland)
Threats & protection
Toromiro extinct in wild; rongorongo on <30 surviving wooden objects; chain of knowledge severed by 19th-c. slavery/disease/missionaries
Source
Rongorongo (Wikipedia); Ferrara et al. 2024, Scientific Reports — radiocarbon dating of rongorongo; Smithsonian