Rapa Nui, or Easter Island as it was to become known, is the Polynesian island found in the south east Pacific Ocean. Although famous for the large monumental Moai statues which adorn Easter Island, Rapa Nui is also home to extensive rock art carvings and paintings with unique motifs.

Rapa Nui presents us with a model of the human spirit. The initial endeavour of migration and protohistoric ocean voyaging is remarkable in itself; the urge to explore and colonise has taken a small group of people to one of the remotest parts of the world, one which they came to refer to as the ‘navel of the world’. The model demonstrates the ability to establish a spiritual/religious framework which binded the society. However, the artistic endeavours on Easter Island infact throw light on the changing socio-economic conditions and on the changing balance of power.

The sequence of events on Rapa Nui occurred over many centuries, but there appears to be a critical period of 27 years - between 1837 when the Moai statues were standing, and 1864 when they had all been pulled down. As to why this happened, we can only speculate. We are fortunate that Rapa Nui has survived its turbulent history, leaving us with a small but healthy culture which is home to some of the world’s most original and intriguing art.

In 1995 the Chairman of the Bradshaw Foundation, Damon de Laszlo, and John Robinson, joined Dr Georgia Leee on Easter Island to observe the surviving culture of Rapa Nui, in the remarkable setting of its powerful landscape and artistic legacy. During the first week of February every year the residents of Rapa Nui celebrate this culture with traditional dances, costumes and competitions.

Archaeological studies have been in progress for many years on Rapa Nui. However, the majority of excavations have focused on the monolithic moai statues and the ceremonial shrines called 'ahu'. Many early visitors and researchers noted and commented upon a few petroglyphs, but little attention was directed towards the island's rock art, either generally or specifically. This could be due to the lesser visibility of the rock carvings: the statues and ahu stand out clearly and dramatically in the landscape, but the petroglyphs and the paintings are almost always more obscure.

Despite unusual design motifs and the large sizes of many of the designs, the Easter Island rock art was overlooked until 1981 when an intensive documentation project began. It soon became apparent that the rock carvings and paintings represented a body of work that was both sophisticated and unique.

On Easter Island, petroglyphs are located in almost every part of the island where there are suitable surfaces. Favored locations are smooth areas of lava flow, referred to as 'papa', or on smooth basalt boulders. Most of these surfaces occur along coastal areas and are often associated with major ceremonial centers.

Some of the rock art appears to refer to status, some to clan identification; others were offerings or supplications, some marked the location of special rites and ceremonies, and some were related to the esoteric and religious aspects of the society.

Aside from the monolithic statues, the birdman image best represents Rapa Nui. This distinctive motif, with its huge eye and bird beak combined with a crouching human figure in profile, dominates the petroglyph site of Orongo. There are 1,274 documented petroglyphs, nearly all of them the birdman motif, clear evidence of Orongo's association with the Rapa Nui birdman ceremony.

At the Orongo site, the petroglyph motif evolved from an elongated form into the highly stylized 'developed' design.

Some important ahu have, as part of their structure, elegantly carved basalt stones - 'paenga' - with petroglyphs on them. Paintings can be found in several caves as well as in stone dwellings, such as at Orongo and the burial cave at Ana Mahina with its carved and painted long-nosed makemake faces.

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→ Easter Island / Rapa Nui Index
→ Easter Island / Rapa Nui Introduction
→ Sentinels in Stone
→ The Birdman Motif
→ The Geography of Rapa Nui
→ Sea Creatures
→ Designs Motifs
→ Dr Georgia Lee
→ iLecture
→ Thor Heyerdahl

→ Bradshaw Foundation
→ Rock Art Network