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The Rongorongo of Easter Island

Corpus Inscriptionum Paschalis Insulae


This is the corpus of the Easter Island inscriptions collected by Thomas Barthel and named so by him. It consists of drawings made from rubbings (see example). Barthel has bequeathed his notes and data to the Centre d'Etudes sur l'Ile de Pâques et la Polynésie (C.E.I.P.P., Délégation de la Polynésie française à Paris, 28, boulevard Saint-Germain, 75005, Paris, France). Members of the C.E.I.P.P. have formed a "Rongorongo Commission" to carry on the task of checking Barthel's data against photographs and, sometimes, originals, and of improving Barthel's original 3-digit reference system to the signs. The task of checking and correcting Barthel's corpus was close to completion in September 2001, with only eight lines of the Santiago Staff remaining to be checked, and the minor texts, of marginal interest for the decipherment. The C.E.I.P.P. has made those numerical transcription available at no cost to any bona fide researcher. A numerical transcription, however, does not afford the same "feel" for the corpus as reproductions. The complete scans of Barthel's Corpus Inscriptionum Paschalis Insulae on this site attempt to remedy this.


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