Using digital imaging technology to record and analyze the carvings on the surface of the Hoa Hakananai’a statue from Easter Island, which is housed at the British Museum. The Island is home to around 1,000 statues, but this one is of particular interest because of the intricate carvings on its back. It is thought to have been created around A.D. 1200 A.D. Scholars believe that about 1600 A.D. the Islanders faced an ecological crisis and stopped worshipping their iconic statues and turned instead to a new birdman religion. This included a ritual based around collecting the first egg of migrating terns from a nearby islet. The winner, whose representative swam to the islet and then back with the egg, was afforded sacred status for a year. Hoa Hakananai’a survived this shift in religious beliefs by being placed in a stone hut and covered in carved petroglyphs depicting motifs from the birdman cult. The statue may exhibit the transition from the cult of statues to the cult of the birdman. Travel to Easter Island with Far Horizons!
Religion change on Easter Island?
