Rapa Nui Journal: Journal of the Foundation Volume 16 Article 3 Issue 1 May

2002 The Ahu O Rongo Project: Archaeological Research On Rapa Nui Dirk Huyge Royal Museums of Art and History, ,

Nicolas Cauwe Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels, Belgium

Francina Forment Fundacion Isla de Pascua- Rapa Nui

Sonia Haoa Fundacion Isla de Pascua- Rapa Nui

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Recommended Citation Huyge, Dirk; Cauwe, Nicolas; Forment, Francina; and Haoa, Sonia (2002) "The Ahu O Rongo Project: Archaeological Research On Rapa Nui," Rapa Nui Journal: Journal of the Easter Island Foundation: Vol. 16 : Iss. 1 , Article 3. Available at: https://kahualike.manoa.hawaii.edu/rnj/vol16/iss1/3

This Research Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Hawai`i Press at Kahualike. It has been accepted for inclusion in Rapa Nui Journal: Journal of the Easter Island Foundation by an authorized editor of Kahualike. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Huyge et al.: The Ahu O Rongo Project rlIe AIIU Ft NC PFt J[ r: Ft IIA[OL GI AL Ft [Aft 110 R. r NUl

Dirk Huyge' and Nicolas Cauwel with the collaboration ofFrancina Formenr and Sonia Haoa2

I Royal Museums ofArt and History, Brussels, Belgium 2Fundacion Isla de Pascua - Rapa Nui

INTROD CTIO

CIENTIFIC LINKS BETWEE RAPA NUl and the Royal Mu e­ S urn of Art and History in Bru el (RMAH) were estab­ Ii hed in 1934-1935 on the occa ion of the Franco-Belgian Ex­ pedition. Thi expedition, one of the fir t large- cale cientific enterpri es on Ea ter Island, la ted for five months and wa di­ rected by the Swi s ethnographer Alfred Metraux and the Bel­ gian archaeologist Henri Lavachery, a ociate curator at the RMAH (Lavachery 1935; Forment 1985, 1990). As a result of thi expedition an important collection of Easter Island ethno­ graphic and archaeological artifacts wa hipped to Europe and divided principally among the Musee de {'Homme in and the RMAH in Bru sel . The latter mu eum obtained, among a wealth of other object, an archaic-looking colo sal anthropo­ morphic culpture, almo t 3 m high and weighing about 6 ton . It i one of the very few that have ever been taken from the i land.

Po HAKANO ONGA AND ABU 0 Ro GO

The moai on display in the RMAH (Figure I) i made from hard benmoreite, which i exceptional in it elf a the near­ totality of Ea ter I land statue were carved in tuff from Rano Raraku' volcano (Royer 1993:202-3). It repre ent the deity of tuna fi hermen, Pou Hakanononga (at lea t, that i the meaning attached to it by local informant in po t-contact time; ee Lavachery 1938; Forment 1983). The tatue, which is bulky and with round contour in tead of the much more common 'classic' angular shape, i particularly intere ting because it is believed by some to be one of the mo t ancient example of its kind. Heyerdahl (1975: 154-5), in his book The Art of Easter Island, ha tentatively suggested an attribution to the Early Pe­ riod of Rapanui culture between about AD 400-1100). The ite from which the Brus els tatue was removed is called 'Ahu 0 Rongo' (Ii ted a 'Ahu Rongo' in Martin son­ Wallin 1994). Ahu 0 Rongo i a large ceremonial center on the outhwe t coa t of Easter Island (Figure 2). De pite the acces i­ Figure I. Moai Pou Hakanononga from Ahu 0 Rongo in the collection bility of the place, on the northern out kirts of the town of of the Royal Mu eums of Art and Hi tory, Brus el (height: 2.73 m). , urpri ingly little re earch ha been done there (Huyge et al. 1999). A 'cla ical' tatue from till location in a larger ahu mapping project) by Charle M. Love of We tern Rano Raraku tuff (or rather the cut off head from a tatue) wa Wyoming College, Rock Spring, Wyoming (Love 1993). Pro­ already taken in 1872 by de Lapelin's French expedition. It is fessor Love kindly put his unpubli hed color-coded architec­ currently on di play in the Musee de i'Homme in Pari. Apart tural map (Figure 3) and the accompanying field note at our from removing Pou Hakanononga, no further archaeological di po al. A ingle 2 by I m te t unit wa excavated in 1995 in work wa done at Ahu 0 Rongo by the Franco-Belgian rill ion the northern part of the ite by another North American re- of 1934-1935. The expo ed remain of the ceremonial center earcher, Chri topher M. Steven on. Sub equent dating of ob- were accurately mapped in 1980 on a scale of I :200 (as part of

Rapa Nui Journal 11 Vol. 16 (I) May 2002

Published by Kahualike, 2002 1 Rapa Nui Journal: Journal of the Easter Island Foundation, Vol. 16 [2002], Iss. 1, Art. 3 sidian artifacts has indicated that con truction work HAU HAU at Ahu 0 Rongo may already have been going on ometime within the AD 1000 to AD 1200 range (Steven on et al. 2000). Thi age i in agreement l with the ugge ted early date for the 8russel Pou Hakanononga statue, but it is, of cour e, entirely uncertain whether or not there i any temporal rela­ tion hip between the dated artifact and the maai.

THE ABU 0 Ro GO PROJECf

Following a preliminary urvey of the site in TOHGARIKI November 1999 (Huyge et al. 1999), excavations were carried out at Ahu 0 Rongo in March 200I .\LA \\URU~ AO OHE MAKIHI with the financial support of the National Geo­ \AKAHANCA KOE HOKO graphic Society (Washington, DC). Our principal 'liRA 'URANGA TE M,t.HINA

objective was the investigation of the southern sec­ RANO 'lI/I""""""", tor of the site. It wa from this ector thal maai Pou KAU N Hakanononga was removed by the Franco-Belgian Expedition in 1934-1935. As absolutely nothing wa known about the archaeological conlext of the maai, we were especially eager to find out whether 1 the tatue's original location was di associated o--=-~~~5.=m~-=-~~'Okm from or patially (architecturally) Linked to the ub- SCALE tantial aIm remain immediately to the north. An­ other important aim of the mis ion wa the detailed Figure 2. Map of Rapa Nui (Easter I land), showing the location ofAbu 0 Rongo topographic mapping of the expo ed remain at the (adapted after Love 1993:Fig.70a). Ahu 0 Rongo ite on a cale of I:200. 80th objec­ tive were accompli hed. The excavations in March 2001 were organ­ ized around the location where the tatue was taken. This location was till visible in the field a a Light elevation into which a hor e hoe- haped trench had been cut (no doubt re ulting from dig­ ging around the tatue in order to expo e it) (Figure 3 and 4). In order to recon truct the e­ quence of events, several stratigraphic trenches were cut down to the original ground urface at o various locations.

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o ·00 O. qc/~~~ c::> • 00 •••• 00 o "..!."..:;: ~.' Figure 3. View of the location where Pou Hakanononga o wa found and taken by the Franco-Belgian Expedition in 1934-1935 (photographed in ovember 1999). Figure 4. Southern sector ofAbu 0 Rongo as mapped by C. M. Love in 1980. The loca­ tion where Pou Hakanononga was found is indicated by the horseshoe-shaped trench above (reproduced with the pennission of Charles M. Love).

Rapa Nui Journal 12 Vol. 16 (I) May 2002

https://kahualike.manoa.hawaii.edu/rnj/vol16/iss1/3 2 Huyge et al.: The Ahu O Rongo Project ARCHlTECTURAL SEQUE CE

Two con truction pha e could be di tinguished at Ahu 0 Rongo on the ba i of the archaeo­ logical remain found (Figure 5). Superficial cleaning of the area ex­ posed the ruined remains of a southern wing extension of the 'classical' Ahu 0 Rongo (henceforth called 'Ahu II'). Apart from the stone filling of thi aIm wing and it outhern delimitation wall, a ubstantial part of the ea- ide wall (about 4 m long) could be recovered. Buried below this Ahu II wing are the remains of an older and larger tone platform (henceforth called 'Ahu I') (Figure 6). The southern Ahu II wing wall and the southern Ahu I wall coin­ cide, the former having been con- tructed on top of the latter. The we tern wall of both structure , however, are clearly apart, the sea­ side wall of Ahu I being ituated about 3 m more to the west. It appears that the original stone platform in the southern sec­ tor of Ahu 0 Rongo was more or less square, about 10.5 by 10 m square, and (partly?) paved with sea cobbles (para), several of which were still found in situ (Figure 7). This Ahu I platform i almo t certainly the structure on which the moai Pou Hakanononga wa erected. The exposed outh and we t ( easide) walls are con­ structed of rough rna onry (unhewn stone blocks), but nevertheles clearly identifiable and at a right angle to one another. Unfortu­ nately, no traces have been recov­ ered thu far of the north and ea t (landward) walls, but we believe to have exposed the northwest corner- tone of the structure. A a preliminary conclusion, we uggest that the moai Pou Hakanononga wa originally in­ stalled on a single-image platform (Ahu I), which was clearly di a 0­ ciated, both chronologically and Figure 5. Southern ector of Abu 0 Rongo. General plan of the March 200 I excavations: patially, from the 'clas ical' ahu I: Abu I wall; 2: Abu I platform pavement cobble (para); 3: indurated urface initially covered by Abu remain (Ahu II) immediately to I pavement; 4: trench dug to remove the maai in 1934-1935; 5: 'cremation' area; 6: 'cremation' area with the north. Sub equently Ahu I wa human bone; 7: Abu II walls; 8: Abu II stone filling· 9: di placed tones of ahll wall; 10: bedrock out­ crop (drawing F. Roloux). partly buried under the southern

Rapa Nui Journal 13 Vol. 16 (1) May 2002

Published by Kahualike, 2002 3 Rapa Nui Journal: Journal of the Easter Island Foundation, Vol. 16 [2002], Iss. 1, Art. 3 wing extension of Ahu II. We cannot recon truct the original THE 'CREMATION' AREA height of this wing, but i eems probable that the Brn sels moai was overthrown and completely buried in the tone filling On the eaward side of Ahu I (we t of the ahu), an annex linear of the Ahu II wing. A huge amount of tone blocks mu t have structure was found, al 0 con tructed of unhewn stone blocks been removed from thi area in hi toncal time for building (Figure 5). Within the area delimited by this alignment and the purpo e , among t other for the con truction of the harbor sea ide wall of Ahu I large amounts of charcoal and a con ider­ (caLeta), which led to the re-exposure of the tatue and it ub­ able quantity of human bone were found. Most of the human sequent removal by the Franco-Belgian mi sion in 1934-1935. remains were burned and reduced to small fragments; several, however, did not show any traces of fire. It seems likely that this location was used as a final depository for human remains that had been charred and/or expo ed previou Iy el ewhere. The analysi of the human remain i currently being under------taken by C. Polet of the Laboratory of Anthropol- ogy of the Royal Belgian In titute of Natural Sci­ ences (Brn el). According to the ftr t result, a minimum of three to four individual i repre­ sented, including at lea t one child. The well­ pre erved charcoal from thi area i being tudied by C. Orliac of the Laboratoire Ethnobiologie­ biogeographie of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris, ).

CHRO OLOGICAL ASPECTS

Three radiocarbon date on charcoal and one ob­ idian hydration date are currently available for the archaeological feature inve tigated in March 2001. They are li ted in Table I (calibration u ing OxCal Version 3.4; Stuiver et aL. 1998; Southern hemi phere correction of -30 year prior to cali­ bration). Figure 6. Southwest comer of Ahu 1. Above it, about 3 m more to the rear, i the Charred wood fragment from the 'cremation' eaward wall and stone filling of the Ahu II southern wing exten ion. area a ociated with Ahu I (AoR 23) and charcoal found immediately below some of the stone blocks, constituting the outhern wing exten ion of Ahu II (AoR 30) and the outh wall of Ahu I (AoR 51), have been dated. According to the results, which are remarkably imilar for the three sam­ pIe, Ahu I and the 'cremation' area are definitely associated and were in use during the later part of the 13 th and/or the 14th century cal AD. The date of cal AD 1425 on an obsidian flake found immedi­ ately below the Ahu II outh wing and above the Ahu I poro pavement is po sibly valid a a termi­ nus post quem for the con truction of the 'cla ical' Ahu II wing. It may have been built hortly after the early part of the 15 th century or later.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS AND PETROGLYPHS

The numerous archaeological find recovered from the ahu fill ( everal thou and ob idian artifacts and dozen of basalt axe of unknown age) have been Figure 7. Top urface of Ahu 1. On the right and left some cobbles (poro) can be seen, depo ited in the Museo Antropol6gico P. Sebastian which are all that remain of the original Ahu I platform pavement. On top of Ahu I i Englert on Ea ter I land. Mention hould be made the filling of the Ahu II southern wing extension. of the fact that one of the large stone blocks of ha­ waiite in the middle of the outhern Ahu I wall i

Rapa Nui Journal 14 Vol. 16 (I) May 2002

https://kahualike.manoa.hawaii.edu/rnj/vol16/iss1/3 4 - Huyge et al.: The Ahu O Rongo Project decorated with numerous finely Table 1. Chronometric Date from Abu 0 Rongo inci ed de ign (Figure 8; loca­ tion indicated on Figure 5). Sev­ Provenance of sample Lab no. BP S.D. cal AD eral of the petroglyphs seem to repre ent marine fauna. A whale Radiocarbon dates and a dolphin (both rare de igns in Easter I land rock art) can be AoR 23 (charcoal 'cremation' area Abu I) GrN-26318 715 35 1270 (95.4%) 1400 identified with certainty. Inci ing is not a common method of mak­ AoR 30 (charcoal between Ahu 1and II) GrA-18378 655 30 1290 (95.4%) 1410 ing rock art on the island. The AoR 51 (charcoal below outh wall Abu I) GrA-18380 655 35 1290 (95.4%) 1410 Abu 0 Rongo petroglyph panel is 'styli tically similar' to an in­ Obsidian hydration date cised panel from the nearby ite of Hanga Piko, featuring curvi­ AoR 11 (flake between Abu I and II) DL-2001-88 525 67 1425 linear de igns and, possibly, a tree and other plant forms (Lee 1992:120-1, Fig. 4.125; 2001:Fig. 18.11). The petroglyph tone when erect. It cannot, however, be excluded that the tatue currently remains at the site and has been reburied. The petro­ faced outh. The presence of the unique petroglyph in the cen­ glyph have been covered by protective rubber mat . Whether ter of the southern wall of the Abu I platform, in a po sible or not these rock drawings are to be correlated with the earlier alignment with the moai, could be sugge tive in thi respect (if pha e of the ahu is, of cour e, difficult to know. indeed the drawings belong to the Abu I phase). Small-scale te t excavation by Steven on et al. (2000) at the Rapa Nui Playground, immediately south of the site, have revealed the presence of prehistoric remains. Five ob idian artifact were dated. The dates formed a tight cluster that ranged from AD 1284 to AD 1394. This dating range coincide perfectly with the dates obtained for Abu I. Whether or not the e artifact in­ dicate the location of a settlement area is of cour e largely un­ certain. It is still a matter of dispute when Ea ter I land was first settled (Bahn 1993). The earliest reliably dated settlement ac­ tivity on the i land ha been found below Abu Nau Nau I on the north coast and appear to be from AD 800-1000 (Skjflll void 1994: 105-7). Likewi e, uncertainty remain a regards the ini­ tial phase of ceremonial megalithic architecture on the island. Early date allegedly related to ahu architecture have been ob­ tained at Tahai I (1260 ± 130 BP) and Vinapu II (1100 ± 200 BP). However, these dates are con iderably earlier than that of any other Ea ter Island ahu and mu t be regarded a being in e­ o 10cm cure. They may as well relate to early habitation in the area pre­ '===~===='! ceding any megalithic construction activity (Skjflll voId 1993; Martin on-Wallin 1994: 77-83). On the ba is of the available Figure 8. Detail of the finely inci ed pelroglyphs (including a whale and radiocarbon and ob idian hydration date and on the ba i of a dolphin) on a stone hawaiite block in the southern wall of Abu 1. their own finding at'Anakena and in the La Perou e area Martin on-Wallin and Wallin (2000) have recently concluded CONCLUSION that the building of ceremonial structures on Rapa Nui tarted around AD 1000-1100 with an expansion phase from AD 1300­ Abu I at Abu 0 Rongo, partly buried below the outhem wing 1600. The age obtained for Abu 0 Rongo indicate that Abu I i exten ion of the 'classical' Abu II, i a megalithic tructure of a to be situated at the very beginning of thi exten ive building type unequalled on Easter I land. Its wall have been con­ episode. structed using large untrimmed stone block and the terrace, more quare than rectangular, was originally (partly?) paved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS with large cobbles. Moai Pou Hakanonoga eem definitely associated with the Abu I phase. We therefore believe the Bru ­ We thank D. Coupe (RMAH), A. Goyens and F. Depuydt (both sel tatue date from the later part of the 13 th or the 14th cen­ Catholic Univer ity Leuven, Belgium), and R. Rapu H. and hi tury cal AD. At the time of the Franco-Belgian expedition it team for their collaboration in field activities; F. Torre H. wa found lying face down and - in conformity with most other (Museo Antropol6gico P. Sebastian Englert, Easter Island, tatue on Ea ter Island - most probably faced inland (east) ) for help regarding various practical matter; C.M. Ste-

Rapa Nui Journal 15 Vol. 16 (1) May 2002

Published by Kahualike, 2002 5 Rapa Nui Journal: Journal of the Easter Island Foundation, Vol. 16 [2002], Iss. 1, Art. 3 venson (Virginia Department of Hi tonc Resource, Peter burg, Lee, G. 1992. The Rock Art ofEaster Island. Monumenta Ar­ VA, USA) for proce ing the ob idian hydration ample; P. De chaeologica 17. UCLA In titute of Archaeology, Lo An­ Paepe (Univer ity of Ghent, Belgium) for petrological analy is; gele. and the Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales of Chile and the Lee, G. 2001. Oceania. Handbook ofRock Art Research. D.S Consejo de Monumentos Rapa Nui for granting permission to Whitley, ed.: 576-604. Alta Mira Press, Walnut Creek. conduct re earch on Easter I land. F. Roloux (RMAH) as isted Love, C. M. 1993. Easter Island Ahu Revisited. Easter Island in the preparation of some of the illustrations. Funding was pro­ Studies. S. R. Fischer, ed.:103-10. Oxbow Monograph 32. vided by the National Geographic Society (Grant #6881-00). Oxbow Books, Oxford. Martinsson-Wallin, H. 1994. Ahu - The Ceremonial Stone REFERE CES Structures ofEaster Island. Aun 19. Societas Archaeologi­ ca Up alien i , Uppsala. Bahn, P.G. 1993. The Hi tory of Human Settlement on Ra­ Martin son-Wallin, H. and P. Wallin. 2000. Ahu and Settle­ panui. Easter Island Studies. S. R. Fischer, ed.:53-5. Ox­ ment: Archaeological Excavation at'Anakena and La bow Monograph 32. Oxbow Books, Oxford. Perou e. Easter Island Archaeology: Research on Early Forment, F. 1985. Enkele Re u1taten van de Frans-Belgi che Rapanui Culture. C. M. Steven on and W. S. Ayres, ed .: Zending naar het Paa eiland (29 juli 1934 - 3 januari 1935) 27-43. Ea ter Island Foundation, Lo 0 0 . in Ben Nieuw Daglicht Geplaatst. Liber Memorialis 1835­ Royer, C. 1993. Mi sion Rapa Nui 1989. Geologie Appliquee a 1985: 257-62. Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brus- l'Archeologie. Les Mysteres Resolus de ['fIe de paques. els. Pp.: 181-240. STEP (Cercle d'Etudes sur rIle de Paque et Forment, F. 1983. Pou Hakanononga, God van de de la Polynesie), Paris. Tonijnvissers? Liber Memorialis Prof Dr. P. J. Vanden­ Skjfijlsvold, A. 1993, The Dating of Rapanui Monolithic Sculp­ houte 1913-1978: 191-209. Seminarie voor Etni che Kun t, ture. Easter Island Studies. S. R. Fi cher, ed.:89-94. Oxbow Gent. Monograph 32. Oxbow Books, Oxford. Forment, F. 1990. A Propo de la Mi ion Franco-Beige. Nou­ Skjfijl voId, A. 1994. Archaeological Investigations at Anakena, velles du Patrimoine hor -serie: 7-11. Easter Island. The Kon-Tiki Mu eum Occasional Paper 3. Heyerdahl, T. 1975. The Art ofEaster Island. De Boekerij, The Kon-Tiki Museum, 0 10. Baarn. Steven on, C. M., J. M. Ramirez, S. Haoa and T. Allen. 2000. Huyge, D., N. Cauwe, F. Forment and S. Haoa. 1999. 'Ahu 0 Archaeological Investigations at 'Anakena Beach and Rongo' Revisited: Preliminary Survey and Forthcoming Other Coastal and Near Coastal Locations, Ea ter I land: Archaeological1nvestigation of a Ceremonial Centre on Report for the 1994 Field Sea on. Easter Island Archae­ Rapa Nui (Ea ter Island), Chile. Bulletin des Musees Roy­ ology: Research on Early Rapanui Culture. C. M. Steven­ aux d'Art et d'Histoire 70: 123-33. son and W. S. Ayres, eds.:147-72. Easter Island Founda­ Lavachery, H. 1935. La Mission Franco-Beige dans rile de tion, Lo 0 os. Paques Guillet 1934 - avril 1935). Bulletin de la Societe Stuiver, M., P. J. Reimer, E. Bard, J. W. Beck, G. S. Burr, K. A. Royale Belge d'Anthropologie et de Prehistoire 50: 228-64. Hughen, B. Kromer, G. McCormac, J. van der Plicht and Lavachery, H. 1938. Une Figure en Pierre de l'Ile de Paque . M. Spurk. 1998. INTCAL98 Radiocarbon Age Calibration, Bulletin des Musees ROyaLU d'Art et d'Histoire 3: 55-61. 24,000-0 cal BP. Radiocarbon 40(3): 1041-84. INTCAL98 calibration i ue.

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