A radiocarbon study led by Silvia Ferrara dated one of four Rongorongo wooden tablets to about 1493–1509 CE, potentially before documented European contact with Rapa Nui in 1722. The result raises the possibility that Rongorongo was independently invented by the islanders, a rare occurrence in human history. Experts emphasize important caveats: radiocarbon dates show when wood was felled, not when it was carved, and only one tablet currently provides a pre-contact date. Additional sampling of scattered Rongorongo objects is needed to confirm the claim.
New Radiocarbon Evidence Suggests an Easter Island Tablet May Pre-Date European Contact
An Easter Island Discovery Could Rewrite HistoryMichael Dunning - Getty Images
A new radiocarbon study offers tantalizing evidence that one Rongorongo-inscribed wooden tablet from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) may have been made before sustained European contact. If confirmed, the result could shift how scholars view the islanders' achievements by supporting the possibility that Rongorongo was an indigenous invention rather than a post-contact adoption.
Background
Rapa Nui, commonly known as Easter Island, lies roughly 2,360 miles (3,800 km) off the coast of Chile and is one of the world’s most isolated inhabited islands. Archaeological evidence indicates Polynesian settlers arrived between about 1150 and 1280 CE, living largely in isolation until Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen reached the island in 1722. Europeans later recorded the island’s famous moai statues and noted the presence of an undeciphered script called Rongorongo—pictorial glyphs carved on wooden objects.
The New Study
The study, led by Silvia Ferrara of the University of Bologna and published in Scientific Reports, reports radiocarbon dates for four wooden Rongorongo objects. One tablet produced a calibrated date range of roughly 1493–1509 CE for the wood, which predates documented European arrival in 1722. If the wood was carved soon after the tree was felled, the result would support the possibility that Rongorongo originated as an indigenous system of writing or proto-writing.
The authors note that if Rongorongo predates external travelers, it could represent another—and the latest—independent invention of writing in human history, similar to the origins of scripts in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and Mesoamerica.
Important Caveats
Specialists caution that the radiocarbon result is provisional for several reasons. Radiocarbon analysis dates when the tree was cut, not when the surface was carved. Ferrara argues that very old, dried wood is typically unsuitable for fine carving, which suggests—but does not prove—the inscription followed relatively soon after felling. Crucially, the result rests on a single pre-contact sample: the three other dated objects in this study fall on the post-contact side of the timeline.
Additionally, the corpus of Rongorongo objects is small and dispersed across museums and private collections worldwide, complicating efforts to obtain more samples. Until more tablets are securely dated, scholars must treat the new result as an intriguing hint rather than definitive proof.
Why This Matters
An independently developed system of writing on Rapa Nui would be a rare phenomenon in global history, typically associated with larger, more complex states. Confirming indigenous origins for Rongorongo would reshape interpretations of the islanders’ social and intellectual history and their place in the broader story of human literacy. The next steps are expanded sampling, careful context-checking of each object, and continued collaboration with museums and Rapa Nui communities to secure additional dates and preserve cultural heritage.
For now, the new radiocarbon result offers a provocative possibility: that the people of Rapa Nui may have created a unique written tradition centuries before Europeans arrived.
