There are 471
glyphs on the Small Santiago tablet, but 472 glyphs in the text
- when counting to Hanga Te Pau it is necessary to begin
with the last glyph on side b:
The last glyph in the cycle of the sun is Gb5-12, where just a quarter of a day remains - it is Hanga Te Pau. 472 = 16 * 29.5 and the whole text presumably is used for the cycle of the moon, needing 8 double lunar months for completion. In a way it is a greater 'month', because according to Mamari there are 8 periods in an ordinary month. The kuhane of Hau Maka is a dream soul of the night, kindred to the moon, which explains why there are 28 stations along her route. With Hanga Te Pau (the bay on the south coast) represented as a glyph and a time point in the cycle of the sun, it seems probable that the kuhane stations should be not only geographical locations on the island but also points of time denoted by the glyphs in G. It should be possible to find Te Pei among the glyphs. |
