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We are now ready to look again at the whole name:

24 ko ehu ko mahatua a piki rangi a hakakihikihi mahina

First comes ehu, presumably in order to indicate how the great fire in the sky no longer is 'alive'.

Next comes a 'reflection', in form of the contrast with twin events in the east: rising darkness in the sky (piko rangi) together with the colour grey (kihikihi ) covering earth below. This grey colour comes from Moon (Mahina), she makes gray (hakakihikihi).

This contrast between the sun event in the west and the night events in the east is - it seems - a characteristic of the place Mahatua. The name could refer to mahatu, to fold:

Hatu

1. Clod of earth; cultivated land; arable land (oone hatu). 2. Compact mass of other substances: hatu matá, piece of obsidian. 3. Figuratively: manava hatu, said of persons who, in adversity, stay composed and in control of their behaviour and feelings. 4. To advise, to command. He hatu i te vanaga rivariva ki te kio o poki ki ruga ki te opata, they gave the refugees the good advice not to climb the precipice; he hatu i te vanaga rakerake, to give bad advice. 5. To collude, to unite for a purpose, to concur. Mo hatu o te tia o te nua, to agree on the price of a nua cape. 6. Result, favourable outcome of an enterprise. He ká i te umu mo te hatu o te aga, to light the earth oven for the successful outcome of an enterprise. Vanaga.

1. Haatu, hahatu, mahatu. To fold, to double, to plait, to braid; noho hatu, to sit crosslegged; hoe hatu, clasp knife; hatuhatu, to deform. 2.. To recommend. Churchill.

In the Polynesian dialects proper, we find Patu and Patu-patu, 'stone', in New Zealand; Fatu in Tahiti and Marquesas signifying 'Lord', 'Master', also 'Stone'; Haku in the Hawaiian means 'Lord', 'Master', while with the intensitive prefix Po it becomes Pohaku, 'a stone'. Fornander. 

If grey covers the earth due to the light from Moon, she can be anywhere in the sky. It is not necessary to have her low on the horizon in the west (as a contrast to Sun low on the horizon in west). But if she is there, then it should be a full moon and a low tide. A low tide is in harmony with earth high above the level of the sea. Which agrees with the situation on Poike. Earth is also the meaning of hatu.

But in Barthel 2 he has coordinated the 24th Ehu item with the beginning of the lunar cycle:

30-32

19 Hia Uka

20 Hanga Ohiro

1-3

21 Roto Kahi

22 Papa Kahi

2-4

23 Puna Atuki

24 Ehu

3-5

25

26

4-6

27 Hakarava

28 Hanga Nui

5-7

29 Tongariki

30 Rano Raraku

I will not attempt to revise his coordinations between lunar nights and the items on the 2nd list of place names. But I guess he went wrong at Hanga Ohiro:

"Hanga Ohiro is located (north)west of Anakena, in the exact spot where the crescent of the new moon could be seen from the royal residence above the shore in the western sky. At this point, the place name and the phase of the moon coincide, and the beginning of the month is linked to the royal residence in much the same way as the beginning of the year on the 'first list of place names'. Thus, when the traditions tell that those versed in Rongorongo used to come to Anakena in the first quarter of the moon (RM:246), the accounts refer to the lunar time appropriate for such meetings, and the statement makes sense in terms of our lunar model."

If we move Hanga Ohiro from the last day of the lunar month to night number 20, the arguments for Anakena as a place to look for the new moon will not be changed. Ohiro (1) is the opposite of Hanga Ohiro (20).