1. Only the outline of an object or a 'person' should be drawn according to the rongorongo rules of writing. In this respect the rongorongo system evidently stands in opposition to the Mayan glyphs, where the inside is very detailed. A few random examples:
In the Mayan system also the orientation of writing and the orientation of the glyphs are opposite to that of rongorongo. The text moves from right to left and the front of the glyphs - if such an aspect can be seen - is at left. I do not believe this is just a coincidence. Maybe there was a conscious effort to keep the systems apart (of course there were contacts between the Polynesians and their Mayan neighbours in the east). Maybe the upside down sky north of the equator implied everything else should also be different. In the Mayan system of writing I cannot perceive any sign of the dimension 'inside' contra 'outside' in the glyphs. Maybe they did not attatch any meaning to this dimension. But in rongorongo the difference between the 'outside' and the 'inside' is essential. When occasionally some sign is drawn inside the outline of a glyph we must pay attention. |
