2. The so-called Moon Calendar on the Mamari tablet is maybe the only example of a rongorongo text where the experts agree on the meaning - it is a calendar. But I hesitated for quite a long time before I admitted it must be a calendar for the month. The main reason was that it can also be defined as a calendar for the year. The first glyph in this calendar is Ca6-17 (and 17 is a number which seems to have been 'reserved' in the rongorongo system for the start of a new series of glyphs). A figure looking like a smaller version of Rogo is holding an object formed like a Waning Moon crescent as a shield in front of him:
The implication ought to be the beginning of a period of Waning Moon, but such is not the case. There are 8 similar 'Rogo persons' in the calendar and none of them holds a Waxing Moon crescent, all their 'shields' are formed as Waning Moon crescents. Halfway through the calendar there is a glyph with interesting signs in its interior:
The great oval form certainly depicts Full Moon. |
