TRANSLATIONS

next page previous page up home
 

Once again. The haga rave glyph type can in compounds have been used for 'haga'. These are possible examples:

Gb5-12 *Qa7-17 Qa6-17 *Qb5-17
Hanga Te Pau Hanga Takaure Akahanga Hanga Hoonu

According to Q, then, Hanga Hoonu could have been assigned to day 360:

*Qb5-13 *Qb5-14 *Qb5-15 *Qb5-16 *Qb5-17 (591) *Qb5-18
358 359 360
*Qb5-19 *Qb5-20 *Qb5-21 *Qb5-22 *Qb5-23 *Qb5-24
361 362 363

This is, though, by far no certainty. Another interpretation is e.g. to say that glyph number 591 counted from Qa1-1 is number 231 beyond 360. In G, we know, the tablet is turned to side b when number 231 is reached.

There are 5 glyphs (and days) from 231 to Te Pei (at 8 * 29.5 = 236):

Gb1-1 (231) Gb1-2 Gb1-3 Gb1-4 Gb1-5 Gb1-6 (236)

And the explorers stayed for 5 days at Hanga Takaure (which we can assume to be located in high summer).

If we in Q count with 2 glyphs per day and add 64 days from the end of side b, then *Qa7-17 appears to be a reasonable glyph for Hanga Takaure:

*Qa7-13 *Qa7-14 *Qa7-15 *Qa7-16
198 199
*Qa7-17 *Qa7-18 *Qa7-19 *Qa7-20
200 = 136 + 64 1

Presumably we should begin to read about Hanga Takaure from *Qa7-1:

*Qa7-1 *Qa7-2 *Qa7-3 *Qa7-4 *Qa7-5 *Qa7-6
192 193 194
*Qa7-7 *Qa7-8 *Qa7-9 *Qa7-10 *Qa7-11 *Qa7-12
195 196 197

Day 192 (counted from Qa1-1) could point at the end of the first half of a year which is 384 days long (13 lunar months).

The first of the tagata glyphs seen en face comes in day 195 (half 390). If we count 5 days from day 195, the last of them will be day 199, where vaha kai is. This one has its undulation at the top, probably to show 'high' (as in high summer).

Maybe, therefore, a new counting will begin with the Hanga Takaure glyph (*Qa7-17). Not until *Qa7-19 can we then say that 1 day of the new season has been reached.

The vaha mea in *Qa7-12 is not of the spring type, it is rather the opening of the new season. 4 + 4 feathers are around mauga in *Qa7-10 and a sun at right is hidden.

Many signs identify a time when spring sun is finished. It is the time when the head of the spring shark disappears, and it is interesting to recall some of what was written (at manu kake) about the parallel texts:

Pa6-39 Pa6-40 Pa6-41 Pa6-42
Ha7-11 Ha7-12 Ha7-13 Ha7-14
Pa6-43 Pa6-44 Pa6-45
... ...
Ha7-15 (*359)
Pa6-46 Pa6-47 Pa6-48 Pa6-49 Pa6-50
...
*Ha7-19 *Ha7-20 (*364) *Ha7-21 *Ha7-22

Pa6-48 has ordinal number 363 counted from Pa1-1, and we can guess we should add 1 in order to reach 364, i.e. let the counting begin from the last glyph on side b - the same pattern as in G.

 

But 363 should not be tampered with. It is the proper number for the head disapparing, as we have learned from Ca13-20:

glyph numbers counted from Ca1-1
Ca13-16 Ca13-17 Ca13-18 Ca13-19 Ca13-20 (363)
*Ca14-1 *Ca14-2 *Ca14-3 (366) *Ca14-4 *Ca14-5

In P we can guess these 5 glyphs are alluding to days of rest:

Pa6-46 Pa6-47 Pa6-48 (363) Pa6-49 Pa6-50

361-365 does not necessarily refer to the end of the year as we know it. We can at present draw no conclusions about the structure of the P text. The central top portion of manu kake in Pa6-48 seems to be a sign of ika hiku.

The distance from the assumed Hanga Takaure to the assumed Hanga Hoonu is 160 days:

220 48 115 203
Qa6-16 Qa6-17 (222) *Qa7-17 (271) *Qa7-18
110 175 24 200 = 136 + 64 159
144
*Qb5-17 (591) *Qb5-18
 360 = 296 + 64 72

200 = 10 * 20 and 360 = 18 * 20. Two views are here blended. First, spring sun cannot have more than 10 periods. Secondly, winter solstice comes after 10 lunar months counted from the beginning of side a.

There are only 8 days beyond *Qb5-18 (not 72). We cannot count those 64 twice. The text has 368 days.