Have you ever thought about the language spoken on Easter Island, one of the remotest places on earth? Jacob Mikanowski has and his exploration of the undecipherable language rongorongo is a fascinating read. No one knows much about this language- whether the images that have been found are alphabets or rebus. Mikowski presents the facts about the dead language and consequently the ill effects of colonialism in an informative and entertaining way.
“However, most of the surviving examples of rongorongo decorate square tablets. These appear to have been written from bottom to top, and were read following a pattern called the reverse boustrophedon. Boustrophedon is a Greek word meaning “in the manner of an ox,” and scripts written in it move like an ox plowing a field, reversing direction with each line.”
Isn’t the word Boustrophedon a revelation? We also learn about an enterprising English woman called Katherine Routledge who studied the culture of Easter Island. There is so much about this island that we simply don’t know.
Read Language at the End of the World here.
