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1600c. 1600s to the 1860s · Orongo, Rano Kau

Orongo and the Birdman cult of Rapa Nui

Low stone houses of the Orongo ceremonial village on the grassy rim of Rano Kau, above the Pacific
Photo: Pavel Špindler. CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

As moai carving faded, Rapa Nui's clans turned to a yearly contest held from the stone village of Orongo on the rim of the Rano Kau crater. Each sponsor's man swam to the islet of Motu Nui to wait for the first sooty tern egg; the winner's patron became tangata manu, the sacred birdman, for a year. Missionaries ended the rite in the 1860s.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Orongo ceremonial villageLow stone houses on the crater rim and boulders carved with birdman petroglyphs.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: Rano Kau craterThe reed-filled crater lake beside the village.Map ↗
  3. Site 3: Ana Kai Tangata caveSea cave with painted birds linked to the cult.Map ↗

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