How did Rapa Nui get the name Easter Island?
Table of Contents
How did Rapa Nui get the name Easter Island?
How did Easter Island get its name? On Easter Sunday 1722, Dutch admiral Jacob Roggeveen became the first European to land on this isolated Polynesian island, and named it Paasch-Eyland – Dutch for ‘Easter Island’ – in tribute. The island is also known by the name Rapa Nui, which the islands’ inhabitants still use.
What is the English name for Rapa Nui and why was it called this?
Easter Island Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. To its original inhabitants the island is known as Rapa Nui (“Great Rapa”) or Te Pito te Henua (“Navel of the World”). The first European visitors, the Dutch, named it Paaseiland (“Easter Island”) in memory of their own day of arrival.
What do they call the Easter Island tiki’s?
Though moai are whole-body statues, they are often referred to as “Easter Island heads” in some popular literature.
Where did the Easter Island heads come from?
Easter Island – The Statues and Rock Art of Rapa Nui. Using basalt stone picks, the Easter Island Moai were carved from the solidified volcanic ash of Rano Raraku volcano. They are all monolithic the carvings are created in one piece and an average weight of 20 tons and measuring 20 feet tall or more.
What language do the Rapa Nui speak?
Rapa Nui or Rapanui (English: /ˌræpəˈnuːi/), also known as Pascuan (/ˈpæskjuən/) or Pascuense, is an Eastern Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family. It is spoken on the island of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island.
Why is Rapa Nui important?
Easter Island is famous for its stone statues of human figures, known as moai (meaning “statue”). The island is known to its inhabitants as Rapa Nui. The moai were probably carved to commemorate important ancestors and were made from around 1000 C.E. until the second half of the seventeenth century.