article

Rapa Nui cupules: voices of a disintegrating society?

Rock art research: the journal of the Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) and the International Federation of Rock Art Organizations (IFRAO)17 (2) • Published In 2000 • Pages: 99-110

By: van Hoek, Maarten.

Abstract
This article is a survey of a certain type of Rapa Nui rock art called cupules—typically hemispherical depressions made on a rock surface—documenting their different shapes and sizes, their locations, and associations with other petroglyphs and rock carvings such as those of birdmen, fish, canoes and the giant [n]moai[/n] statues. The author focuses on smaller, later cupules, superimposed on other carvings in ordered patterns, surmising they were an attempt to re-sacralize older religious artifacts and extract mana from them.
Subjects
Visual arts
Sacred objects and places
culture
Rapa Nui
HRAF PubDate
2016
Region
Oceania
Sub Region
Polynesia
Document Type
article
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Ian Skoggard ; 2012
Field Date
1999
Coverage Date
1200–1450
Coverage Place
Easter Island, Valparaíso, Chile
Notes
Maarten van Hoek
Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-110)
LCCN
sn 88016029
LCSH
Easter Island