Ao and Rapa
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Ao and rapa are paddle-shaped ritual objects from Easter Island culture . They are carved from wood (mainly Toromiro wood) and of the same shape and design, but differ in size. The Polynesian adjective rapa means: shiny, shining, luminous, the noun ao is used for a person with power, influence and authority.
description
The upper leaf of the ceremonial paddle is usually decorated on both sides with a face that is more or less abstract depending on the artistic design . There are both naturalistically designed faces with recognizable facial features and encrusted eyes (e.g. Museum für Völkerkunde, Vienna ), as well as strongly stylized faces in which only the eyebrows and the nose are depicted as fine, raised lines (e.g. .: Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York).
The naturalistically carved faces have a long, narrow nose that immediately merges into strongly curved eyebrows. The mouth, if developed, is half open. Sometimes there is an ornament between the nose and the mouth, which could represent a tattoo or a nose ornament . In some specimens, the eyes are inlaid with an eyeball made of a white bone plate and an iris made of black obsidian . The long, pulled down earlobes are adorned with round ear stakes , the head is covered by carved or painted longitudinal stripes, which probably represent a feather crown. On an Ao from the collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC , the face is painted with red and white patches of color that, according to Thor Heyerdahl, are tattoos. Rapa, on the other hand, are natural with high-gloss polished wooden surfaces.
In the abstract copies, the eyebrows and the straight nose are only shown as a Y-shaped, fine line that merges into the earlobes or ear plugs. Eyes, mouth and feather crown are no longer formed. Under the face, the leaf narrows to a neck and turns into an oval stem as a handle for the wearer.
The lower leaf is often smaller, flatter and undecorated. Most of the specimens have a finger-length annex in the middle of the sheet , around which a raised band carved in a ring leads. This appendage bears a resemblance to the erect penis and may suggest its use in fertility rites. This is also confirmed by the description of Alfred Métraux , whose informant Tepano reported that the dancers performed obscene movements by swinging back and forth between the legs.
Rapa are between 50 and 80 centimeters long, Ao are significantly larger. The largest known specimen, now in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, is 222.9 cm long with a maximum width of 22.8 cm.
Ritual meaning
Ao were badges of rank of priests of the highest rank ( ariki paka ) who were able to conjure up rain in dry periods. They were carried as a sign of the high dignity of their bearers, but were also used in dances and ceremonies of the bird man cult. Their close connection with the Vogelmann cult can be recognized by the fact that colored representations of Ao in white and red can be found in the houses of the Orongo ceremonial site , the central and holiest place of the Vogelmann cult. According to Sebastian Englert , holding the Ao was a symbol that was visible to all for the fact that the bird man (tangata manu) could exercise power ( mana ) over all clans on Easter Island. The ao dance paddle is also a common character on the Rongorongo tablets.
Rapa, on the other hand, were attributes of the timo ika , those responsible for the funeral ceremonies , whose task it was to prepare the corpses of high dignitaries for admission into the burial chambers of an Ahu and to ward off evil-minded spirits. They were used on a variety of occasions, in ritual dances, but also at funerals of warriors killed in battle. The dancers held them - often in pairs - on the central bridge and swung them rhythmically back and forth.
There are parallels to this on other islands in Polynesia. James Cook reports on a dance with paddles , who in August 1777, during his third voyage, observed such an event on one of the Tonga islands:
- Each of the dancers - and there were a hundred and five - held a light, most elegantly crafted oar that was moved in various ways.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Th. Heyerdahl: The Art of Easter Island , Munich-Gütersloh-Vienna 1975, p. 224
- ^ A. Métraux: Die Osterinsel , Stuttgart 1957, p. 160
- ↑ K. Routledge: The Mystery of Easter Island , London 1919, p. 259 and Fig. 105
- ^ Sebastian Englert: Island at the center of the world - New light on Easter Island , New York 1970, p. 148
- ↑ IK Fedorova: Ethnological and Folklore Data in the Symbolic Interpretation of Easter Island Objects, Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Volume 125, Frankfurt 1990, pp. 29-30
- ^ Splendid isolation - Art of Easter Island, catalog for the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from December 11, 2001 to August 4, 2002, New York 2001, p. 73
- ↑ Quotation from: Cook's trips around the world - report based on his diaries, Leipzig 1966, p. 310