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      The invention of writing on Rapa Nui (Easter Island). New radiocarbon dates on the Rongorongo script

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          Abstract

          Placing the origin of an undeciphered script in time is crucial to understanding the invention of writing in human history. Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, developed a script, now engraved on fewer than 30 wooden objects, which is still undeciphered. Its origins are also obscure. Central to this issue is whether the script was invented before European travelers reached the island in the eighteenth century AD. Hence direct radiocarbon dating of the wood plays a fundamental role. Until now, only two tablets were directly dated, placing them in the nineteenth c. AD, which does not solve the question of independent invention. Here we radiocarbon-dated four Rongorongo tablets preserved in Rome, Italy. One specimen yielded a unique and secure mid-fifteenth c. date, while the others fall within the nineteenth c. AD. Our results suggest that the use of the script could be placed to a horizon that predates the arrival of external influence.

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          Bayesian Analysis of Radiocarbon Dates

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            SHCal20 SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE CALIBRATION, 0–55,000 YEARS CAL BP

            Early researchers of radiocarbon levels in Southern Hemisphere tree rings identified a variable North-South hemispheric offset, necessitating construction of a separate radiocarbon calibration curve for the South. We present here SHCal20, a revised calibration curve from 0–55,000 cal BP, based upon SHCal13 and fortified by the addition of 14 new tree-ring data sets in the 2140–0, 3520–3453, 3608–3590 and 13,140–11,375 cal BP time intervals. We detail the statistical approaches used for curve construction and present recommendations for the use of the Northern Hemisphere curve (IntCal20), the Southern Hemisphere curve (SHCal20) and suggest where application of an equal mixture of the curves might be more appropriate. Using our Bayesian spline with errors-in-variables methodology, and based upon a comparison of Southern Hemisphere tree-ring data compared with contemporaneous Northern Hemisphere data, we estimate the mean Southern Hemisphere offset to be 36 ± 27 14 C yrs older.
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              A revolutionary graphitisation system: Fully automated, compact and simple

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Scientific Reports
                Sci Rep
                Springer Science and Business Media LLC
                2045-2322
                December 2024
                February 02 2024
                : 14
                : 1
                Article
                10.1038/s41598-024-53063-7
                07d4f86b-68f8-4240-8188-c7e0c2cbdfd7
                © 2024

                https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

                https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

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