| Hoa Hakananai'a Contributor(s): Van Tilburg, Jo Anne (Author) |
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ISBN: 071415024X ISBN-13: 9780714150246 Publisher: British Museum Press OUR PRICE: $12.30 Product Type: Paperback Published: December 2004 Annotation: In 1868, Hoa Hakananai'a was 'discovered' on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Polynesia. Shipped to England on board HMS Topaze, it was presented by Queen Victoria to the British Museum. One of only 10 statues known to have been carved in basalt, it fits the design canon of nearly 1,000 others (called moai) - all carved of consolidated volcanic ash in a single quarry beginning c. 1100 A.D. Erected on ceremonial sites, the statues were sacred icons exemplifying the Polynesian concern with ancestry and the gods. This volume describes how, and by whom Hoa Hakananai'a was collected, and reconstructs the underlying Rapanui aesthetic and social structure that produced it. The research framework includes the form, features and symbols of Hoa Hakananai'a itself; eyewitness accounts; the cultural context discerned in objective archaeological data; the anthropological insight gained from two decades working with the Rapanui community, and the aesthetic continuity of selected Rapanui museum objects. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Ancient - Egypt - Social Science | Archaeology |
| Dewey: 932.209 |
| LCCN: 2005363524 |
| Series: British Museum Objects in Focus |
| Physical Information: 0.21" H x 5.85" W x 8.29" (0.35 lbs) 64 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This concise book tells the story of Hoa Hakananai'a, a large stone statue from Easter Island, which became part of the collections of the British Museum in 1869. It examines Hoa Hakananai'a's significance within the ceremonial village of Orongo on Easter Island and tells the history of how and when the statue was brought to England aborad HMS Topaze . The production of sacred moai stone icons on the island, their aesthetic and social context, is followed by a description of Hoa Hakananai'a and especially the carvings on her back, linked to birdman symbolism. |