Editing Rongorongo (section)

===Dating the tablets===
Little direct dating has been done. The start of forest-clearing for agriculture on Easter Island, and thus presumably the first settlements on the island, has been dated to ''circa'' 1200,<ref>Date ranges are 1200–1250 and 1180–1290. Mann ''et al.'' 2008</ref> implying a date for the invention of rongorongo no earlier than the 13th century. [[Rongorongo text Q|Tablet '''Q''']] (Small Saint Petersburg) is the sole item that has been [[radiocarbon dating|carbon dated]], but the results only constrain the date to sometime after 1680.{{refn|"The conventional radiocarbon age obtained [...] is 80 ±40 BP and the 2-sigma calibration age (95% probability) is Cal AD 1680 to Cal AD 1740 (Cal BP 270 to 200) and Cal AD 1800 to 1930 (Cal BP 150 to 20) and AD 1950 to 1960 (Cal BP 0 to 0); in fact, this rongorongo was collected in 1871 [so the later date cannot be correct]."<ref name="Orliac 2005b"/>|group="note"}} Glyph '''67''' ([[Image:Rongorongo 067.svg|x20px|Rongorongo glyph 67]]) is thought to represent the extinct [[Paschalococos|Easter Island palm]],{{refn|Following the Jaussen list,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.netaxs.com/~trance/frame.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090408075740/http://www.netaxs.com/~trance/frame.html|title=JAUSSEN LIST (see page{{nbsp}}5)|archive-date=April 8, 2009}}</ref> which identified it as the {{wikt-lang|rap|niu}} coconut palm, a species not introduced until after European contact.<ref name="Orliac 2005b"/>|group="note"}} which disappeared from the island's [[Palynology|pollen record]] ''circa'' 1650, suggesting that the script itself is at least that old.<ref name="Orliac 2005b"/>

Texts '''A''', '''P''', and '''V''' can be dated to the 18th or 19th century by virtue of being inscribed on European oars. Orliac (2005) argues that the wood for [[Rongorongo text C|tablet '''C''']] ({{lang|rap|Mamari}}) was cut from the trunk of a tree some {{convert|15|m|ft|-1|sp=us}} tall,{{refn|{{lang|rap|Mamari}} is {{cvt|19.6|cm|in|frac=2}} wide and includes [[sapwood (wood)|sapwood]] along its edges; a trunk of that diameter corresponds to Pacific rosewood's maximum height of 15{{nbsp}}m.<ref name="Orliac 2005b"/>|group="note"}} and Easter Island has long been deforested of trees that size. Analysis of charcoal indicates that the forest disappeared in the first half of the 17th century. [[Jakob Roggeveen]], who discovered Easter Island in 1722, described the island as "destitute of large trees" and in 1770 [[Felipe González de Ahedo]] wrote, "Not a single tree is to be found capable of furnishing a plank so much as six inches [15{{nbsp}}cm] in width." Forster, with [[James Cook]]'s expedition of 1774, reported that "there was not a tree upon the island which exceeded the height of 10{{nbsp}}feet [3{{nbsp}}m]."<ref>Flenley & Bahn 1992:172</ref>

All of these methods date the wood, not the inscriptions themselves. Pacific rosewood is not durable, and is unlikely to survive long in Easter Island's climate.<ref name="Orliac 2005b">Orliac 2005b</ref>

The tablets preserved in Rome were carbon-dated in a study published February 2, 2024 in ''Nature''. Most dated to the 19th century. One was securely dated to the mid-15th century, suggesting that rongorongo may have been in use well before European contact.  It was noted the dating was of the wooden tablet, not of the writing upon it, which could be younger.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://popular-archaeology.com/article/study-suggests-independent-invention-of-writing-on-rapa-nui-easter-island/ | title=Popular Archeology - Study Suggests Independent Invention of Writing on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) }}</ref>