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Easter Island Tattoos

Portrait and profile views of Juan Tepano, 1880s. Portrait and profile views of Juan Tepano, 1880s.
Portrait and profile views of Juan Tepano, 1880s.
Engravings after the drawing of Hjalmar Stolpe, a Swedish ethnographer.
Carte-de-visite of Juan Tepano, a Rapa Nui nobleman, 1870's.
Carte-de-visite of Juan Tepano,
a Rapa Nui nobleman, 1870s.		 Stylistic frigate bird tattoo.
Stylistic frigate bird tattoo. This motif appeared on tapa figures and human skin, specifically on Juan Tepano's throat, 1880's.
Illustration by Hjalmar Stolpe.
Portrait and profile views of Ana Eva Hei, the wife of one of the last “kings Portrait and profile views of Ana Eva Hei, the wife of one of the last “kings
Portrait and profile views of Ana Eva Hei, the wife of one of the last "kings" of Easter Island, 1911
Sketch of a fully-tattooed tapa barkcloth figure.
Sketch of a fully-tattooed tapa barkcloth figure. The swooping, plunging frigate bird tattooed on back above buttock
(center view) is symbolic of war and headhunting.

Tapa barkcloth figure (manu usu).
Tapa barkcloth figure (manu usu). 'Ao paddle tattoo prominently marks the torso and back. These tattoos were seen on one old woman living on the island as late as 1930. Tapa figures may have functioned as receptacles for ancestral spirits.

 Tapa barkcloth figure (manu usu).
Tapa barkcloth figure (manu usu). Reeds,
barkcloth and paint, 19th century. 40 cm.
Note neck, facial and torso tattoos

Easter Island tattoo instruments and facial tattoos

Easter Island tattoo design meanings

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