One Word Sunday is a blogging challenge hosted by Debbie Smyth at TravelWithIntent. This week’s challenge is Rock.
The Rappa Nui people sailed more than 1,000 miles (1,610 km) over open Pacific waters to established a home on Easter Island and brought with them an oval shaped rock high in iron content. The rock was called “Te Pito O Te Henua” the navel of the world. The Rappa Nui placed it on a beach at Te Pito Kura to designate the the center of the surface of the Earth.

Te Pito O Te Henua is 31.5 inches (80 cm) in diameter, and is said to possess special qualities. It is said that King Hotu Matu’a brought the stone to the island in his canoe. High iron content causes a compass to behave strangely.
Next Sunday the subject will be Dark.
That rock must have meant something special to them, to carry it that far. Love learning these facts about the old world…
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You’re right. That heavy stone must have held great significance to take on a thousand mile voyage in a canoe.
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I can’t imagine the bravery needed to make such a trip…
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I agree, and the skill to find their way to tiny Rappa Nui all by itself in the middle of the ocean.
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it gets more amazing the more you point these things out!
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I remember seeing that there!
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It is nice that the rock didn’t suffer the fate of the moai and that it was never taken by any of the invaders over the years.
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Maybe because it looks so ordinary???
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hard to define why, but that’s a special rock for some reason!
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It kind of looks like an egg.
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Geologically speaking, iron, in its molten form, comprises much of our planet’s core. So the Rappa Nui people were on to something fundamental.
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We don’t know much about Rappa Nui knowledge and technology.
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