Text L of therongorongo corpus, also known as(London)reimiro 2, is the smaller of two inscribedreimiro in London and one of two dozen surviving rongorongo texts.
L is the standard designation, fromBarthel (1958). Fischer (1997) refers to it asRR21.
British Museum, London. Catalog #AOA 9295.
A prototypical two-headed Rapanuireimiro, or ceremonial crescent-shapedgorget/epaulet, in excellent condition, 41.2 × 10.5 cm, made ofPacific rosewood (Orliac 2005). The two holes top center were used to hang it from clothing.
A line of glyphs has been cut along the length of the bottom edge on the front.
Fischer reports from her notes thatKatherine Routledge showed a photo of this object to two Rapanui elders in July 1914. They said it was a woman'srei miro, worn five to a side.
Reimiro 2 was sold by Reverend William Sparrow Simpson, a collector who had never been to Easter Island, to the trustees of Christy Collection in January 1875. The trustees transferred it along with the rest of the Christy ethnological collection to theBritish Museum in 1883.
It is not known where Simpson acquired the object, but its history may be similar to that ofrei miro 1.
Inscribedreimiro were evidently rare: An elder told Routledge that he had never seen areimiro with glyphs.
Despite its poor provenance, there are no doubts as to its authenticity.
There is one line of about 50 glyphs, ending in half a dozenkomari (vulvas). Fischer makes the enigmatic comment "Any evidence in natural light of seemingly 'effaced' glyphs (palimpsests) disappears in artificial light."
