Rongorongo text Y
one of the undeciphered texts of Easter Island
Text Y of the rongorongo corpus, known as the Paris Snuff Box, is one of two dozen surviving rongorongo texts.
Other names
Y is the standard designation, continuing from Barthel (1958). Fischer (1997) refers to it as RR5.
The nickname in French is La Tabatière.
Location
Musée de l'Homme, Paris. Catalog # 62-47-5.
Description
A single unfluted tablet or part of a tablet, cut into pieces and assembled into a snuff box, 71 × 46–47 × 26–28 mm. It is variously said to be made from foreign driftwood or Pacific rosewood. The glyphs that remain, though crudely carved with a steel blade, are in excellent condition, except in the center of the bottom piece where they have been worn down. There are no glyphs on the inside, as the tablet was planed down to a thickness of 4–5 mm before being cut into pieces (Fischer 1997:497).
“Rongorongo text Y” enters the record as one of the undeciphered texts of Easter Island. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Rongorongo, text and undeciphered can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Rongorongo text Y” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Rongorongo, text and undeciphered provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7365663. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1958 and 1997.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Rongorongo text Y”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Rongorongo text Y primary sources, Rongorongo text Y archive and Rongorongo research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Rongorongo text Y”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Rongorongo text Y” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.