- Anakena
‘Anakena is a white coral sand beach in
Rapa Nui National Park onRapa Nui (Easter Island ) aChilean island in thePacific Ocean .‘Anakena has two Ahu one with a single
Moai and the other with six. It also has a palm grove and a car park.Legends
According to island oral traditions
Anakena was the landing place ofHotu Matu'a aPolynesian chief who lead a two canoe settlement party here, and founded the first settlement onRapa Nui .It was later a ceremonial center where islanders read from
Rongorongo boards."Anakena" featured in the
Tangata manu or Birdman cult as in years when the new Birdman was from the western clans, he would end his celebrations at Anakena.Archaeology
Modern Archaeology has found signs of human settlement at Anakena as early as 1200 CE, though linguistic and other analysis indicates a range of dates for first settlement of Rapa Nui between 300 and 1200 CE.
‘Anakena has been the site of several archaeological digs including those of
Katherine Routledge in 1914 andThor Heyerdahl in the 1950s, and both of its Ahus have been restored.Popular culture
* ‘Anakena was used as one of the film locations for the
1994 Kevin Reynolds film Rapa Nui, starringJason Scott Lee ,Esai Morales ,Sandrine Holt , George Henare andCliff Curtis . The film was produced byKevin Costner .External links
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110944/ Rapa Nui at IMDb]
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/easter/explore/anakenabeach.html PBS Nova: Anakena]
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