Between the 18th and mid-19th centuries Orongo was the centre of a
birdman cult whose defining ritual was an annual race to bring the first
manutara (
sooty tern) egg back undamaged from the nearby islet of
Motu Nui to Orongo. The race was very dangerous, and hunters often fell to their deaths from the cliff face or were killed by sharks. The site has numerous
petroglyphs, mainly of
tangata manu (birdmen), which may have been carved to commemorate some of the winners of this race. In the 1860s, most of the
Rapa Nui islanders died of disease or were enslaved, and when the survivors were converted to Christianity, Orongo fell into disuse. In 1868, the crew of
HMS Topaze removed the huge basalt
moai known as
Hoa Hakananai'a from Orongo. It is now housed in the
British Museum. The site of Orongo was included in the
1996 World Monuments Watch by the
World Monuments Fund, and listed again four years later, in
2000. The threat was
soil erosion, caused by rainfall and exacerbated by foot traffic. After 2000, the organization helped devise a site management plan with support from
American Express, and in December 2009 more funding was announced for the construction of a sustainable visitor center. == See also ==