What really happened on Easter Island?

Hundreds of iconic moai statues stand testament to the vibrant civilization that once inhabited Easter Island, but there are far fewer clues about why this civilization mysteriously vanished. Did they shortsightedly exhaust the island's resources? Were they decimated by European illnesses and slave trade? Or did stow-away rats devastate the native ecosystem? Such theories have spread widely, but recent evidence shows that the truth is not as simple as any one of these alone.

"These different interpretations may be complementary, rather than incompatible," said Dr. Valentí Rull. "In the last decade, there's been a burst in new studies, including additional research sites and novel techniques, which demand that we reconsider the climatic, ecological and cultural developments that occurred." Rull is a senior researcher of the Spanish National Research Council in Barcelona, Spain, and the lead author of an overview on the holistic reassessment of Easter Island history.

Until recently, the evidence has been limited. Prior sedimentary samples--commonly used as historical records of environmental change--were incomplete, with gaps and inconsistencies in the timeline. Furthermore, past interpretations relied heavily on pollen alone, without incorporating more faithful indicators of climate change. Due to this uncertainty, many fundamental questions remain, not only about why the culture disappeared, but also precisely when these events occurred and how this civilization developed in the first place.

Using the latest analytical methods, Rull and his collaborators are beginning to shed light on many of these questions. Complete sedimentary samples now show a continuous record of the last 3000 years, showing how droughts and wet seasons may have influenced the island's population. Sea travel depended on such weather patterns, resulting in periods of cultural exchange or isolation. Rainfall also impacted native palm forests, with droughts potentially contributing to the island's eventual deforestation. Radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis of artifacts and human remains are also showing where the inhabitants lived on the island, what they farmed and ate, and the influence of cultures beyond their Polynesian ancestors.

"These findings challenge classical collapse theories and the new picture shows a long and gradual process due to both ecological and cultural changes. In particular, the evidence suggests that there was not an island-wide abrupt ecological and cultural collapse before the European arrival in 1722," said Rull.

There is much work yet to be done before this mystery is solved, but it is clear that neither environmental nor human activities are solely responsible for the events on Easter Island. Only a combined approach that encompasses climate, ecology, and culture will fully explain how this ancient civilization went extinct.

The article is published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
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Reference:

EurekAlert. 2016. “What really happened on Easter Island?”. EurekAlert. Posted: April 7, 2016. Available online: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/f-wrh040716.php

Easter Island (Rapa Nui) & Moai Statues

Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island (a name given to it by Europeans), is located in the southeast Pacific and is famous for its approximately 1,000 carvings of moai, human-faced statues. The island measures about 14 miles (22 km) by 7 miles (11 km) at its furthest points and it is often said that it can be traversed by foot in a single day. The volcanic island is the most isolated inhabited landmass on Earth. The closest inhabited land is the Pitcairn Islands, located about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) to the west. Chile, the closest South American country, is located about 2,300 miles (3,700 km) to the east.

he famous carvings are massive, up to 40 feet (12 meters) tall and 75 tons in weight. They were decorated on top with “Pukao,” a soft red stone in the shape of a hat. The statues also have torsos buried beneath the heads.

Recent analysis of radiocarbon dating from the island indicate that Rapa Nui was first settled around A.D. 1200, a period in which Polynesians voyaged to the east Pacific and perhaps also to South America and California.

According to legend, a chief named Hotu Matu’a, having learned of Rapa Nui from an advance party of explorers, led a small group of colonists, perhaps no more than 100 people, to the island.

Their place of origin is a mystery and may have been the Marquesas Islands, located 2,300 miles (3,700 km) to the northwest of Rapa Nui. Another suggestion is Rarotonga, located 3,200 miles (5,200 km) to the southwest of the island. In any case, the voyage would have been an arduous one that may have involved tacking against the wind.

A deforested environment

When people first came to Rapa Nui, around 800 years ago, they would have found the island overgrown with palm trees, among other vegetation. In the centuries that followed Rapa Nui was deforested until, by the 19th century, the landscape was utterly barren.

How this occurred is a matter of debate. When people arrived at Rapa Nui they brought with them (whether intentionally or not) the Polynesian rat, a creature that reproduces rapidly and which the Polynesians sometimes consumed. This species had no natural enemies on the island and may have played a major role in deforestation.

The popular claim that the island’s palm trees were felled to create devices to move the moai statues is probably incorrect. According to ancient stories the statues “walked” from the quarries to their place on stone platforms (known as ahu) and, indeed, research has shown that two small teams using ropes can move the statues vertically. A recent demonstration of this was recorded on a YouTube video (below) by Terry Hunt, a University of Hawaii professor, and Carl Lipo, a professor at California State University Long Beach.

It is also noted by Hunt and Lipo that the deforestation of the island may not have led to a food crisis. They point out in their book, "The Statues that Walked" (Free Press, 2011) that abundant rocks on the island allowed for the construction of stone-protected gardens known as “manavai.” These stone gardens would have been supported by lithic mulching, a process by which minerals from rocks fertilize the soil.

The people of the island, it appears, had enough food not only to build and move statues, but also to develop a written script, today known as Rongorongo, which researchers are still trying to decipher.

Moai mystery

In their book, Hunt and Lipo provide more evidence for the idea that the statues were moved vertically. They note the presence of pathways or “roads” that lead from quarry sites to moai locations in the southeast, northwest and southwest parts of the island.

“The evidence on the ground revealed that roads were not part of some overall planned network. Rather they are the remnants of paths that moai transporters took as they walk the statues across the landscape,” they write.

While this helps explain how the statues were moved around the island, it doesn’t explain why. Scholars don’t know what the reasons were for creating the statues, but they have noted several features that provide clues.

The statues on their platforms can be found ringing almost the entire coast of the island. Remarkably, despite their seaside location, every single one of the moai appears to face inland and not out to sea, suggesting that they were meant to honour people or deities located within Rapa Nui itself.

Construction of the moai statues appears to have stopped around the time of European contact in 1722, when Dutch explorers landed on Easter Day. Over the next century the moai would fall over, either intentionally pushed over or from simple neglect. Why construction was abandoned is another mystery. It’s known that disease ravaged the island’s people after contact and that the islanders had a desire for European goods. Early explorers recorded that hats were particularly popular among the people of the island.

Regardless of what the moai were intended for, and why construction of them stopped, today the popularity of the statues is higher than ever. Many statues have been re-erected on their ahu bases and Rapa Nui now has a population of more than 5,000 people, its hotels and facilities supporting a thriving modern tourism industry.
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References:

Jarus, Owen. 2012. “Easter Island (Rapa Nui) & Moai Statues”. Live Science. Posted: October 16, 2012. Available online: http://www.livescience.com/24021-easter-island-rapa-nui.html

Easter Island discovery sends archaeologists back to drawing board

Archaeologists have disproved the 50-year-old theory underpinning our understanding of how the famous stone statues were moved around Easter Island

Archaeologists have disproved the fifty-year-old theory underpinning our understanding of how the famous stone statues were moved around Easter Island.

Fieldwork led by researchers at University College London and The University of Manchester, has shown the remote Pacific island's ancient road system was primarily ceremonial and not solely built for transportation of the figures.

A complex network of roads up to 800-years-old crisscross the Island between the hat and statue quarries and the coastal areas.

Laying alongside the roads are dozens of the statues- or moai.

The find will create controversy among the many archaeologists who have dedicated years to finding out exactly how the moai were moved, ever since Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl first published his theory in 1958.

Heyerdahl and subsequent researchers believed that statues he found lying on their backs and faces near the roads were abandoned during transportation by the ancient Polynesians.

But his theory has been completely rejected by the team led by Manchester's Dr Colin Richards and UCL's Dr Sue Hamilton.

Instead, their discovery of stone platforms associated with each fallen moai - using specialist 'geophysical survey' equipment – finally confirms a little known 1914 theory of British archaeologist Katherine Routledge that the routes were primarily ceremonial avenues.

The statues, say the Manchester and UCL team just back from the island, merely toppled from the platforms with the passage of time.

"The truth of the matter is, we will never know how the statues were moved," said Dr Richards.

"Ever since Heyerdahl, archeologists have come up with all manner of theories – based on an underlying assumption that the roads were used for transportation of the moai, from the quarry at the volcanic cone Rano Raraku.

"What we do now know is that the roads had a ceremonial function to underline their religious and cultural importance.

"They lead – from different parts of the island – to the Rano Raraku volcano where the Moai were quarried.

"Volcano cones were considered as points of entry to the underworld and mythical origin land Hawaiki.

"Hence, Rano Ranaku was not just a quarry but a sacred centre of the island."

The previous excavation found that the roads are concave in shape –making it difficult to move heavy objects along them

And as the roads approach Rano Raraku, the statues become more frequent – which the team say, indicated an increasing grades of holiness.

"All the evidence strongly shows that these roads were ceremonial - which backs the work of Katherine Routledge from almost 100 years ago, " said Dr Sue Hamilton.

"It all makes sense: the moai face the people walking towards the volcano.

"The statues are more frequent the closer they are to the volcano – which has to be way of signifying the increasing levels of importance."

She added: "What is shocking is that Heyerdahl actually found some evidence to suggest there were indeed platforms.

"But like many other archaeologists, he was so swayed by his cast iron belief that the roads were for transportation – he completely ignored them."
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References:

EurekAlert. 2010. "Easter Island discovery sends archaeologists back to drawing board". EurekAlert. Posted: May 12, 2010. Available online: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-05/uom-eid051210.php