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Geheim van Paaseiland: 'Versteekte liggame' van 'n klipbeeld wat deur argeoloë ontdek is
Stonehenge: Expert bespreek 'vreemde' ontdekking wat in 1925 gemaak is
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Hierdie groot standbeelde, wat bekend staan as Moai deur die Rapa Nui -mense wat die figure in die tropiese Suid -Stille Oseaan geskep het, wes van Chili, is uit klip gesny wat tussen 1100 en 1500 nC op die eiland gevind is. Byna die helfte is nog steeds by Rano Raraku, die belangrikste steengroef, maar honderde is daarvandaan vervoer en op klipplatforms genaamd ahu om die omtrek van die eiland gesit. Die mo ʻai is die lewende gesigte van vergoddelikte voorouers, maar met verloop van tyd het argeoloë ontdek dat dele van die beelde in die sediment en rots begrawe is.
Gewild
'N Span kundiges by UCLA het die Paaseiland -standbeeldprojek ontwikkel om die artefakte beter te bestudeer en te bewaar.
Deur hierdie werk het navorsers verskeie van die koppe opgegrawe om die onderliggende bolyf en liggaam te onthul.
Jo Anne Van Tilburg, 'n navorser aan die Universiteit van Kalifornië, het in 2012 gesê: & ldquoDie rede waarom mense dink dat hulle [net] koppe is, is dat daar ongeveer 150 beelde tot op die skouers op die helling van 'n vulkaan begrawe is.
& ldquo Dit is die bekendste, mooiste en mees gefotografeerde van al die standbeelde van die Paaseiland.
Argeoloë het die standbeelde van Paaseiland ondersoek (Image: GETTY/UCLA)
Die koppe is tussen 1000AD en 1500AD gebou (Image: GETTY)
& ldquo Dit het aan mense wat nie foto's van [ander opgegrawe standbeelde op die eiland gesien het nie) voorgestel dat hulle slegs koppe is. & rdquo
In totaal het die span byna 1000 standbeelde op die klein Stille Oseaan -eiland gedokumenteer en bestudeer.
Die projek strek oor nege jaar, waardeur die span na die beste van hul vermoë die betekenis, funksie en geskiedenis van elke individuele standbeeld bepaal het.
Na goedkeuring het die argeoloë twee van die koppe van die Paaseiland opgegrawe om hul bolyf en afgekapte middel te onthul.
Die koppe was bedek met opeenvolgende massavervoerdeposito's op die eiland wat die onderste helfte van die standbeelde begrawe het.
Sommige mense het nie die volle standbeelde gesien nie (Image: GETTY)
Hierdie gebeure het die standbeelde omhul en geleidelik op hul koppe begrawe terwyl die eilande deur die eeue natuurlik verweer en geërodeer het.
Paaseiland is op die Nazca -plaat geleë en is 'n vulkaniese plek waar die Sala y Gomez -rant ontstaan het wat oos strek terwyl die Stille Oseaan deur die Oos -Stille Oseaan -opgang oopgaan.
Die eiland self is gevorm deur opeenvolgende vulkaniese strome van Plioseen en Holoseen, bestaande uit basalt en andesiet.
Daarbenewens is vulkaniese tuffs in die vulkaniese krater neergelê, wat die primêre klip is wat gebruik word vir die sny van die monolitiese krater Moai standbeelde.
Die meeste standbeelde is geleë langs die vulkaniese kegel van Rano Raraku, wat as steengroef gedien het wat die monolitiese klippe wat vir die kerfwerk gebruik is, aan die Rapa Nui verskaf het.
Tydens die uitgrawing van die standbeelde het die span geëtste rotstekeninge op die agterkant van die figure gevind, gewoonlik 'n halfmaan wat gevorm is om Polinesiese kano's voor te stel.
Die eiland is vol verskillende standbeelde (Image: GETTY)
Argeoloë kon 'n paar opgrawe (Image: UCLA)
Die kanomotief is waarskynlik die simbool van die kerwer se familie en gee leidrade oor verskillende gesins- of groepstrukture op die eiland.
Om die beelde reguit te sny en te plaas, het die Rapa Uni groot boomstamme gebruik wat in diep gate aangrensend aan die standbeelde geplaas is.
Hulle gebruik toe tou en die groot boomstam om die standbeeld regop te lig.
Die Rapa Nui het die koppe en die voorkant van die standbeelde gekerf terwyl hulle op die grond gelê het, en dan die agterkant voltooi nadat hulle die klipbeelde reggemaak het. Die hoogste standbeelde van u kom 33 voet hoog in en staan bekend as Paro.
Oorvloedige rooi pigment is op die menslike begraafplase van verskeie individue gevind, wat daarop dui dat die beelde waarskynlik tydens seremonies rooi geverf is.
Hierdie begrafnisse omring dikwels die standbeelde, wat daarop dui dat die Rapa Nui hul dooies met die standbeeld van die gesin begrawe het.
Dit is 'n kwessie van baie debat onder geleerdes op die gebied, hoewel daar konsensus is dat dit tussen 400 en 1500 nC gebou is. Dit beteken dat al die beelde minstens 500 jaar oud is, indien nie veel meer nie.
Die grootte van elke Moai wissel aansienlik, maar hulle is gemiddeld 4 voet lank en weeg 13 ton. Sommige is egter baie groter, met die langste wat 12 meter hoog is en 82 ton weeg. Die grootste onvoltooide Moai sou 21 voet geweeg het en tot 270 ton geweeg het. Dit is nie bekend waarom hierdie moeras nooit voltooi is nie.
Standbeelde val om
Toe die eerste Europese skip in 1722 na Paaseiland aankom, het alle standbeelde waaroor berig is, nog gestaan. Later vertel besoekers meer standbeelde wat met die jare verval het, en aan die einde van die 19de eeu staan daar nie 'n enkele standbeeld nie. Die mees algemene teorie hiervoor is dat die standbeelde in stamoorlog omvergewerp is om die vyand te verneder. 'N Argument hiervoor is die feit dat die meeste standbeelde met die gesig in die aarde vorentoe geval het.
Daar is ook 'n legende oor 'n vrou wat gebel word Nuahine P īkea 'Uri wat sterk besit het mana magte en het die standbeelde in woede laat val toe haar vier kinders by 'n geleentheid haar niks te ete gelaat het nie. Sommige ouderlinge van die Paaseiland glo steeds dat dit die ware verhaal is.
Feeste van Paaseiland
Wanneer het die eerste inwoners van Paaseiland aangekom?
Die datum van die oorspronklike vestiging van Paaseiland deur Polinesiese seevaarders is moeilik om te bepaal. Dit sou tussen die jare 400 en 1200 wees, die mees onlangse tydperk was meer geloofwaardig in die oë van hedendaagse argeoloë.
Waarom is Moai -beelde gebou?
Die Moai, wat oorspronklik in die 12de eeu op menslike skaal gesny is, word mettertyd groter en groter en bereik 'n gemiddelde hoogte van 4 tot 9 meter (met hul rooi vulkaniese dopkap, die "pukao") en 'n gewig van 15 tot 80 ton toe hul produksie in die 16de eeu gestaak het. Niemand weet regtig wat hul werklike funksie was nie, alhoewel hul posisie aan die buitewyke van die eiland duidelik suggereer dat hulle 'n rol gespeel het van geestelike beskerming en miskien ook 'n kragtige afskrikmiddel teen moontlike indringers van die see, bang vir die siende van hierdie klipreuse. Net so het die oriëntasie van die standbeelde, die liggaam na die binnekant van die eiland gedraai, waarskynlik 'n beskermende rol vir die dorpe gehad, soos dat voorvaders verhoed dat hul kinders in geskille of dodelike oorloë beland. Dit is uiters waarskynlik dat die Moai -standbeelde die voorwerp van 'n vooroueraanbidding was en dat 'n gesogte kompetisie tussen die verskillende stamme van die eiland die groot gesinne kan aanspoor om mee te ding in 'n wedloop na gigantisme van die monoliete.
Die besoek van gesogte ontdekkingsreisigers
Verskeie bekende seevaarders en ontdekkingsreisigers het die geleentheid gekry om Paaseiland te besoek na Jakob Roggeveen. Onder hulle, die Spaanse Felipe Felipe González de Ahedo (1714 - 1802) in 1770, wat die identiteit van die eiland misgis, die Engelse Jame Cook (1728 - 1779) in 1774 en die Franse Jean -François de la Pérouse (1741 - 1788 ) in 1786.
Kaart van Paaseiland, gepubliseer in 1797 © Jean -François de La Pérouse (1741 - 1788) (bron) Lisensie
Die raaisel van die vervoer van Moai -beelde
Die vulkaniese tuff wat vir gebruik in die konstruksie van Moai -beeldhouwerke onttrek word, kom hoofsaaklik uit die steengroef van Rano Raraku. Met die oog op die vele onvoltooide beeldhouwerke wat op hierdie ou steengroef voorkom, is dit moontlik om tot die gevolgtrekking te kom dat die klippe blokke gesny is voordat dit na hul konstruksieplek vervoer is, waar die onderlyf soms diep in die grond veranker is, soms begrawe op die bors , kry hulle toe hul rooi kliphooftooisel en hul oë. Die seremoniële platforms wat aan die rande van die eiland versprei is, kon verskeie Moai -gaste wat langs mekaar geplaas is, akkommodeer en die oë na die binneland gedraai. Net soos vir die vervoer van klipblokke en die bou van die groot piramides van Egipte, bly die raaisel egter oor die tegnieke wat die inboorlinge gebruik het om hierdie monoliete van etlike ton te vervoer en op te rig. Tot dusver is baie eksperimente in eksperimentele argeologie probeer, waarvan geen eenparig deur die wetenskaplike gemeenskap goedgekeur is nie. Die hipotese om honderde houthoute te gebruik om die monoliete na hul bestemming te rol, moontlik in kombinasie met spesifieke vlotte, is natuurlik die oorsprong van die teorie oor die ontbossing van die eiland. wat hongersnood, burgeroorlog, die val van die ou orde sou veroorsaak het en die kultus van die voorvaders sou laat vaar, geïllustreer deur die monumentale Moai -beelde.
Die Moai -beelde bly heilig
Besoekers word verbied om aan die Moai -standbeelde van Paaseiland te raak. Die inwoners is baie broos vanweë hul ononderbroke blootstelling aan die weelde van die klimaat, en dit is terselfdertyd die respek van die Polinesiese kultuur en tradisies wat die inwoners soveel as hul waardevolle waarde probeer behou, aangesien dit een van die grootste spore van menslike genie is .
Gevolge van klimaatsverandering vir Paaseiland
Met klimaatsverandering en die opkoms van die waters as gevolg van die geleidelike smelting van ys, bestaan die eksistensiële bedreiging vir die argeologiese terreine van Paaseiland, aangesien die Moai -standbeelde meestal aan die oewers geleë is.
Inhoud
Die naam "Paaseiland" is gegee deur die eerste aangetekende Europese besoeker van die eiland, die Nederlandse ontdekkingsreisiger Jacob Roggeveen, wat dit op Paassondag (5 April) in 1722 teëgekom het terwyl hy na "Davis Land" gesoek het. Roggeveen het dit genoem Paasch-Eyland (18de-eeuse Nederlands vir "Paaseiland"). [10] [11] Die eiland se amptelike Spaanse naam, Isla de Pascua, beteken ook "Paaseiland".
Die huidige Polinesiese naam van die eiland, Rapa Nui ("Big Rapa"), is geskep na die slawe -aanvalle van die vroeë 1860's, en verwys na die topografiese ooreenkoms van die eiland met die eiland Rapa in die Bass Islands van die Austral Islands -groep. [12] Die Noorse etnograaf Thor Heyerdahl het dit egter aangevoer Rapa was die oorspronklike naam van Paaseiland en dit Rapa Iti is van daar af deur vlugtelinge genoem. [13]
Die frase Te pito o te henua Daar word gesê dat dit die oorspronklike naam van die eiland is sedert die Franse etnoloog Alphonse Pinart die romantiese vertaling "die naeltjie van die wêreld" in sy Voyage à l'Île de Pâques, gepubliseer in 1877. [14] William Churchill (1912) het navraag gedoen oor die frase en is meegedeel dat daar drie te pito o te henuadit is die drie kappies (landpunte) van die eiland. Dit lyk asof die frase in dieselfde sin gebruik is as die benaming "Land's End" aan die punt van Cornwall. Hy kon nie 'n Polinesiese naam vir die eiland kry nie en het tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat daar moontlik nie een was nie. [15]
Volgens Barthel (1974) het die mondelinge oorlewering dat die eiland die eerste keer genoem is Dit is ook 'n goeie idee vir Hau Maka, "Die klein stuk grond van Hau Maka". [16] Daar is egter twee woorde wat uitgespreek word pito in Rapa Nui, een wat 'einde' en een 'naeltjie' beteken, en die frase kan dus ook 'The Navel of the World' beteken. 'N Ander naam, Mata ki te rangi, beteken "Oë wat na die lug kyk". [17]
In Spaans word na eilandbewoners verwys as pascuense Dit is egter algemeen om na lede van die inheemse gemeenskap te verwys as Rapa Nui.
Felipe González de Ahedo het dit genoem Isla de San Carlos ("Saint Charles 'Island", die beskermheilige van Charles III van Spanje) of Isla de David (waarskynlik die spook -eiland Davis Land soms vertaal as "Davis's Island" [18]) in 1770. [19]
Inleiding
Volgens mondelinge oorlewering is die eiland eers gevestig deur 'n ekspedisie met twee kano's, afkomstig van Marae Renga (of Marae Toe Hau), en gelei deur die opperhoof Hotu Matu'a en sy kaptein Tu'u ko Iho. Die eiland is die eerste keer ondersoek nadat Haumaka gedroom het van so 'n verre land. Hotu het dit as 'n waardevolle plek beskou om te vlug vir 'n buurman, een vir wie hy reeds drie gevegte verloor het. By hul aankoms het die eiland 'n eensame nedersetter gehad, Nga Tavake 'a Te Rona. Na 'n kort tydjie in Anakena, vestig die koloniste hulle in verskillende dele van die eiland. Hotu se erfgenaam, Tu'u ma Heke, is op die eiland gebore. Tu'u ko Iho word beskou as die leier wat die beelde gebring en laat loop het. [20]
Die Paaseilanders word beskou as Suidoos-Polinesiërs. Soortgelyke heilige sones met standbeelde (marae en ahu) in Oos -Polinesië toon homologie met die grootste deel van Oos -Polinesië. By kontak was die bevolking ongeveer 3 000–4 000. [20]: 17–18, 20–21, 31, 41–45
Teen die 15de eeu het twee konfederasies, hanauvan sosiale groeperings, mata, bestaan, gebaseer op afstamming. Die westelike en noordelike deel van die eiland behoort aan die Tu'u, wat die koninklike Miru insluit, met die koninklike sentrum in Anakena, hoewel Tahai en Te Peu as vroeëre hoofstede gedien het. Die oostelike deel van die eiland behoort aan die 'Otu' Itu. Kort na die Nederlandse besoek, van 1724 tot 1750, veg die 'Otu' Itu teen die Tu'u om beheer oor die eiland. Hierdie gevegte het tot in die 1860's voortgeduur. Hongersnood het gevolg op die brand van hutte en die vernietiging van velde. Sosiale beheer verdwyn namate die geordende lewenswyse plek maak vir wetteloosheid en roofsugtige groepe namate die krygerklas oorneem. Dakloosheid het die oorhand gekry, met baie wat onder die grond woon. Na die Spaanse besoek, vanaf 1770, het 'n tydperk van standbeeld omgeval, huri mo'ai, begin. Dit was 'n poging deur mededingende groepe om die sosio-geestelike krag te vernietig, of mana, verteenwoordig deur standbeelde, en sorg dat hulle in die herfs breek om te verseker dat hulle dood en sonder krag was. Teen die tyd van die aankoms van die Franse sendelinge in die 1860's het niemand gehandhaaf nie. [20]: 21–24, 27, 54–56, 64–65
Tussen 1862 en 1888 het ongeveer 94% van die bevolking omgekom of geëmigreer. Die eiland is van 1862 tot 1863 deur swart voëllewe getraumatiseer, wat gelei het tot die ontvoering of doodmaak van ongeveer 1,500, met 1,408 as bediende in Peru. Slegs ongeveer 'n dosyn het uiteindelik na Paaseiland teruggekeer, maar hulle het pokke gebring, wat die oorblywende bevolking van 1 500 uitgemaak het. Diegene wat omgekom het, sluit die eiland s'n in tumu ivi 'atua, draers van die eiland se kultuur, geskiedenis en genealogie behalwe die rongorongo kundiges. [20]: 86–91
Rapa Nui -nedersetting
Geskatte datums van die aanvanklike vestiging van Paaseiland het gewissel van 300 tot 1200 nC, hoewel die huidige beste skatting vir kolonisering in die 12de eeu nC was. Die kolonisasie van Paaseiland het waarskynlik saamgeval met die aankoms van die eerste setlaars in Hawaii. Rektifikasies in radiokoolstofdatering het byna al die vroeëre vroeë nedersettingsdatums in Polinesië verander. Deurlopende argeologiese studies bied hierdie laat datum: "Radiokoolstofdatums vir die vroegste stratigrafiese lae op Anakena, Paaseiland, en ontleding van vorige radiokoolstofdatums impliseer dat die eiland laat omstreeks 1200 nC gekoloniseer is. Beduidende ekologiese gevolge en groot kulturele beleggings in monumentale argitektuur en die standbeeld begin dus kort na die aanvanklike nedersetting. " [21] [22]
Volgens mondelinge oorlewering was die eerste nedersetting in Anakena. Navorsers het opgemerk dat die landingspunt van Caleta Anakena die beste skuiling van die eiland bied teen heersende deinings, sowel as 'n sandstrand vir kanolandings en -uitskietings, en dit is dus waarskynlik 'n vroeë plek van vestiging. Radiokoolstofdatering kom egter tot die gevolgtrekking dat ander webwerwe Anakena jare lank voorafgegaan het, veral die Tahai met 'n paar eeue.
Die eiland is bevolk deur Polinesiërs wat heel waarskynlik in kano's of katamarans vanaf die Gambier -eilande (Mangareva, 2 600 km) of die Marquesas -eilande, 3 200 km (2 000 myl) weggevaar het. Volgens sommige teorieë, soos die Polinesiese Diaspora-teorie, is daar 'n moontlikheid dat vroeë Polinesiese setlaars uit Suid-Amerika aangekom het as gevolg van hul merkwaardige seevaarte-vermoëns. Teoretici het dit ondersteun deur die landboubewyse van die patat. Die patat was geslagte lank 'n gunstige gewas in die Polinesiese samelewing, maar dit het sy oorsprong in Suid -Amerika, wat dui op interaksie tussen hierdie twee geografiese gebiede. [23] Onlangse navorsing dui egter daarop dat patats moontlik deur langafstandverspreiding na Polinesië versprei het lank voordat die Polinesiërs aangekom het. [24] Toe James Cook die eiland besoek, kon een van sy bemanningslede, 'n Polinesiër van Bora Bora, Hitihiti, met die Rapa Nui kommunikeer. [25]: 296–97 Die taal wat die meeste na Rapa Nui lyk, is Mangarevan, met 'n geskatte 80% soortgelyke woordeskat. In 1999 kon 'n reis met gerekonstrueerde Polinesiese bote binne 19 dae Paaseiland vanaf Mangareva bereik. [26]
Volgens mondelinge tradisies wat deur sendelinge in die 1860's opgeteken is, het die eiland oorspronklik 'n sterk klassestelsel gehad: an ariki, of hoë hoof, het groot mag gehad oor nege ander stamme en hul onderskeie hoofmanne. Die hoë opperhoof was die oudste afstammeling deur eersgebore lyne van die legendariese stigter van die eiland, Hotu Matu'a. Die mees sigbare element in die kultuur was die vervaardiging van massiewe moai -beelde wat volgens sommige die vergoddelikte voorouers verteenwoordig. Volgens National Geographic, "Die meeste geleerdes vermoed dat die moai geskep is om voorouers, hoofmanne of ander belangrike persone te eer, maar daar is geen geskrewe en min mondelinge geskiedenis op die eiland nie, so dit is onmoontlik om seker te wees." [28]
Daar word geglo dat die lewendes 'n simbiotiese verhouding met die dooies het waarin die dooies alles voorsien wat die lewendes nodig het (gesondheid, vrugbaarheid van grond en diere, fortuin, ens.) En die lewendes, deur middel van offers, die dooies 'n beter plek bied in die geesteswêreld. Die meeste nedersettings was aan die kus geleë, en die meeste moai is langs die kuslyn opgerig en waak oor hul nageslag in die nedersettings voor hulle, met hul rug na die geesteswêreld in die see.
Jared Diamond het voorgestel dat kannibalisme op Paaseiland plaasgevind het nadat die konstruksie van die moai bygedra het tot agteruitgang van die omgewing toe uiterste ontbossing 'n reeds benarde ekosisteem destabiliseer. [29] Argeologiese rekords toon dat ten tyde van die aanvanklike nedersetting op die eiland baie bome spesies was, waaronder minstens drie spesies wat tot 15 meter (49 voet) gegroei het: Paschalococos (moontlik destyds die grootste palmbome ter wêreld), Alphitonia zizyphoides, en Elaeocarpus rarotongensis. Dit is bekend dat ten minste ses spesies landvoëls op die eiland woon. 'N Belangrike faktor wat bygedra het tot die uitsterwing van veelvuldige plantsoorte was die bekendstelling van die Polinesiese rot. Studies deur paleobotaniste het getoon dat rotte die voortplanting van plantegroei in 'n ekosisteem dramaties kan beïnvloed. In die geval van Rapa Nui, het herstelde plantsaadskille getoon dat rotte daarop knaag. [3] Barbara A. West skryf: "Iewers voor die aankoms van Europeërs op Paaseiland het die Rapanui 'n geweldige omwenteling in hul sosiale stelsel beleef wat veroorsaak is deur 'n verandering in die ekologie van hul eiland. Teen die tyd van Europese aankoms in 1722 het die die bevolking van die eiland het net 'n eeu tevore gedaal tot 2 000–3 000 van die hoogtepunt van ongeveer 15 000. " [30]
Teen daardie tyd het 21 spesies bome en alle soorte landvoëls uitgesterf deur 'n kombinasie van oes, oormatige jag, rot predasie en klimaatsverandering. Die eiland is grootliks ontbos en het geen bome van meer as 3 m gehad nie. Die verlies aan groot bome het beteken dat inwoners nie meer seewaardige vaartuie kon bou nie, wat hul visvangvermoëns aansienlik verminder het. Een teorie is dat die bome as rollers gebruik is om die standbeelde te skuif na hul oprigting uit die steengroef in Rano Raraku. [31] Ontbossing het ook erosie veroorsaak wat 'n skerp afname in landbouproduksie veroorsaak het. [3] Dit is vererger deur die verlies van landvoëls en die ineenstorting van seevoëls as voedselbron. Teen die 18de eeu is eilandbewoners grootliks deur die boerdery onderhou, met hoenders as die primêre bron van proteïene. [32]
Namate die eiland oorbevolk geraak het en hulpbronne verminder het, word krygers bekend as matatoa het meer krag gekry en die Voorvader -kultus het geëindig en plek gemaak vir die Bird Man Cult. Beverly Haun het geskryf: "Die konsep van mana (mag) wat in oorerflike leiers belê is, is hervorm in die persoon van die voëlman, blykbaar begin omstreeks 1540, en val saam met die laaste spore van die moai -tydperk." [33] Hierdie kultus het volgehou dat, hoewel die voorvaders nog steeds vir hul nageslag voorsien het, die medium waardeur die lewendes met die dooies in aanraking kon kom, nie meer standbeelde was nie, maar mense wat deur 'n kompetisie gekies is. Die god wat verantwoordelik was vir die skepping van mense, Makemake, het 'n belangrike rol in hierdie proses gespeel. Katherine Routledge, wat stelselmatig die eiland se tradisies versamel het tydens haar ekspedisie van 1919, [34] het getoon dat die kompetisies vir Bird Man (Rapa Nui: tangata manu) begin omstreeks 1760, na die aankoms van die eerste Europeërs, en eindig in 1878, met die bou van die eerste kerk deur Rooms -Katolieke sendelinge wat formeel in 1864 aankom. Rotstekeninge wat voëlmanne op Paaseiland verteenwoordig, is dieselfde as sommige in Hawaii, wat daarop dui dat hierdie konsep waarskynlik deur die oorspronklike setlaars gebring is, slegs die kompetisie was eie aan Paaseiland.
Volgens Diamond en Heyerdahl se weergawe van die geskiedenis van die eiland is die huri mo'ai -'standbeeld-omverwerping'-het tot in die 1830's voortgegaan as deel van hewige interne oorloë. Teen 1838 was die enigste staande moai op die hange van Rano Raraku, in Hoa Hakananai'a in Orongo, en Ariki Paro in Ahu Te Pito Kura. 'N Studie onder leiding van Douglas Owsley wat in 1994 gepubliseer is, beweer dat daar min argeologiese bewyse is van 'n voor-Europese samelewing. [ aanhaling nodig ] Beenpatologie en osteometriese gegewens van eilandbewoners van daardie tydperk dui duidelik daarop dat min sterftes direk aan geweld toegeskryf kan word. [35]
Europese kontak
Die eerste aangetekende Europese kontak met die eiland was op 5 April 1722, Paassondag, deur die Nederlandse seevaarder Jacob Roggeveen. [25] Sy besoek het gelei tot die dood van ongeveer 'n dosyn eilandbewoners, waaronder die tumu ivi 'atua, en die verwonding van baie ander. [20]: 46–53
Die volgende buitelandse besoekers (op 15 November 1770) was twee Spaanse skepe, San Lorenzo en Kersvader Rosalia, onder bevel van kaptein Don Felipe Gonzalez de Ahedo. [25]: 238,504 Die Spanjaarde was verbaas oor die 'staande afgode', wat almal destyds opgerig was. [20]: 60–64
Vier jaar later, in 1774, het die Britse ontdekkingsreisiger James Cook Paaseiland besoek. Deur die interpretasie van Hitihiti het Cook geleer dat die standbeelde hul voormalige hoë hoofde herdenk, insluitend hul name en geledere. [25]: 296–97
Op 10 April 1776 geankerde die Franse admiraal Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse by Hanga Roa aan die begin van 'n omseiling van die Stille Oseaan. Hy het 'n gedetailleerde kaart van die baai gemaak, insluitend sy verankeringspunte, sowel as 'n meer algemene kaart van die eiland, plus 'n paar illustrasies. [36]
19de eeu
'N Reeks verwoestende gebeure het die grootste deel van die bevolking in die 1860's doodgemaak of verwyder. In Desember 1862 het Peruaanse slawe -stropers toegeslaan. Geweldige ontvoering het etlike maande voortgeduur en uiteindelik ongeveer 1500 mans en vroue, die helfte van die bevolking van die eiland, vasgevang. [37] Onder die gevangenes was die belangrikste opperhoof van die eiland, sy erfgenaam, en diegene wat die rongorongo-skrif kon lees en skryf, die enigste Polinesiese skrif wat tot op hede gevind is, alhoewel daar 'n debat bestaan oor of dit proto-skryf is of ware skryfwerk.
Toe die slawe -plunderaars gedwing is om die mense wat hulle ontvoer het, te repatrieer, het pokke -draers saam met 'n paar oorlewendes op elk van die eilande vertrek. [38] Dit het verwoestende epidemies van Paaseiland tot die Marquesas -eilande veroorsaak. Die bevolking van Paaseiland is verminder tot die punt dat sommige van die dooies nie eens begrawe is nie. [20]: 91
Tuberkulose, wat in die middel van die 19de eeu deur walvisjagters ingevoer is, het reeds verskeie eilandbewoners doodgemaak toe die eerste Christelike sendeling, Eugène Eyraud, in 1867 aan hierdie siekte gesterf het. Dit het uiteindelik ongeveer 'n kwart van die eiland se bevolking doodgemaak. In die daaropvolgende jare het die bestuurders van die skaapboerdery en die sendelinge begin om die nuut beskikbare grond van die oorledene te koop, en dit het gelei tot groot konfrontasies tussen inboorlinge en setlaars.
Jean-Baptiste Dutrou-Bornier het die hele eiland gekoop, afgesien van die sendelinge se gebied rondom Hanga Roa, en 'n paar honderd Rapa Nui na Tahiti verhuis om vir sy ondersteuners te werk. In 1871 het die sendelinge, nadat hulle met Dutrou-Bornier uitgeval het, almal behalwe 171 Rapa Nui na die Gambier-eilande ontruim. [39] Diegene wat oorgebly het, was meestal ouer mans. Ses jaar later het slegs 111 mense op Paaseiland gewoon, en slegs 36 van hulle het 'n nageslag gehad. [40] Vanaf daardie tydstip het die bevolking van die eiland stadig herstel. Maar met meer as 97% van die bevolking in minder as 'n dekade dood of weg, het baie van die eiland se kulturele kennis verlore gegaan.
Alexander Salmon, Jr., 'n seun van 'n Engelse Joodse handelaar en 'n prins van die Pōmare -dinastie, het uiteindelik gewerk om werkers uit sy geërfde kopra -plantasie te repatrieer. Uiteindelik het hy alle gronde op die eiland gekoop, met die uitsondering van die missie, en was hy die enigste werkgewer. Hy het gewerk om toerisme op die eiland te ontwikkel en was die belangrikste informant vir die Britse en Duitse argeologiese ekspedisies vir die eiland. Hy het verskeie stukke egte Rongorongo na die man van sy niggie, die Duitse konsul in Valparaíso, Chili, gestuur. Salmon het die besittings van Brander Paaseiland op 2 Januarie 1888 aan die Chileense regering verkoop en geteken as getuie van die afstigting van die eiland. Hy keer terug na Tahiti in Desember 1888. Hy regeer effektief die eiland van 1878 tot sy sessie in Chili in 1888.
Paaseiland is op 9 September 1888 deur Chili geannekseer deur Policarpo Toro deur middel van die "Verdrag van die bylae van die eiland" (Tratado de Anexión de la isla). Toro, wat die regering van Chili verteenwoordig, onderteken met Atamu Tekena, deur die Rooms -Katolieke sendelinge as 'koning' aangewys nadat die opperhoof en sy erfgenaam gesterf het. Die geldigheid van hierdie verdrag word steeds deur sommige Rapa Nui betwis. Amptelik het Chili die byna alle omliggende Mason-Brander-skaapplaas gekoop, bestaande uit lande wat gekoop is van die afstammelinge van Rapa Nui wat tydens die epidemies gesterf het en toe soewereiniteit oor die eiland geëis het.
20ste eeu
Tot die 1960's was die oorlewende Rapa Nui beperk tot Hanga Roa. Die res van die eiland is tot 1953 as skaapplaas aan die Williamson-Balfour Company verhuur. [41] Die eiland is toe tot 1966 bestuur deur die Chileense vloot, waarna die eiland in sy geheel heropen is. In 1966 is die Rapa Nui gekoloniseer en het Chileense burgerskap gekry. [42]
Na die Chileense staatsgreep van 1973 wat Augusto Pinochet aan bewind gebring het, is Paaseiland onder krygswet geplaas. Toerisme het vertraag, grond is opgebreek en private eiendom is aan beleggers versprei. Gedurende sy bewindstyd het Pinochet drie keer Paaseiland besoek. Die weermag het militêre geriewe en 'n stadsaal gebou. [43]
Na 'n ooreenkoms in 1985 tussen Chili en die Verenigde State, is die aanloopbaan op die Mataveri Internasionale Lughawe vergroot en in 1987 ingehuldig. Die aanloopbaan is 423 m uitgebrei en het 3.353 m bereik. Na berig word, het Pinochet geweier om die inhuldiging by te woon in protes teen die druk van die Verenigde State oor menseregte. [44]
21ste eeu
Vissers van Rapa Nui het hul kommer oor onwettige visvang op die eiland getoon. "Sedert die jaar 2000 het ons tuna begin verloor, wat die basis is vir die visvang op die eiland, en toe het ons die vis van die wal afgehaal om ons gesinne te voed, maar in minder as twee jaar het ons alles uitgeput" , Het Pakarati gesê. [45] Op 30 Julie 2007 gee 'n grondwetlike hervorming Paaseiland en die Juan Fernández -eilande (ook bekend as Robinson Crusoe -eiland) die status van "spesiale gebiede" van Chili. In afwagting van die inwerkingtreding van 'n spesiale handves, word die eiland steeds bestuur as 'n provinsie van die V -streek Valparaíso. [46]
Visse is een maand lank in Paastereiland versamel in verskillende habitats, waaronder vlak lawa -poele en diep waters. Binne hierdie habitatte, twee holotipes en paratipes, Antennarius randalli en Antennarius moai, ontdek is. Dit word beskou as paddavisse vanweë hul eienskappe: "12 dorsale strale, laaste twee of drie vertakte benige deel van die eerste ruggraat effens korter as die tweede ruggraat sonder sterk, sebraagtige merke, caudale peduncle kort, maar duidelike laaste bekkenstraal verdeel borsstrale 11 of 12 ". [47]
In 2018 het die regering besluit om die verblyfperiode vir toeriste van 90 tot 30 dae te beperk weens sosiale en omgewingsvraagstukke waarmee die eiland te kampe het om sy historiese belangrikheid te behou. [48]
Beweging van inheemse regte
Vanaf Augustus 2010 het lede van die inheemse Hitorangi -stam die Hangaroa Eco Village and Spa beset. [49] [50] Die besetters beweer dat die hotel in die 1990's van die Pinochet -regering gekoop is, in stryd met 'n Chileense ooreenkoms met die inheemse Rapa Nui. [51] Die besetters sê dat hul voorouers bedrieg is om die grond prys te gee. [52] Volgens 'n BBC -berig op 3 Desember 2010 is ten minste 25 mense beseer toe die Chileense polisie met behulp van korrelgewere probeer het om 'n groep Rapa Nui uit hierdie geboue te verdryf wat beweer het dat die grond waarop die geboue staan, onwettig was van hul voorouers geneem. [53]
In Januarie 2011 het die Spesiale Rapporteur van die VN oor inheemse mense, James Anaya, kommer uitgespreek oor die behandeling van die inheemse Rapa Nui deur die Chileense regering, en het Chili aangespoor om "alles in sy vermoë te doen om in goeie trou 'n dialoog te voer met verteenwoordigers van die Rapa Nui mense om die werklike onderliggende probleme wat die huidige situasie verduidelik, so gou as moontlik op te los ". [49] Die voorval eindig in Februarie 2011, toe tot 50 gewapende polisie by die hotel ingebreek het om die laaste vyf besetters te verwyder. Hulle is deur die regering in hegtenis geneem en geen beserings is aangemeld nie. [49]
Paaseiland is een van die wêreld se mees geïsoleerde bewoonde eilande. Die naaste bewoonde bure is die Chileense Juan Fernandez -eilande, 1,850 km (1,150 myl) na die ooste, met ongeveer 850 inwoners. [ aanhaling nodig ] Die naaste kontinentale punt lê in die middel van Chili naby Concepción, op 3,512 kilometer (2,182 myl). Paaseiland se breedtegraad is soortgelyk aan dié van Caldera, Chili, en dit lê 3,510 km (2,180 myl) wes van die kontinentale Chili op die naaste punt (tussen Lota en Lebu in die Biobío -streek). Isla Salas y Gómez, 415 km (258 myl) na die ooste, is nader, maar is onbewoon. Die Tristan da Cunha -argipel in die suidelike Atlantiese Oseaan ding mee om die titel van die mees afgeleë eiland, wat 2,430 km (1,510 myl) van die eiland Saint Helena en 2,816 km (1,750 myl) van die Suid -Afrikaanse kus af lê.
Die eiland is ongeveer 24,6 km lank en 12,3 km op sy breedste punt, sy totale vorm is driehoekig. It has an area of 163.6 km 2 (63.2 sq mi), and a maximum elevation of 507 m (1,663 ft) above mean sea level. Daar is drie Rano (freshwater crater lakes), at Rano Kau, Rano Raraku and Rano Aroi, near the summit of Terevaka, but no permanent streams or rivers.
Geologie
Easter Island is a volcanic high island, consisting mainly of three extinct coalesced volcanoes: Terevaka (altitude 507 metres) forms the bulk of the island, while two other volcanoes, Poike and Rano Kau, form the eastern and southern headlands and give the island its roughly triangular shape. Lesser cones and other volcanic features include the crater Rano Raraku, the cinder cone Puna Pau and many volcanic caves including lava tubes. [54] Poike used to be a separate island until volcanic material from Terevaka united it to the larger whole. The island is dominated by hawaiite and basalt flows which are rich in iron and show affinity with igneous rocks found in the Galápagos Islands. [55]
Easter Island and surrounding islets, such as Motu Nui and Motu Iti, form the summit of a large volcanic mountain rising over 2,000 m (6,600 ft) from the sea bed. The mountain is part of the Salas y Gómez Ridge, a (mostly submarine) mountain range with dozens of seamounts, formed by the Easter hotspot. The range begins with Pukao and next Moai, two seamounts to the west of Easter Island, and extends 2,700 km (1,700 mi) east to the Nazca Ridge. The ridge was formed by the Nazca Plate moving over the Easter hotspot. [56]
Located about 350 km (220 mi) east of the East Pacific Rise, Easter Island lies within the Nazca Plate, bordering the Easter Microplate. The Nazca-Pacific relative plate movement due to the seafloor spreading, amounts to about 150 mm (5.9 in) per year. This movement over the Easter hotspot has resulted in the Easter Seamount Chain, which merges into the Nazca Ridge further to the east. Easter Island and Isla Salas y Gómez are surface representations of that chain. The chain has progressively younger ages to the west. The current hotspot location is speculated to be west of Easter Island, amidst the Ahu, Umu and Tupa submarine volcanic fields and the Pukao and Moai seamounts. [57]
Easter Island lies atop the Rano Kau Ridge, and consists of three shield volcanoes with parallel geologic histories. Poike and Rano Kau exist on the east and south slopes of Terevaka, respectively. Rano Kau developed between 0.78 and 0.46 Ma from tholeiitic to alkalic basalts. This volcano possesses a clearly defined summit caldera. Benmoreitic lavas extruded about the rim from 0.35 to 0.34 Ma. Finally, between 0.24 and 0.11 Ma, a 6.5 km (4.0 mi) fissure developed along a NE–SW trend, forming monogenetic vents and rhyolitic intrusions. These include the cryptodome islets of Motu Nui and Motu Iti, the islet of Motu Kao Kao, the sheet intrusion of Te Kari Kari, the perlitic obsidian Te Manavai dome and the Maunga Orito dome. [57]
Poike formed from tholeiitic to alkali basalts from 0.78 to 0.41 Ma. Its summit collapsed into a caldera which was subsequently filled by the Puakatiki lava cone pahoehoe flows at 0.36 Ma. Finally, the trachytic lava domes of Maunga Vai a Heva, Maunga Tea Tea, and Maunga Parehe formed along a NE-SW trending fissure. [57]
Terevaka formed around 0.77 Ma of tholeiitic to alkali basalts, followed by the collapse of its summit into a caldera. Then at about 0.3Ma, cinder cones formed along a NNE-SSW trend on the western rim, while porphyritic benmoreitic lava filled the caldera, and pahoehoe flowed towards the northern coast, forming lava tubes, and to the southeast. Lava domes and a vent complex formed in the Maunga Puka area, while breccias formed along the vents on the western portion of Rano Aroi crater. This volcano's southern and southeastern flanks are composed of younger flows consisting of basalt, alkali basalt, hawaiite, mugearite, and benmoreite from eruptive fissures starting at 0.24 Ma. The youngest lava flow, Roiho, is dated at 0.11 Ma. The Hanga O Teo embayment is interpreted to be a 200 m high landslide scarp. [57]
Rano Raraku and Maunga Toa Toa are isolated tuff cones of about 0.21 Ma. The crater of Rano Raraku contains a freshwater lake. The stratified tuff is composed of sideromelane, slightly altered to palagonite, and somewhat lithified. The tuff contains lithic fragments of older lava flows. The northwest sector of Rano Raraku contains reddish volcanic ash. [57] According to Bandy, ". all of the great images of Easter Island are carved from" the light and porous tuff from Rano Raraku. A carving was abandoned when a large, dense and hard lithic fragment was encountered. However, these lithics became the basis for stone hammers and chisels. The Puna Pau crater contains an extremely porous pumice, from which was carved the Pukao "hats". The Maunga Orito obsidian was used to make the "mataa" spearheads. [58]
In the first half of the 20th century, steam reportedly came out of the Rano Kau crater wall. This was photographed by the island's manager, Mr. Edmunds. [59]
Klimaat
Under the Köppen climate classification, the climate of Easter Island is classified as a tropical rainforest climate (Af) that borders on a humid subtropical climate (Cfa). The lowest temperatures are recorded in July and August (minimum 15 °C or 59 °F) and the highest in February (maximum temperature 28 °C or 82.4 °F [60] ), the summer season in the southern hemisphere. Winters are relatively mild. The rainiest month is May, though the island experiences year-round rainfall. [61] Easter Island's isolated location exposes it to winds which help to keep the temperature fairly cool. Precipitation averages 1,118 millimetres or 44 inches per year. Occasionally, heavy rainfall and rainstorms strike the island. These occur mostly in the winter months (June–August). Since it is close to the South Pacific High and outside the range of the intertropical convergence zone, cyclones and hurricanes do not occur around Easter Island. [62] There is significant temperature moderation due to its isolated position in the middle of the ocean.
| Climate data for Easter Island (Mataveri International Airport) 1981–2010, extremes 1912–1990 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maand | Jan | Feb | Mrt | Apr | Mei | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Okt | Nov | Des | Jaar |
| Rekord hoë ° C (° F) | 32.0 (89.6) | 31.0 (87.8) | 32.0 (89.6) | 31.0 (87.8) | 30.0 (86.0) | 29.0 (84.2) | 31.0 (87.8) | 28.3 (82.9) | 30.0 (86.0) | 29.0 (84.2) | 33.0 (91.4) | 34.0 (93.2) | 34.0 (93.2) |
| Gemiddelde hoë ° C (° F) | 26.9 (80.4) | 27.4 (81.3) | 26.8 (80.2) | 25.3 (77.5) | 23.3 (73.9) | 21.9 (71.4) | 21.0 (69.8) | 21.0 (69.8) | 21.5 (70.7) | 22.4 (72.3) | 23.8 (74.8) | 25.4 (77.7) | 23.9 (75.0) |
| Daaglikse gemiddelde ° C (° F) | 23.3 (73.9) | 23.7 (74.7) | 23.1 (73.6) | 21.9 (71.4) | 20.1 (68.2) | 18.9 (66.0) | 18.0 (64.4) | 17.9 (64.2) | 18.3 (64.9) | 19.0 (66.2) | 20.4 (68.7) | 21.8 (71.2) | 20.5 (68.9) |
| Gemiddelde lae ° C (° F) | 20.0 (68.0) | 20.6 (69.1) | 20.3 (68.5) | 19.3 (66.7) | 17.8 (64.0) | 16.8 (62.2) | 15.9 (60.6) | 15.6 (60.1) | 15.8 (60.4) | 16.2 (61.2) | 17.4 (63.3) | 18.7 (65.7) | 17.9 (64.2) |
| Rekord laag ° C (° F) | 12.0 (53.6) | 14.0 (57.2) | 11.0 (51.8) | 12.7 (54.9) | 10.0 (50.0) | 7.0 (44.6) | 9.4 (48.9) | 7.0 (44.6) | 8.0 (46.4) | 8.0 (46.4) | 8.0 (46.4) | 12.0 (53.6) | 7.0 (44.6) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 70.4 (2.77) | 80.2 (3.16) | 99.2 (3.91) | 139.9 (5.51) | 143.4 (5.65) | 110.3 (4.34) | 130.1 (5.12) | 104.8 (4.13) | 108.5 (4.27) | 90.6 (3.57) | 75.4 (2.97) | 75.6 (2.98) | 1,228.1 (48.35) |
| Gemiddelde relatiewe humiditeit (%) | 77 | 79 | 79 | 81 | 81 | 81 | 80 | 80 | 79 | 77 | 77 | 78 | 79 |
| Gemiddelde maandelikse sonskynure | 274 | 239 | 229 | 193 | 173 | 145 | 156 | 172 | 179 | 213 | 222 | 242 | 2,437 |
| Source 1: Dirección Meteorológica de Chile [63] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Ogimet (sun 1981–2010) [64] Deutscher Wetterdienst (extremes and humidity) [65] | |||||||||||||
Easter Island, together with its closest neighbour, the tiny island of Isla Salas y Gómez 415 km (258 mi) farther east, is recognized by ecologists as a distinct ecoregion, the Rapa Nui subtropical broadleaf forests. The original subtropical moist broadleaf forests are now gone, but paleobotanical studies of fossil pollen, tree moulds left by lava flows, and root casts found in local soils indicate that the island was formerly forested, with a range of trees, shrubs, ferns, and grasses. A large extinct palm, Paschalococos disperta, related to the Chilean wine palm (Jubaea chilensis), was one of the dominant trees as attested by fossil evidence. Like its Chilean counterpart it probably took close to 100 years to reach adult height. The Polynesian rat, which the original settlers brought with them, played a very important role in the disappearance of the Rapa Nui palm. Although some may believe that rats played a major role in the degradation of the forest, less than 10% of palm nuts show teeth marks from rats. The remains of palm stumps in different places indicate that humans caused the trees to fall because in large areas, the stumps were cut efficiently. [66] In 2018, a New York Times article announced that Easter Island is eroding. [67]
The clearance of the palms to make the settlements led to their extinction almost 350 years ago. [68] The toromiro tree (Sophora toromiro) was prehistorically present on Easter Island, but is now extinct in the wild. However, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Göteborg Botanical Garden are jointly leading a scientific program to reintroduce the toromiro to Easter Island. With the palm and the toromiro virtually gone, there was considerably less rainfall as a result of less condensation. After the island was used to feed thousands of sheep for almost a century, by the mid-1900s the island was mostly covered in grassland with nga'atu or bulrush (Schoenoplectus californicus tatora) in the crater lakes of Rano Raraku and Rano Kau. The presence of these reeds, which are called totora in the Andes, was used to support the argument of a South American origin of the statue builders, but pollen analysis of lake sediments shows these reeds have grown on the island for over 30,000 years. [ aanhaling nodig ] Before the arrival of humans, Easter Island had vast seabird colonies containing probably over 30 resident species, perhaps the world's richest. [69] Such colonies are no longer found on the main island. Fossil evidence indicates six species of land birds (two rails, two parrots, one owl, and one heron), all of which have become extinct. [70] Five introduced species of land bird are known to have breeding populations (see List of birds of Easter Island).
Lack of studies results in poor understanding of the oceanic fauna of Easter Island and waters in its vicinity however, possibilities of undiscovered breeding grounds for humpback, southern blue and pygmy blue whales including Easter Island and Isla Salas y Gómez have been considered. [71] Potential breeding areas for fin whales have been detected off northeast of the island as well. [72]
Satellite view of Easter Island 2019. The Poike peninsula is on the right.
Digital recreation of its ancient landscape, with tropical forest and palm trees
View toward the interior of the island
View of Rano Kau and Pacific Ocean
The immunosuppressant drug sirolimus was first discovered in the bacterium Streptomyces hygroscopicus in a soil sample from Easter Island. The drug is also known as rapamycin, after Rapa Nui. [73] It is now being studied for extending longevity in mice. [74]
Trees are sparse, rarely forming natural groves, and it has been argued whether native Easter Islanders deforested the island in the process of erecting their statues, [75] and in providing sustenance for an overconsumption of natural resources from a overcrowded island. [ aanhaling nodig ] Experimental archaeology demonstrated that some statues certainly could have been placed on "Y" shaped wooden frames called miro manga erua and then pulled to their final destinations on ceremonial sites. [75] Other theories involve the use of "ladders" (parallel wooden rails) over which the statues could have been dragged. [76] Rapa Nui traditions metaphorically refer to spiritual power (mana) as the means by which the moai were "walked" from the quarry. Recent experimental recreations have proven that it is fully possible that the moai were literally walked from their quarries to their final positions by use of ropes, casting doubt on the role that their existence plays in the environmental collapse of the island. [77]
Given the island's southern latitude, the climatic effects of the Little Ice Age (about 1650 to 1850) may have exacerbated deforestation, although this remains speculative. [75] Many researchers [78] point to the climatic downtrend caused by the Little Ice Age as a contributing factor to resource stress and to the palm tree's disappearance. Experts, however, do not agree on when the island's palms became extinct.
Jared Diamond dismisses past climate change as a dominant cause of the island's deforestation in his book Inval which assesses the collapse of the ancient Easter Islanders. [79] Influenced by Heyerdahl's romantic interpretation of Easter's history, Diamond insists that the disappearance of the island's trees seems to coincide with a decline of its civilization around the 17th and 18th centuries. He notes that they stopped making statues at that time and started destroying the ahu. But the link is weakened because the Bird Man cult continued to thrive and survived the great impact caused by the arrival of explorers, whalers, sandalwood traders, and slave raiders.
Midden contents show that the main source of protein was tuna and dolphin. With the loss of the trees, there was a sudden drop in the quantities of fish bones found in middens as the islanders lost the means to construct fishing vessels, coinciding with a large increase in bird bones. This was followed by a decrease in the number of bird bones as birds lost their nesting sites or became extinct. A new style of art from this period shows people with exposed ribs and distended bellies, indicative of malnutrition, and it is around this time that many islanders moved to live in fortified caves, and the first signs of warfare and cannibalism appear.
Soil erosion because of lack of trees is apparent in some places. Sediment samples document that up to half of the native plants had become extinct and that the vegetation of the island drastically altered. Polynesians were primarily farmers, not fishermen, and their diet consisted mainly of cultivated staples such as taro root, sweet potato, yams, cassava, and bananas. With no trees to protect them, sea spray led to crop failures exacerbated by a sudden reduction in freshwater flows. There is evidence that the islanders took to planting crops in caves beneath collapsed ceilings and covered the soil with rocks to reduce evaporation. Cannibalism occurred on many Polynesian islands, sometimes in times of plenty as well as famine. Its presence on Easter Island (based on human remains associated with cooking sites, especially in caves) is supported by oral histories. [ aanhaling nodig ]
Benny Peiser [5] noted evidence of self-sufficiency when Europeans first arrived. The island still had smaller trees, mainly toromiro, which became extinct in the wild in the 20th century probably because of slow growth and changes in the island's ecosystem. Cornelis Bouman, Jakob Roggeveen's captain, stated in his logbook, ". of yams, bananas and small coconut palms we saw little and no other trees or crops." According to Carl Friedrich Behrens, Roggeveen's officer, "The natives presented palm branches as peace offerings." According to ethnographer Alfred Mètraux, the most common type of house was called "hare paenga" (and is known today as "boathouse") because the roof resembled an overturned boat. The foundations of the houses were made of buried basalt slabs with holes for wooden beams to connect with each other throughout the width of the house. These were then covered with a layer of totora reed, followed by a layer of woven sugarcane leaves, and lastly a layer of woven grass.
Peiser claims that these reports indicate that large trees existed at that time, which is perhaps contradicted by the Bouman quote above. Plantations were often located farther inland, next to foothills, inside open-ceiling lava tubes, and in other places protected from the strong salt winds and salt spray affecting areas closer to the coast. It is possible many of the Europeans did not venture inland. The statue quarry, only one kilometre ( 5 ⁄ 8 mile) from the coast with an impressive cliff 100 m (330 ft) high, was not explored by Europeans until well into the 19th century.
Easter Island has suffered from heavy soil erosion in recent centuries, perhaps aggravated by agriculture and massive deforestation. This process seems to have been gradual and may have been aggravated by sheep farming throughout most of the 20th century. Jakob Roggeveen reported that Easter Island was exceptionally fertile. "Fowls are the only animals they keep. They cultivate bananas, sugar cane, and above all sweet potatoes." In 1786 Jean-François de La Pérouse visited Easter Island and his gardener declared that "three days' work a year" would be enough to support the population. Rollin, a major in the Pérouse expedition, wrote, "Instead of meeting with men exhausted by famine. I found, on the contrary, a considerable population, with more beauty and grace than I afterwards met in any other island and a soil, which, with very little labor, furnished excellent provisions, and in an abundance more than sufficient for the consumption of the inhabitants." [81]
According to Diamond, the oral traditions (the veracity of which has been questioned by Routledge, Lavachery, Mètraux, Peiser, and others) of the current islanders seem obsessed with cannibalism, which he offers as evidence supporting a rapid collapse. For example, he states, to severely insult an enemy one would say, "The flesh of your mother sticks between my teeth." This, Diamond asserts, means the food supply of the people ultimately ran out. [82] Cannibalism, however, was widespread across Polynesian cultures. [83] Human bones have not been found in earth ovens other than those behind the religious platforms, indicating that cannibalism in Easter Island was a ritualistic practice. Contemporary ethnographic research has proven there is scarcely any tangible evidence for widespread cannibalism anywhere and at any time on the island. [84] The first scientific exploration of Easter Island (1914) recorded that the indigenous population strongly rejected allegations that they or their ancestors had been cannibals. [34]
Easter Island Moai
View of the northeast of the exterior slopes of the quarry, with several moai (human figure carving) on the slopes a young South American man with a horse is standing in the foreground for scale, Easter Island, photograph, 8.2 x 8.2 cm © Trustees of the British Museum
Die moai of Rapa Nui
Three views of Hoa Hakananai’a (‘lost or stolen friend’), Moai (ancestor figure), c. 1200 C.E., 242 x 96 x 47 cm, basalt (missing paint, coral eye sockets, and stone eyes), likely made in Rano Kao, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), found in the ceremonial center Orongo © Trustees of the British Museum. This monumental carving of the head and torso of a man is almost twice life-size. The proportions are typical of these statues, with the head one-third of the total height.
Easter Island is famous for its stone statues of human figures, known as moai (meaning “statue”). The island is known to its inhabitants as Rapa Nui. Die moai were probably carved to commemorate important ancestors and were made from around 1000 C.E. until the second half of the seventeenth century. Over a few hundred years the inhabitants of this remote island quarried, carved and erected around 887 moai. The size and complexity of the moai increased over time, and it is believed that Hoa Hakananai’a (below) dates to around 1200 C.E. It is one of only fourteen moai made from basalt, the rest are carved from the island’s softer volcanic tuff. With the adoption of Christianity in the 1860s, the remaining standing moai were toppled.
Their backs to the sea
Moai Hava (“Dirty statue” or “to be lost”), Moai (ancestor figure), c. 11-1600 C.E., 156 cm high, basalt, Easter Island (Rapa Nui) © Trustees of the British Museum
This example was probably first displayed outside on a stone platform (ahu) on the sacred site of Orongo, before being moved into a stone house at the ritual center of Orongo. It would have stood with giant stone companions, their backs to the sea, keeping watch over the island. Its eyes sockets were originally inlaid with red stone and coral and the sculpture was painted with red and white designs, which were washed off when it was rafted to the ship, to be taken to Europe in 1869. It was collected by the crew of the English ship HMS Topaze, under the command of Richard Ashmore Powell, on their visit to Easter Island in 1868 to carry out surveying work. Islanders helped the crew to move the statue, which has been estimated to weigh around four tons. It was moved to the beach and then taken to the Topaze by raft.
The crew recorded the islanders’ name for the statue, which is thought to mean “stolen or hidden friend.” They also acquired another, smaller basalt statue, known asMoai Hava (left), which is also in the collections of the British Museum.
Hoa Hakananai’a is similar in appearance to a number of Easter Island moai. It has a heavy eyebrow ridge, elongated ears and oval nostrils. The clavicle is emphasized, and the nipples protrude. The arms are thin and lie tightly against the body the hands are hardly indicated.
Bust (detail), Hoa Hakananai’a (‘lost or stolen friend’), Moai (ancestor figure), c. 1200 C.E., 242 x 96 x 47 cm, basalt (missing paint, coral eye sockets, and stone eyes), likely made in Rano Kao, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), found in the ceremonial center Orongo © The Trustees of the British Museum
Hoa Hakananai’a (‘lost or stolen friend’), Moai (ancestor figure), c. 1200 C.E., 242 x 96 x 47 cm, basalt (missing paint, coral eye sockets, and stone eyes), likely made in Rano Kao, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), found in the ceremonial center Orongo © The Trustees of the British Museum
In the British Museum, the figure is set on a stone platform just over a meter high so that it towers above the visitor. It is carved out of dark grey basalt—a hard, dense, fine-grained volcanic rock. The surface of the rock is rough and pitted, and pinpricks of light sparkle as tiny crystals in the rock glint. Basalt is difficult to carve and unforgiving of errors. The sculpture was probably commissioned by a high status individual.
Hoa Hakananai’a’s head is slightly tilted back, as if scanning a distant horizon. He has a prominent eyebrow ridge shadowing the empty sockets of his eyes. The nose is long and straight, ending in large oval nostrils. The thin lips are set into a downward curve, giving the face a stern, uncompromising expression. A faint vertical line in low relief runs from the centre of the mouth to the chin. The jawline is well defined and massive, and the ears are long, beginning at the top of the head and ending with pendulous lobes.
The figure’s collarbone is emphasized by a curved indentation, and his chest is defined by carved lines that run downwards from the top of his arms and curve upwards onto the breast to end in the small protruding bumps of his nipples. The arms are held close against the side of the body, the hands rudimentary, carved in low relief.
Later carving on the back
The figure’s back is covered with ceremonial designs believed to have been added at a later date, some carved in low relief, others incised. These show images relating to the island’s birdman cult, which developed after about 1400 C.E. The key birdman cult ritual was an annual trial of strength and endurance, in which the chiefs and their followers competed. The victorious chief then represented the creator god, Makemake, for the following year.
Back (detail), Hoa Hakananai’a (‘lost or stolen friend’), Moai (ancestor figure), c. 1200 C.E., 242 x 96 x 47 cm, basalt (missing paint, coral eye sockets, and stone eyes), likely made in Rano Kao, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), found in the ceremonial center Orongo © The Trustees of the British Museum
Carved on the upper back and shoulders are two birdmen, facing each other. These have human hands and feet, and the head of a frigate bird. In the centre of the head is the carving of a small fledgling bird with an open beak. This is flanked by carvings of ceremonial dance paddles known as ‘ao, with faces carved into them. On the left ear is another ‘ao, and running from top to bottom of the right ear are four shapes like inverted ‘V’s representing the female vulva. These carvings are believed to have been added at a later date.
Inval
Around 1500 C.E. the practice of constructing moai peaked, and from around 1600 C.E. statues began to be toppled, sporadically. The island’s fragile ecosystem had been pushed beyond what was sustainable. Over time only sea birds remained, nesting on safer offshore rocks and islands. As these changes occurred, so too did the Rapanui religion alter—to the birdman religion.
This sculpture bears witness to the loss of confidence in the efficacy of the ancestors after the deforestation and ecological collapse, and most recently a theory concerning the introduction of rats, which may have ultimately led to famine and conflict. After 1838 at a time of social collapse following European intervention, the remaining standing moai were toppled.
Suggested readings:
S.R. Fischer, “Rapani’s Tu’u ko Iho versus Mangareva’a ‘Atu Motua: Evidence for Multiple Reanalysis and Replacement in Rapanui Settlement Traditions, Easter Island,” Journal of Pacific History, 29 (1994), pp. 3–48.
S. Hooper, Pacific Encounters: Art and Divinity in Polynesia 1760-1860 (London, 2006).
A.L. Kaeppler, “Sculptures of Barkcloth and Wood from Rapa Nui: Continuities and Polynesian Affinities,” Anthropology and Aesthetics, 44 (2003), pp. 10–69.
R. Langdon, “New light on Easter Island Prehistory in a ‘Censored’ Spanish Report of 1770,” Journal of Pacific History, 30 (1995), pp. 112–120.
J.L. Palmer, “Observations on the Inhabitants and the Antiquaries of Easter Island,” Journal of the Ethnological Society of London, 1 (1869), pp. 371–377.
P. Rainbird, “A Message for our Future? The Papa Nui (Easter Island) Eco-disaster and Pacific Island Environments,” Wêreld argeologie, 33 (2002), pp. 436–451.
What Are the Moai Statues of Easter Island?
The Easter Island, known initially as Rapa Nui, is situated in the Southeast Pacific and is famous for its carvings. The statues take the form of human nature, and are known by the natives as “moai.” History has it that the sculptures were made from 1000 C.E. By the time the century was halfway the inhabitants had curved and erected 887 moai. The residents believed that the moai watched over the Island, which explains why their backs faced the sea. The complexity and size of the statues increased over time.
What Are the Moai Statues of Easter Island?
Who lived on Easter Island?
Legend has it that a chief known as Hotu Matu’a learned about the Rapa Nui from a group of explorers. He decided to lead a group of colonialists to the Island. Where they came from is still a mystery, but it could have been the Marquesas Island, which is 2,300 miles from Easter Island. They may have also come from Rarotonga, which is 3,200 miles from the Island.
What Are the Moai Statues of Easter Island?
Deforestation on the Island
When the residents came to the Island, the chances are that they found a place covered with rich vegetation. By the 19th century, the land was bare. A popular myth claims that the inhabitants cleared the forest cover to make devices that could move the statues. However, other theories hold more ground. One of these is that the people came with Polynesian rats that reproduce fast. Without competition on the Island, the rat may have had a considerable role in the rapid deforestation.
The Moai mystery
Until today, nobody knows why the Island’s residents made the carvings. What most people have are theories. A YouTube video by Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo demonstrates the movement of the statues from the quarry sites to the seashore. Terry is a professor at Hawaii University, while Lipo is a professor at California State University Long Beach. Lipo and Carl explain that the road remnants on the islands aren’t part of a planned framework, but rather the routes the residents followed when moving the statues. While this could be true, it doesn’t explain why the residents carved the moai.
What Are the Moai Statues of Easter Island?
The collapse
The practice ceased around 1722. One theory claims that this was because the natives adopted Christianity, which is against making idols. Another approach says that the Island’s contact with explorers prompted the change of heart, as they wanted the European goods. Others say that when famine struck, the inhabitants no longer believed in the power of their ancestors, who may have been represented by the carvings.
The popularity of the moai
Although we are yet to know why the moai were constructed, we can’t deny that their popularity is on the rise. Many of the statues have been re-erected, and the Island now hosts over 5,000 people. The Rapa Nui is a tourism hub, with several hotels and facilities sustaining the industry.
What Are the Moai Statues of Easter Island?
New Discovery Just Changed Our Understanding of The Source of Easter Island's Moai
For hundreds of years, they stood watch in silence: the 'moai', a mysterious league of almost 1,000 carved monolithic statues, erected across the isolated landscape of Easter Island (Rapa Nui).
Just how these towering idols came to be has long fascinated researchers – as have the customs and collapse of the Polynesian society that engineered them – but the symbolic relevance of the figures themselves has never been fully understood.
Now, an international study offers fresh insights into what the moai could have represented to the islanders who toiled to quarry and carve the giant effigies.
Excavation and analysis at the site of two moai in Rano Raraku as part of the study. (Easter Island Statue Project)
Over 90 percent of the moai statues were produced in a quarry called Rano Raraku: a volcanic crater that at its base makes up less than 1 percent of the island's overall area, but nonetheless served as the single source of stone used to make the island's megalithic sculptural objects.
Yet there's more to Rano Raraku than just rock, the researchers say, based on an analysis of soil samples taken in the region.
"When we got the chemistry results back, I did a double take," explains geoarchaeologist Sarah Sherwood from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.
"There were really high levels of things that I never would have thought would be there, such as calcium and phosphorous. The soil chemistry showed high levels of elements that are key to plant growth and essential for high yields."
According to the research team, the established view of the quarry region is that it was an industrial site used to produce and temporarily store the moai prior to removal and transportation to other locations across the island.
Yet almost 400 of the monoliths remain in the quarry, and some are buried in the soil with support from fortified rock structures that suggest the placement is not temporary. The reason why, the researchers say, could be this uniquely rich soil.
"Everywhere else on the island the soil was being quickly worn out, eroding, being leeched of elements that feed plants," Sherwood says.
"But in the quarry, with its constant new influx of small fragments of the bedrock generated by the quarrying process, there is a perfect feedback system of water, natural fertiliser and nutrients."
In addition to evidence of the soil fertility, the researchers also found traces of ancient crops in the samples, including banana, taro, sweet potato, and paper mulberry.
These are all signs, the researchers think, that in addition to using the quarry for moai production, the Rapa Nui society also utilised the space as a place to grow foods they needed, leveraging the Rano Raraku's rich, tilled soils, which would have produced higher yields with lower labour costs.
"We venture the novel suggestion that based on these data, and on the ritualisation of Rano Raraku and its stone as megalithic resources, Rano Raraku soil/sediment itself was a valuable and protected commodity," the authors explain in their paper.
"Soil could have been transported from Rano Raraku to enrich those areas needing increased productivity."
It's a compelling case, but why were the moai also erected within the crater, amidst the land from which they were themselves produced?
It's long been theorised that the ceremonial purpose of the monoliths was associated with fertility rituals, and the researchers say their fieldwork provides chemistry-based evidence of this link – not to mention the discovery of the carved pits, suggesting the moai were likely erected to stand watch over these verdant gardens indefinitely.
"This study radically alters the idea that all standing statues in Rano Raraku were simply awaiting transport out of the quarry," says archaeologist Jo Anne Van Tilburg from UCLA.
"These and probably other upright moai in Rano Raraku were retained in place to ensure the sacred nature of the quarry itself. The moai were central to the idea of fertility, and in Rapa Nui belief their presence here stimulated agricultural food production."
History of the Moai Easter Island statues
Easter Island is a Polynesian island located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. A tourist visiting Easter Island can view the Moai. The Moai are monolithic human figures which were carved between 1250 A.D. and 1500 A.D. About half of the Moai are at the main quarry at Rano Raraku.
The Rapa Nui people, a stone age culture, made these statues to represent deceased ancestors. The statues face inland, supposedly gazing across their clan. Later during conflicts they would be cast downward to symbolize the defeat of the Rapa Nui tribe that ended up on the losing side of the conflict.
There were 887 statues carved and moved. This is considered to have been quite a feat. The tallest statue is called Paro and is about 33 feet tall and weighs 75 &ldquotonnes&rdquo which is the same as 75 US tons. The statue of Ahu Tongariki is shorter and squat but weighs in at 86 tons. There is incomplete statue that if finished would have been 69 feet tall and 270 tons.
The characteristic of the statues vary. William Mulloy, an American archaeologist started and investigation into the production, transportation and erection the Moai. He also started a physical restoration in 1960 of some of the statues and in 1974 the ceremonial village at Orongo.
In 1979 a team of archaeologist discovered that the deep elliptical eye sockets were designed to hold coral eyes. Some of the statues have “pukao” on their heads which was topknots and headdresses. These were carved out of a very light rock called red scoria. In the beginning the Moai were polished to be smoothed with pumice but since has eroded.
In 1994 the Moai were includes in a list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. It is a crime to destroy or mutilate any of the statues but in 2008 a Finnish tourist chipped a piece of ear off one of the Moai. The tourist was fined $17,000 in damages and is banned from the island for three years.
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Last updated by Barb Jungbluth on 28 February, 2011 in Destinations.
