Easter Island is a Polynesian island of 63 square miles.
If you follow my blog, you know how passionate I am about visiting and learning about different cultures. This was an especially rewarding experience for me. If you're not as interested as I am in this area, you might want to skip to the next blog post for more photos. 😉
Our local guide, Niko, told us much that has been written about the island is only partially true or questionable. His mother has been a global leader in studying the history and culture of this remote place and was recently awarded an honorary doctorate in Sweden for her extraordinary work.
|
Niko |
Below are some details that most experts seem to agree on in respect to Easter Island:
*the first people arrived from Polynesia about 500 AD
*there were few resources on the island
*it was volcanic in origin with 3 long-extinct volcanoes
|
Mel's photo of a volcano with a lagoon inside |
*the remoteness of the island afforded only a few species of plants and animals and very few fish
*earliest settlers subsisted on sweet potatoes and chickens
*the population increased and organized around clans
*each clan had its own center for religious and cultural activities. The centers were on platforms called ahus
|
Mel's photo of an ahu |
*over 300 ahus were constructed, some with sophisticated astronomical alignments
*at each site, between 1-15 huge stone statues or MOAI were erected
|
Our group |
*using only obsidian stone tools, over 600 MOAIS were carved at the quarry at Rano Rataku by the 16th century
|
Statues at the quarry |
*the island reached its peak population of about 7,000 around 1500 when wars broke out between the clans which resulted in destruction and toppling of the MOAIS
*the birdman religious cult displaced the MOAIS before European colonization occurred
*overpopulation created massive environmental degredation including total deforestation
*the first recorded European contact was made in 1722 on Easter Sunday by a Dutch explorer, hence the name
*with "discovery " came slave traders, epidemics, and choas
*Christian missionaries arrived in 1867 when the population declined to 1200
*by 1877 only 111 lived on Easter Island
*in 1888 the island became a special territory of Chile
*in 1966 the Rapanui were given Chilean citizenship
*today there are about 4,000 people on the island, and tourism is the mainstay of their economy