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Mystery in Easter Island
Easter Island, a renowned yet rarely visited location, is a small, hilly, treeless island of volcanic origin located in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 2200 miles off the coast of Chile. It is known for being the world's most remote inhabited island. Technically, it is a single huge volcano rising over ten thousand feet from the Pacific Ocean floor. It earned its widely recognized name.Easter Island when Dutch sea captain Jacob Roggeveen became the first European to visit on Easter Sunday, April 5, 1722.
In the 1950s. Thor Heyerdahl proposed that Easter Island was inhabited by people from the coast of South America, but, further researches, including historical and DNA studies, have contradicted this idea. It was discovered that the original inhabitants were of Polynesia, likely coming from the Marquesas or Society Islands, and arrived as early as 318 AD, as confirmed by carbon dating. Upon their arrival, the island was abundant with forests, land birds, and served as a highly productive breeding site for seabirds. This richness in resources led to population growth and nurtured different religious and artistic cultures.
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The stone statues called moai, were originally placed on huge stone platforms known as ahu-about 288 on the island. Approximately 250 ahu platforms, forming an almost continuous line.supported these statues. Another 600 moai statues, at different completion stages, are scattered across the island-in quarries or along roads near the ocean where they were often placed.Carved from the durable stone of the Rano Raraku volcano, these statues range from 14 feet and 6 inches to towering 33 feet, with weights from 14 to over 80 tons. Transportation required sledges and rollers made from the island's trees, involving 50 to 150 people, depending on the statue's size.
Scholars are unable to clearly explain the function and use of the moai statues. But it's believed their carving and placement were influenced by Polynesian practices, only found on Easter
Island. Historical analysis suggests the statues symbolized authority and power, embodying both religious and political power. Beyond symbolic representation, to the islanders, the statues
served as actual representation of sacred spirit. In Polynesian religions, properly crafted and ritually prepared stone and wooden objects were believed to possess a magical essence called
mana. On Easter Island, the ahu platforms were sanctuaries, and the moai statues were ritually charged sacred objects within those sanctuaries.
Easter Island, known as Te-Pito-O-Te-Henuab ('The Navel of the World') and Mata-Ki-Te-Rani ('Eyes Looking at Heaven'), has names suggesting it may have served as a place to observe the sun, moon and the stars. Graham Hancock in his book, "Heaven's Mirror", proposes it was connected and placed to study astronomy. Scholars like Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas.in "Uriel's Machine," explore the idea that these are survey points on the Earth's surface to precisely measure coordinates and help predict and get ready for comet impacts and disasters.
In recent decades, researchers have put forth theories about the rapid decline of Easter Island's civilization, particularly around the first European contact. A prominent theory, notably
proposed by Jared Diamond in "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive," suggests that a few centuries after initial colonization, the island's resources couldn't keep up with the growing population's needs. This led to ecological challenges, including deforestation, soil erosion, and the disappearance of birds, causing nutritional decline, famine, and even cannibalism.The problems resulted in the fall of society, with the population dropping significantly by 1700, accompanied by the toppling of statues during supposed clan wars in the 1600s and 1700s.
These theories, influenced by Thor Heyerdahl's biased belief and sustained by writers like Jared Diamond, lack proper archaeological understanding. The real cause of social problems on Easter Island traces back to the cruelty of the Europeans. Slavers were involved in unacceptable acts including rape, murder, and introducing diseases like smallpox. They brutally removed natives to mainland South America, directly contributing to the island's decline and challenging previous environmental problems.
1) Which landform best represents Easter Island?
A. a coral reef B. an archipelago
Ca volcano
