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Easter Island
Easter Island (Polynesian: Rapa Nui ("Great Rapa"), Spanish: Isla de Pascua) is an island in the south Pacific Ocean belonging to Chile. Although located 3,515 km (2,185 miles) west of continental Chile, it is administratively a province (with just one "comuna") of the Chilean Valparaíso Region, together with its closest neighbour, Sala-y-Gomez, 400 km further East. The island is approximately triangular in shape, and is located at 27°09' S 109°25' W. The latitude is similar to that for the Chilean city of Copiapó, north of Santiago. The nearest inhabited land is Pitcairn Island, located 2,075 km (1,290 miles) to the west. The island has an area of 163.6 km² (63 sq. miles), and a population of 3,791 (2002 census), 3,304 of which live in its capital city Hanga Roa. The island is famous for its numerous moais, 400-year-old stone statues now located along the coastlines. History of Easter IslandOral traditions and early historyEarly European visitors to Easter Island recorded the local oral traditions of the original settlers. In these traditions, Easter Islanders claimed that a chief Hotu Matu'a arrived on the island in one or two large canoes with his wife and extended family. There is considerable uncertainty about the accuracy of this legend as well as the date of settlement. Published literature suggests the island was settled around AD 300-400, or at about the time of the arrival of the earliest (non-Polynesian) settlers in Hawaii. Some scientists say that Easter Island was not inhabited until the later years of AD 700-800. This date range is based on glottochronological calculations and on three radiocarbon dates from charcoal that appears to have been produced during forest clearance activities. (Diamond 2005:89) On the other hand, a recent study, including radiocarbon dates from what is thought to be very early materials, indicates that the island was settled as recently as AD 1200, the time of the deforestation of the island (Hunt and Lipo 2006). The Polynesians, who arguably settled the island are likely to have arrived from the Marquesas Islands from the west. These settlers brought bananas, taro, sweet potato, sugarcane, and paper mulberry, as well as pigs, chickens, and rats. The island at one time supported a relatively advanced and complex civilization. European contact with the island began in 1722 on Easter Sunday when Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen found about 2,000-3,000 inhabitants on the island, although the population may have been as high as 10,000-15,000 only a century or two earlier. The civilization of Easter Island was long believed to have degenerated drastically during the 100 years before the arrival of the Dutch, as a result of overpopulation, deforestation and exploitation of an extremely isolated island with limited natural resources. Evidence to support this sudden collapse is that the oral traditions of the islanders are obsessed with cannibalism. To severely insult an enemy one would say: "The flesh of your mother sticks between my teeth". This suggests that the food supply of the people ultimately ran out. (Diamond 2005:109) All that can be said is that there was a massive, anthropogenic alteration of the ecosystem, and subsequently a cultural transition while a conclusion cannot be drawn for a catastrophic event. By the mid-19th century the population had recovered to about 4,000. Then in a mere 20 years, deportation via slave traders to Peru and diseases brought by Westerners almost exterminated the whole population - only 110 inhabitants were left on the island in 1877. It is more likely these events (recollected by the surviving descendants) have led to the belief that they described ancient memories of a pre-contact collapse. Easter Island was annexed for Chile in 1888 by Policarpo Toro. The native Rapanui have since gradually recovered from this low point in their numbers. Moai-carving culture (?10th century CE - ?16th/17th century CE)Trees are sparse on modern Easter Island, rarely forming small groves. The island once possessed a forest of palms and it has generally been thought that native Easter Islanders deforested the island in the process of erecting their statues. Experimental archaeology has clearly demonstrated that some statues certainly could have been placed on wooden frames and then pulled to their final destinations on ceremonial sites. Rapanui traditions metaphorically refer to spiritual power (mana) as the means by which the moai were "walked" from the quarry. Also important was the introduction of the Polynesian rat, which apparently ate the palm's seeds. However, given the island's southern latitude, the (as yet poorly documented) climatic effects of the Little Ice Age (about 1650 to 1850) may have contributed to deforestation and other changes. The disappearance of the island's trees seems to coincide with a decline of the Easter Island civilization around the 17th-18th century AD. Midden contents show a sudden drop in quantities of fish and bird bones as the islanders lost the means to construct fishing vessels and the birds lost their nesting sites. Soil erosion due to 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 was drastically altered. Chickens and rats became leading items of diet and there are (not unequivocally accepted) hints at cannibalism occurring, based on human remains associated with cooking sites, especially in caves. Obsidian spear points and the toppling of many statues indicate a breakdown of the social structure, possibly even leading to civil strife, though almost certainly not on as massive a scale as is often assumed. Thor Heyerdahl pointed out many cultural similarities between Easter Island and South American Indian cultures. However, present-day Polynesian archeology strongly denies any non-Polynesian influence on the island's prehistory, and the discussion has become very political around the subject. Furthermore, DNA analyses of Easter Island's inhabitants offers strong evidence as to their Polynesian origins, a tool not available in Heyerdahl's time. Some scholars have argued Polynesian sailors may have reached the central-south coast of Chile. Some "Polynesian-like" cultural traits, including words like toki, have been described among the Mapuche people from southern Chile. The Birdman cult (?16th/17th century CE - 19th century CE)The surviving population developed new traditions to allot the remaining resources. In the cult of the birdman (Rapanui: tangata manu), a competition was established in which every year a representative of each clan, chosen by the leaders, would dive into the sea and swim across to Motu Nui, a nearby islet, to search for the season's first egg laid by a manutara (sooty tern). The first swimmer to return with an egg would secure control over distribution of the island's resources for his clan for the year. The tradition was still in existence at the time of first contact by Europeans. Whatever the reasons for this apparent decline, it was European intervention that delivered the final blow to Rapanui culture. In his article From Genocide to Ecocide: The Rape of Rapa Nui, Benny Peiser notes evidence of self-sufficiency on Easter Island when Europeans first arrived. Although stressed, the island may still have had at least some (small) trees remaining, mainly toromiro. Cornelis Bouman, Jakob Roggeveen's captain, stated in his log book, "...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. Their houses were set up on wooden stakes, daubed over with luting and covered with palm leaves," indicating living palm trees were still available, though these were likely coconuts introduced after the extinction of the native palm. Easter Island has suffered from heavy soil erosion during recent centuries. Largely, this condition emerged as a result of massive deforestation. However, this process seems to have been gradual and may have been aggravated by extensive sheep farming throughout most of the 20th century. Jakob Roggeveen reported that Easter Island was exceptionally fertile, producing large quantities of bananas, potatoes and thick sugar-cane. In 1786 M. de La Pérouse visited Easter Island and his gardener declared that "three day's work a year" would be enough to support the population. Rollin, a major of the French expedition to Easter Island in 1786, 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 labour, furnished excellent provisions, and in an abundance more than sufficient for the consumption of the inhabitants." (Heyerdahl & Ferdon, 1961:57). Most of the adult males were abducted and enslaved by Peruvians in the middle of the 19th century. Today Easter IslandUntil the 1960s, the surviving Rapanui descendants were forced to live in a confined settlement in squalid conditions at the outskirts of Hanga Roa. Since finally being allowed to live free, they have re-embraced their ancient culture, or what could be reconstructed of it. A yearly cultural festival, the Tapati celebrates native pastimes. Rapa Nui is not the island's original name. It was coined by labour immigrants from Rapa in the Bass Islands, who likened it to their home island. The Rapanui name for Rapa Nui was Te pito o te henua (The Navel of the World) due to its isolation, but this too seems to have been derived from another location, possibly a Marquesan landmark. Recent events have shown a tremendous increase of tourism on the island, coupled with a large inflow of people from mainland Chile which threatens to alter the Polynesian identity of the island. Land disputes have created political tensions since the 1980s, with part of the native Rapanui opposed to private property and in favor of traditional communal property (see Demography below) Mataveri International Airport serves as the island's only airport. The airport's single 2903 m (9524 ft) runway was lengthened by the U.S. space program to serve as an alternate emergency landing site for the space shuttle. Links about Easter IslandMysterious Places: Easter Island The Chilling Tale of Easter Island Eastern Island: Myth Secrets of Easter Island The Easter Island Disaster Easter Island Easter Island in words and pictures Ancient Navigation: Easter Island by Liesl Clark Easter Island: Tapati Festival of the Rapa Nui culture Easter's End by Jared Diamond Easter Island Digest |
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