Easter Island
(historical excursion)

(from the series "On the outskirts of the planet")

Easter Island(or Rapa Nui) is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world, and thanks largely to its isolation, Rapa Nui's history is unique. It is part of Polynesia(Oceania subregion). There are many scientific hypotheses and guesses regarding the time of settlement of Rapa Nui, race local residents, the reasons for the death of a unique civilization, whose representatives built huge stone sculptures ( moai) and knew writing ( rongorongo), which has not yet been deciphered by linguists. With the discovery of the island in 1722 by the Dutch traveler Jacob Roggeveen and the appearance of the first Catholic missionaries, fundamental changes took place in the life of the Rapanui people: the hierarchical relationships that existed in the past were forgotten, and the practice of cannibalism was stopped. In the mid-19th century, local residents became the target of the slave trade, which resulted in the death of most of Rapanui people, and with them many elements of the unique local culture were lost. On September 9, 1888, the island was annexed by Chile. In the 20th century, Rapa Nui became an object of great interest for researchers trying to unravel the secrets of the disappeared Rapa Nui civilization (among them was the Norwegian traveler Thor Heyerdahl). During this time, there were some improvements in the island's infrastructure and the quality of life of the Rapa Nui people. In 1995 national park"Rapa Nui" became an object World Heritage UNESCO. In the 21st century, the island continues to attract tourists from all over the world, and tourism has become the main source of income for local population.

Rongo-rongo, a writing system that
has not yet been deciphered by linguists.
Fragment of a small table from Santiago

Time of settlement of Easter Island
Radiocarbon dating data obtained by scientists Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo from the University of California (USA) during the study of eight samples of charcoal from the bay Anakens, indicate that the island of Rapa Nui was inhabited around 1200 AD. BC, which is 400-800 years later than previously thought, and only 100 years before trees began to disappear on the island. Previously, it was believed that the colonization of Rapa Nui occurred in 800-1200. n. e., and the environmental disaster, which was characterized by the disappearance of palm trees on the island, began at least 400 years after settlement. However, the issue of colonization of the island has not yet been reached, and it is likely that this figure can be refuted.

Slope extinct volcano Rano Raraku, strewn with moai stone sculptures

Theories of the settlement of Easter Island
There are even more hypotheses regarding where the first (and subsequent) settlers to the island came from. For example, a follower American settlement theories of the Norwegian traveler Thor Heyerdahl believes that the islands of Polynesia were inhabited by American Indians in the middle of the 1st millennium AD. e. immigrants from Peru, who were subsequently almost completely destroyed by a new wave of emigrants who sailed from the northwestern coast North America by 1000-1300 n. e. There are also adherents among scientists Melanesian theory according to which the island was inhabited by Melanesians - a group of peoples from the islands Melanesia V Pacific Ocean adjacent to Australia and New Guinea. Among specialists studying Easter Island, there are other hypotheses (settlement from the islands of Polynesia, Tahiti, the Cook Islands, etc.). Thus, throughout the 20th century, many scientific hypotheses have been proposed that identify several centers from where Rapa Nui was settled, but the final point has not been set.

Activities of the ancient Rapanui people
Easter Island is a treeless island with infertile volcanic soil. In the past, as now, the slopes of volcanoes were used for planting gardens and growing bananas. According to Rapa Nui legends, some plant species were introduced by the king Hotu Matu'a, who sailed to the island from the mysterious homeland of Marae-renga. This could really happen, since the Polynesians, settling new lands, brought with them the seeds of plants that had important practical significance.

The ancient Rapanui people were very knowledgeable about agriculture. Therefore, the island could easily feed several thousand people. One of the island's problems has always been the shortage of fresh water. There are no deep rivers on Rapa Nui, and water after rains easily seeps through the soil and flows towards the ocean. The Rapanui people built small wells, mixed fresh water with salt water, and sometimes they drank just salt water.

There are no deep rivers on Rapa Nui, and water after rains
easily seeps through the soil and flows towards the ocean

In the past, Polynesians, when setting out in search of new islands, always took with them three animals: a pig, a dog and a chicken. Only chicken was brought to Easter Island - later a symbol of well-being among the ancient Rapanui people. The Polynesian rat is not a domestic animal, but it was also introduced by the first settlers of Easter Island, who considered it a delicacy. Subsequently, gray rats, brought by Europeans, appeared on the island.

The waters surrounding Easter Island are teeming with fish, especially off the rocks of Motu Nui (a small islet southwest of Rapa Nui), where large quantities seabirds nest. Fish was the favorite food of the ancient Rapanui people, and during the winter months there was a taboo on catching it. On Easter Island it was used in the past great amount fishing hooks. Some of them were made from human bones, they were called mangai-iwi, others are made of stone, they were called mangai-kahi and was mainly used for tuna fishing. Only privileged residents had hooks made of polished stone. After the death of the owner, they were placed in his grave. The very existence of fishhooks indicates the development of the ancient Rapanui civilization, since the technique of polishing stone is quite complex, as is the achievement of such smooth shapes. Often fishing hooks made from the bones of the enemy. According to the beliefs of the Rapanui people, this is how it was transmitted to the fisherman mana of the deceased person, that is, his strength. The Rapanui also hunted turtles, which are often mentioned in local legends.

An ancient fishhook made from a human femur,
or mangai-iwi, from Easter Island.
Consists of two parts connected by a rope

The ancient Rapanui people did not have as many canoes (the Rapanui name is vaka rap. vaka), as, for example, other peoples of Polynesia plowed the waves of the Pacific Ocean. In addition, there was a clear shortage of tall and large trees.

Very little is known about the structure of ancient Rapanui society that existed before the 19th century. Due to the export of the local population to Peru, where they were used as slaves, epidemics of diseases brought to the island by Europeans, and the adoption of Christianity, Rapanui society forgot about the previously existing hierarchical relationships, family and tribal ties. At the beginning of the 19th century, there were ten tribes, or mata, on Rapa Nui, whose members considered themselves descendants of eponymous ancestors, who, in turn, were descendants of the first king of the island Hotu Matu'a. According to Rapa Nui legend, after the death of Hotu Matu'a, the island was divided between his sons, who gave names to all the Rapa Nui tribes. The ancient Rapanui people were extremely warlike. As soon as hostility began between the tribes, their warriors painted their bodies black and prepared their weapons for battle at night. After the victory, a feast was held at which the victorious warriors ate the meat of the defeated warriors. The cannibals themselves on the island were called kai-tangata. Cannibalism existed on the island until the Christianization of all the inhabitants of the island.

Anakena Bay, where, according to Rapa Nui legend, King Hotu Matu landed

Disappearance of the Rapa Nui civilization
When Europeans first landed on the island in the 18th century, Rapa Nui was a treeless area. However, recent research papers on the island, including the study of found pollen samples, indicate that in the distant past, during the settlement of Rapa Nui, Easter Island was covered with dense vegetation, including extensive forested areas. As the population increased, these forests were cut down, and the liberated lands were immediately sown with agricultural plants. In addition, the wood was used as fuel, material for the construction of houses, canoes for fishing, and also for carrying the huge statues of the island, or moai. As a result, by about 1600, the forests on the island were completely destroyed. The construction of the moai ceased at this time.

Sketch by Ludwig Lewis Choris (1816) from the book Atlas in Pictures of the Voyage around the World of the frigate Venus, 1830-1839",
showing two types of Rapanui canoes. One of them is with an outrigger, the other is without.
Oars are also depicted.

The loss of forest cover has led to severe soil erosion and, as a result, crop yields have declined. The only source of meat on the island was chickens, which began to be highly revered and protected from thieves. Due to catastrophic changes, the population began to decline on Rapa Nui. After 1600, Rapa Nui society gradually began to degrade, slavery appeared, and cannibalism began to flourish.

However, this theory of the disappearance of the Rapa Nui civilization is not the only one. According to the research of scientist Terry Hunt, deforestation on Rapa Nui occurred largely not due to local residents, but as a result of eating the seeds of local plants by Polynesian rats, which were brought to the island by the first settlers. And the sharp decline in population (according to the same theory) only dates back to the European Rapa Nui period, when most of the islanders were enslaved and sent to South American or Pacific plantations.

Europeans on the island
Europeans discovered Easter Island only in 1722. On July 16, 1721, the Dutch explorer, Admiral Jacob Roggeveen, sailed from Amsterdam on the ships Thienhoven, Arend and Afrikaanse Galley in search of Davis Land. On the evening of April 5, 1722, the crew of the main ship Afrikaanse Galley noticed land on the horizon. On the same day, Admiral Roggeveen named the island in honor of the Christian holiday of Easter.

Dutch traveler, Admiral Jacob Roggeveen

The next morning, a canoe with a bearded local man, clearly surprised by the large sea vessel, approached the Dutch ship. Only on April 10 did the Dutch land on land. Roggeveen described in detail the Rapanui people and the coordinates of Easter Island. Having seen unusual statues of enormous size, the traveler was greatly surprised that “naked savages” could build such colossi. It has also been suggested that the statues were made of clay. However, the first meeting of the Rapanui people with the Europeans was not without bloodshed: 9-10 local residents were killed by Dutch sailors. At the time of the discovery of the island by Roggeveen, about two to three thousand local residents lived on it, but archaeological research has shown that a hundred years earlier, 10-15 thousand people lived on the island.

In 1816, the Russian ship “Rurik” sailed to the island under the command of Otto Evstafievich Kotzebue, who led the round-the-world sea voyage.
However, the Russians failed to land on Rapa Nui due to the hostility of the Rapa Nui.

At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, many sailors visited the island. Often the purpose of expeditions to the island was to capture Rapanui people as slaves. The manifestation of violence by foreigners towards the local inhabitants of the island led to the fact that the Rapanui people began to greet the ships with hostility. The year 1862 was a turning point in the history of Rapa Nui. At this time, the Peruvian economy was booming and was increasingly in need of labor. One of its sources was Easter Island, whose inhabitants became the object of the slave trade in the second half of the 19th century. On December 12, 1862, 8 Peruvian ships landed in Hanga Roa Bay. Several islanders, unsuspectingly, boarded the ship and were immediately captured and thrown into prison cells. In total, about 1,407 Rapa Nui were captured, who, upon seeing firearms were defenseless. Among the prisoners were King Kamakoi of Rapa Nui and his son. In Callao and the Chincha Islands, the Peruvians sold captives to the owners of guano mining companies. Due to humiliating conditions, hunger and disease, out of more than 1,000 islanders, about a hundred remained alive. Only thanks to the intervention of the French Government, Bishop Tepano Jossano, as well as the Governor of Tahiti, supported by Britain, was it possible to stop the Rapanui slave trade. After negotiations with the Peruvian government, an agreement was reached according to which the surviving Rapanui were to be repatriated back to their homeland. But due to illness, mainly tuberculosis and smallpox, only 15 islanders returned home. The smallpox virus brought with them eventually led to a sharp drop in the population on Easter Island - to about 600 people. Most of the priests of the island died, who buried with them all the secrets of Rapa Nui. The following year, missionaries landing on the island found no signs of the recently existing Rapa Nui civilization.

Antique wooden Easter Island figurines depicting (from left to right): the seal man (tangata-iku), height 32 cm; two figures in the middle of the aku-aku, rear and side views; emaciated ancestor (Moai kawa-kava), height about half a meter, you should pay attention to the image of the spine and ribs. On the far right is a bird-man with a beak (tangata-manu). Photo from the book by Francis Mazières

Since 1862, the active conversion of the Rapanui people to Christianity began. The leaders were not very keen to change their faith. This is due to the fact that they did not want to give up a polygamous family. The leaders believed that if they had one wife each, they would lose influence in the tribe. However, gradually the leaders and all the Rapanui people adopted Christianity. Since the 1830s, Chile has become increasingly interested in the island. And, having defeated Bolivia and Peru in the Pacific War of 1879-1883, this country began active colonization of the lands. On September 9, 1888, Captain Policarpo Toro Hurtado landed on the island and announced the annexation of Rapa Nui by Chile. The local church came under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Santiago de Chile, and in 1896 the island became part of the Valparaiso region. Even in the 20th century, the rights of the Rapanui people were quite limited for a long time.

Changes began to be observed in the mid-60s. In 1967, the construction of the Mataveri airstrip was completed on the island. Since that time, regular flights to Santiago and Tahiti appeared, and the life of the Rapa Nui people began to change for the better: in 1967, regular water supply to homes appeared, and in 1970, electricity. Tourism began to develop, which is currently the most important source of income for the local population. Since 1966, local administration elections began to be held on the island.

The discoverer of this mysterious island was Captain Juan Fernandez. The history of Easter Island is the subject of long-standing controversy. Historians cannot find all the answers.

History of Easter Island

This island is one hundred and seventeen square kilometers of almost bare land. The more scientists try to understand this island, the more questions they have. Recently, scientists began drilling into the ground to take samples to answer some questions. They were surprised to find an underlying layer of beetles. The question remains unanswered. This is another mystery. Will scientists be able to guess it?

When the Spaniard Juan Fernandez discovered this island, he decided to keep the discovery a secret. But he himself later died under unclear circumstances.
A century and a half later, the same land was discovered by Admiral Jacob Roggeveen. This discovery occurred on Easter Day. This is where this name came from.
An interesting fact is that there were other islands near Easter Island that were mapped and clearly described. But they mysteriously disappeared without a trace. Having learned the history of Easter Island, you can find out the fate of the disappeared islands. At one time, Roggeveen claimed that local aborigines sat near the idols, lit fires and rocked them. This action of theirs says little. It does not answer the question: who were the idols for them? But it is obvious that the idols were of great importance to them.

Attempts to learn the history of Easter Island

Everyone who visited the island talked intelligently about the purpose of the idols. Cook, for example, believed that these were monuments to buried rulers. There were suggestions that some of the idols depicted gods, and the rest people. So these “moai” idols are a complete mystery that still has no answer today. Some idols lie on the ground. An explanation can be found here. All the idols were placed with their backs to the sea and could fall at the slightest earthquake. But they could have fallen on their own due to water or time.

You will not find such a developed state in all of Polynesia. And, as usual on earth, advanced civilizations subject to persecution. This happened with mysterious island. Humanity decided to destroy the islanders. To take revenge on them for their high civilization. They have been destroyed for centuries. Let's turn to history. In 1862, pirates from Peru enslaved the entire male population. After some time, missionaries began to cynically destroy island paganism. Forbidden topics in the history of Easter Island have emerged.

They burned signs with signs. The island began to belong to Chile at the end of the 19th century. They created a penal colony here. Later they decided to organize farming there. As a result, all settlements were destroyed. There is only one city left in Hanga - Roa.
The Last Aboriginal Mutiny

At the beginning of the 20th century, the last Aboriginal rebellion was suppressed. The Chilean authorities ruthlessly dealt with the rebels. After this destruction there are no people who were eyewitnesses of the reliable history of the island. There are no masters who kept the secrets of their ancestors. Well, we use legends. One of them says that the idols could move on their own. How this happened remains a mystery. But what this was for in principle is not at all clear.

Ancient craftsmen carved “moai” from tuff. Afterwards they lowered the idols down and distributed them according to a certain plan. The weight of the idols reached up to 5 tons, and the height was on average 7 meters. The material from which they were made was called volcanic pumice. Today, only 150 Rapanui people live on the island. The rest of the population are Chileans and mestizos. In total there are three thousand people on the island.

Unsolved mysteries

Today's inhabitants are Polynesians. But no one knows for sure where the first settlers came from. Even famous scientists and travelers, trying to defend their next version, did so without evidence. Thus, the number of hypotheses was added, but knowledge of the history of the island remained in place. This island was once extremely densely populated. This may have caused civil strife on the island. The anger of the island's inhabitants was repaid on the idols, as a symbol of the enemy.

Another reason for the historical obscurity of the island is that to this day the writings of the inhabitants of Easter cannot be deciphered. The found tablets with inscriptions remain unread. Many tablets were burned by Christian missionaries, and those that remained turned out to be too tough for modern science.

Climbing the Rano Kau volcano, you can see a panorama of volcanic lakes. These lakes are surrounded by Orongo Cave. Swallows fly here every spring. On the island they are considered messengers of the gods. Currently, everything on the island has been preserved unchanged, as it was hundreds of years ago. So what happened on Easter Island? This answer awaits us ahead. In the meantime, the history of Easter Island is another mystery for humanity.

No South American traces were found in the genes of the ancient inhabitants of Easter Island.

Moai are the name given to the monolithic stone statues for which Easter Island is primarily known. (Photo: Terry Hunt)

Who doesn’t know the stone statues from Easter Island - giant, nosed sculptures made from compressed volcanic ash? According to local beliefs, they contain the supernatural power of the ancestors of the first king of Easter Island. There are about 900 known statues; They are believed to have been built between 1250 and 1500 AD. e.

But who were these people who created the statues, and how did they populate the island? The nearest continental coast (Chile) is about 3.5 thousand km, the nearest inhabited island is more than 2 thousand km. Thanks to Thor Heyerdahl, we know that you can sail across the ocean between Polynesia and America on a homemade raft. It is likely that populations from Polynesia and America could have mixed on Easter Island at one time, and Polynesian travelers could have populated America. “But probability is not proof,” says Lars Fehren-Schmitz ( Lars Fehren-Schmitz), professor of anthropology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Easter Island is the most remote inhabited piece of land in the world. Its area is only 165.6 square kilometers. Belongs to the island of Chile. But the nearest mainland city of this country, Valparaiso, is 3,703 kilometers away. And there are no other islands nearby, in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean. The nearest inhabited land is located 1819 kilometers away. This is Pitcairn Island. It is famous for the fact that the rebellious crew of the Bounty ship wanted to stay on it. Lost in the vastness of Easter, it holds many secrets. Firstly, it is not clear where the first people came there from. They could not explain anything to the Europeans about this. But the most mysterious mysteries of Easter Island are its stone idols. They are installed throughout coastline. The natives called them moai, but could not clearly explain who they were. In this article, we tried to summarize the results of all recent scientific discoveries in order to unravel the mysteries that shrouded the most remote land plot from civilization.

History of Easter Island

On April 5, 1722, the sailors of a squadron of three ships under the command of the Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen saw land on the horizon that had not yet been marked on the map. When they approached east coast islands, they saw that it was inhabited. The natives swam towards them, and their ethnic composition amazed the Dutch. Among them were Caucasians, Negroids and representatives of the Polynesian race. The Dutch were immediately struck by the primitiveness of the technical equipment of the islanders. Their boats were riveted from pieces of wood and leaked water so much that half the people in the canoe bailed it out, while the rest rowed. The landscape of the island was more than dull. Not a single tree towered on it - only rare bushes. Roggeveen wrote in his diary: “The desolate appearance of the island and the exhaustion of the natives suggest the barrenness of the land and extreme poverty.” But most of all the captain was shocked by the stone idols. With such a primitive civilization and meager resources, how did the natives have the strength to carve so many heavy statues from stone and bring them to the shore? The captain had no answer to this question. Since the island was discovered on the day of the Resurrection of Christ, it received the name Easter. But the natives themselves called it Rapa Nui.

Where did the first inhabitants of Easter Island come from?

This is the first riddle. Now over five thousand people live on the 24-kilometer-long island. But when the first Europeans landed on the shore, there were significantly fewer natives. And in 1774, the navigator Cook counted only seven hundred islanders on the island, emaciated from hunger. But at the same time, among the natives there were representatives of all three human races. Many theories have been put forward about the origin of the population of Rapa Nui: Egyptian, Mesoamerican and even completely mythical, that the islanders are survivors of the collapse of Atlantis. But modern DNA analysis shows that the first Rapanui people landed ashore around the year 400 and most likely came from Eastern Polynesia. This is evidenced by their language, which is close to the dialects of the inhabitants of the Marquesas and Hawaiian Islands.

Development and decline of civilization

The first thing that caught the eye of the discoverers were the stone idols of Easter Island. But the earliest sculpture dates back to 1250, and the latest (unfinished, remaining in the quarry) - to 1500. It is not clear how the native civilization developed from the fifth to the thirteenth centuries. Perhaps, at a certain stage, the islanders moved from a tribal society to clan military alliances. Legends (very contradictory and fragmentary) tell of the leader Hotu Matu'a, who was the first to set foot on Rapa Nui and brought all the inhabitants with him. He had six sons, who divided the island after his death. Thus, the clans began to have their own ancestor, whose statue they tried to make larger, more massive and more representative than that of the neighboring tribe. But what was the reason why the Rapa Nui stopped carving and erecting their monuments at the beginning of the sixteenth century? This was discovered only by modern research. And this story can become instructive for all humanity.

Ecological disaster on a small scale

Let's leave aside the idols of Easter Island for now. They were sculpted by the distant ancestors of those wild natives who were found by the expeditions of Roggeveen and Cook. But what influenced the decline of the once rich civilization? After all, the ancient Rapa Nui even had writing. By the way, the texts of the found tablets have not yet been deciphered. Scientists have only recently given an answer to what happened to this civilization. Her death was not quick due to a volcanic eruption, as Cook assumed. She agonized for centuries. Modern research layers of soil showed that the island was once covered with lush vegetation. The forests abounded in game. The ancient Rapa Nui people practiced agriculture, growing yams, taro, sugar cane, sweet potatoes and bananas. They went to sea in good boats made from a hollowed-out palm tree trunk and hunted dolphins. DNA analysis of food found on pottery shards indicates that the ancient islanders ate well. And this idyll was destroyed by people themselves. The forests were gradually cut down. The islanders were left without their fleet, and therefore without the meat of ocean fish and dolphins. They have already eaten all the animals and birds. The only food left for the Rapa Nui people was crabs and shellfish, which they collected in shallow waters.

Easter Island: Moai Statues

The natives could not really say anything about how the stone idols weighing several tons were made and, most importantly, how they were delivered to the shore. They called them “moai” and believed that they contained “mana” - the spirit of the ancestors of a certain clan. The more idols, the greater the concentration of supernatural power. And this leads to the prosperity of the clan. Therefore, when in 1875 the French removed one of the Easter Island moai statues to take it to a Paris museum, the Rapa Nui had to be restrained by force of arms. But, as research has shown, about 55% of all idols were not transported to special platforms - “ahu”, but remained standing (many in the stage of primary processing) in a quarry on the slope of the Rano Raraku volcano.

Art style

In total, there are more than 900 sculptures on the island. They are classified by scientists chronologically and by style. Early period characterized by stone heads without a torso, with the face turned upward, as well as pillars where the torso is made in a very stylized manner. But there are also exceptions. Thus, a very realistic figure of a kneeling moai was found. But she remained standing in the ancient quarry. In the Middle Period, the idols of Easter Island became giants. Most likely, the clans competed with each other, trying to show that their mana was more powerful. Artistic decoration in the Middle period is more sophisticated. The bodies of the idols are covered with carvings depicting clothes and wings, and the moai often have huge cylindrical caps made of red tuff placed on their heads.

Transportation

No less a mystery than the Easter Island idols, the secret of their movement to the ahu platforms remained. The natives claimed that the moai themselves came there. The truth turned out to be more prosaic. In the lowest (more ancient) layers of the soil, scientists discovered the remains of an endemic tree that is related to the wine palm. It grew up to 26 meters, and its smooth trunks without branches reached a diameter of 1.8 m. The tree served as an excellent material for rolling sculptures from quarries to the shore, where they were installed on platforms. To hoist the idols, they used ropes that were woven from the bast of the hauhau tree. The environmental disaster also explains the fact why more than half of the sculptures ended up “stuck” in the quarries.

Short-eared and long-eared

Modern residents of Rapa Nui no longer have religious reverence for the moai, but consider them theirs cultural heritage. In the mid-50s of the last century, a researcher revealed the secret of who created the idols of Easter Island. He noticed that Rapa Nui was inhabited by two types of tribes. One of them had his earlobes lengthened since childhood by wearing heavy jewelry. The leader of this clan, Pedro Atana, told Thor Heyrdal that in their family, the ancestors passed on to their descendants the art of creating the status of moai and transporting them by dragging them to the installation site. This craft was kept secret from the “short-eared” and was passed on orally. At Heyerdahl's request, Atana and numerous assistants from his clan carved a 12-ton statue in a quarry and delivered it upright to the platform.

The natives who greeted the Dutch sailors on Easter Sunday 1722 seemed to have nothing in common with giant statues of your island. Detailed geological analysis and new archaeological finds allowed us to uncover the mystery of these sculptures and learn about the tragic fate of the stonemasons.

The island became desolate, its stone sentries fell, and many of them drowned in the ocean. Only the pitiful remnants of the mysterious army managed to rise with outside help.

Briefly about Easter Island

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui in local parlance, is a tiny (165.5 sq. km) piece of land lost in the Pacific Ocean halfway between Tahiti and Chile. It is the most isolated inhabited place (about 2000 people) in the world - the nearest Town (about 50 people) is 1900 km away, on Pitcairn Island, where the rebellious Bounty crew found refuge in 1790.

The coastline of Rapa Nui is decorated with hundreds of frowning idols - the natives call them “moai”. Each is hewn from a single piece of volcanic rock; the height of some is almost 10 m. All the statues are made according to the same model: a long nose, drawn-out earlobes, a gloomily compressed mouth and a protruding chin over a stocky torso with arms pressed to the sides and palms resting on the stomach.

Many "moai" are installed with astronomical precision. For example, in one group, all seven statues look at the point (photo on the left) where the sun sets on the evening of the equinox. More than a hundred idols lie in the quarry, not completely hewn or almost finished and, apparently, waiting to be sent to their destination.

For more than 250 years, historians and archaeologists could not understand how and why, with a shortage of local resources, primitive islanders, completely cut off from the rest of the world, managed to process giant monoliths, drag them for kilometers over rough terrain and place them vertically. Many more or less scientific theories were proposed, with many experts believing that Rapa Nui was at one time inhabited by a highly developed people, perhaps bearers of American pre-Columbian culture, who died as a result of some kind of catastrophe.

A detailed analysis of its soil samples allowed us to reveal the secret of the island. The truth about what happened here can serve as a sobering lesson for people around the world.

Born sailors. Rapanui people once hunted dolphins from canoes dug out of palm trunks. However, the Dutch who discovered the island saw boats made of many planks fastened together - there were no large trees left.

History of the discovery of the island

On April 5, Easter Day 1722, three Dutch ships under the command of Captain Jacob Roggeveen stumbled upon an island in the Pacific Ocean that was not shown on any map. When they dropped anchor off it eastern shore, a few natives swam up to them in their boats. Roggeveen was disappointed, The islanders' boats, he wrote: “poor and fragile... with a light frame covered with many small planks”. The boats were leaking so much that the rowers had to bail out water every now and then. The landscape of the island also did not warm the captain’s soul: “Its desolate appearance suggests extreme poverty and sterility.”.

Conflict of civilizations. Easter Island idols now adorn museums in Paris and London, but obtaining these exhibits was not easy. The islanders knew each “moai” by name and did not want to part with any of them. When the French removed one of these statues in 1875, a crowd of natives had to be held back with rifle shots.

Despite the friendly behavior of the brightly colored natives, the Dutch went ashore, prepared for the worst, and formed into a battle formation under the astonished gaze of their hosts, who had never seen other people, let alone firearms.

The visit was soon overshadowed by tragedy. One of the sailors fired. Then he claimed that he allegedly saw the islanders lifting stones and making threatening gestures. The “guests,” on Roggeveen’s orders, opened fire, killing 10-12 hosts on the spot and wounding as many more. The islanders fled in horror, but then returned to the shore with fruits, vegetables and poultry - to appease the ferocious newcomers. Roggeveen noted in his diary an almost bare landscape with rare bushes no higher than 3 m. On the island, which he named after Easter, the only things of interest were the unusual statues (heads) standing along the shore on massive stone platforms (“ahu”).

At first these idols shocked us. We could not understand how the islanders, who did not have strong ropes and a lot of construction wood for making mechanisms, were nevertheless able to erect statues (idols) at least 9 m high, and quite voluminous ones at that.

Scientific approach. French traveler Jean François La Perouse landed on Easter Island in 1786, accompanied by a chronicler, three naturalists, an astronomer and a physicist. As a result of 10 hours of research, he suggested that in the past the area was wooded.

Who were the Rapanui people?

People settled Easter Island only around the year 400. It is generally accepted that they arrived in huge boats from Eastern Polynesia. Their language is close to the dialects of the inhabitants of the Hawaiian and Marquesas Islands. Ancient fishing hooks and stone adzes of the Rapanui people found during excavations are similar to the tools used by the Marquesanes.

At first, European sailors encountered naked islanders, but by 19th century they wove their own clothes. However, family heirlooms were more valued than ancient crafts. Men sometimes wore headdresses made from the feathers of birds long extinct on the island. Women wove straw hats. Both of them pierced their ears and wore bone and wooden jewelry in them. As a result, the earlobes were pulled back and hung almost to the shoulders.

Lost Generations - Answers Found

In March 1774, the English captain James Cook discovered about 700 natives emaciated from malnutrition on Easter Island. He suggested that the local economy had suffered greatly from the recent volcanic eruption: This was evidenced by many stone idols falling from their platforms. Cook was convinced: they were hewn out and placed along the coast by the distant ancestors of the current Rapanui people.

“This work, which took an enormous amount of time, clearly demonstrates the ingenuity and tenacity of those who lived here during the era of the statues’ creation. Today’s islanders almost certainly have no time for this, because they do not even repair the foundations of those that are about to collapse.”

Scientists have only recently found answers to some of the mysteries of the Moai. Analysis of pollen from sediments accumulated in the island's swamps shows that it was once covered with dense forests, thickets of ferns and shrubs. All this was teeming with a variety of game.

Exploring the stratigraphic (and chronological) distribution of finds, scientists discovered in the lower, most ancient layers the pollen of an endemic tree close to the wine palm, up to 26 m high and up to 1.8 m in diameter. Its long, straight, unbranched trunks could serve as excellent rollers for transportation of blocks weighing tens of tons. Pollen of the plant “hauhau” (triumphetta semi-three-lobed) was also found, from the bast of which ropes are made in Polynesia (and not only).

The fact that the ancient Rapanui people had enough food follows from DNA analysis of food remains on excavated dishes. The islanders grew bananas, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, taro, and yams.

The same botanical data demonstrate the slow but sure destruction of this idyll. Judging by the contents of swamp sediments, by 800 the forest area was declining. Tree pollen and fern spores are displaced from later layers by charcoal - evidence of forest fires. At the same time, woodcutters worked more and more actively.

Wood shortages began to seriously affect the islanders' way of life, especially their menus. A study of fossilized garbage heaps shows that at one time the Rapa Nui people regularly ate dolphin meat. Obviously, they caught these animals swimming in the open sea from large boats hollowed out from thick palm trunks.

When there was no ship timber left, the Rapanui people lost their “ocean fleet,” and with it their dolphin meat and ocean fish. In 1786, the chronicler of the French expedition La Perouse wrote that in the sea the islanders only caught shellfish and crabs that lived in shallow waters.

The end of the moai

Stone statues began to appear around the 10th century. They probably represent Polynesian gods or deified local chiefs. According to Rapa Nui legends, the supernatural power of “mana” raised the hewn idols, led them to a designated place and allowed them to wander at night, protecting the peace of the makers. Perhaps the clans competed with each other, trying to carve the “moai” larger and more beautiful, and also to place it on a more massive platform than its competitors.

After 1500, practically no statues were made. Apparently, there were no trees left on the devastated island necessary to transport and raise them. Since about the same time, palm pollen has not been found in swamp sediments, and dolphin bones are no longer thrown into garbage dumps. The local fauna is also changing. All local land birds and half of the sea birds are disappearing.

The food supply is getting worse, and the population, which once numbered about 7,000 people, is declining. Since 1805, the island has suffered from raids by South American slave traders: they take away some of the natives, many of the remaining ones suffer from smallpox contracted from strangers. Only a few hundred Rapanui people survive.

The inhabitants of Easter Island erected “moai”, hoping for the protection of the spirits embodied in stone. Ironically, it was this monumental program that brought their land to environmental disaster. And the idols rise as eerie monuments to thoughtless management and human recklessness.