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EASTER ISLAND
Easter Island is one of the remotely populated islands in the world. It rested in Chile and acquired its name after being named “Easter Island” by a European visitor. Jacob Roggeveen was exploring in search of land he referred to as the “Davis Land.” Symbolically, it was on an Easter Sunday. The widely adopted assumption is that the Polynesian inhabitants of the island settled there around “1200”. They were a very laborious and industrious community that engaged in various activities. Their work spirit is evidenced by the giant “moai stones and other artifacts.” As the population grew, more land was needed. They gradually cleared the land, resulting in deforestation. The high population of the inhabitants of the island was greatly affected by the Europeans. The Europeans introduced a variety of diseases that affected them. The Peruvian slave raids also shrunk Their population.
According to oral traditions, the Polynesian residents were involved in civil wars. According to studies conducted on the statutes, it is evident that the civil wars were indeed involved. Obsidian stones that are believed to have been their fighting tools are also common in the highland. Theories in the wars’ causation suggest that the battles were engaged in trying to compete on who could erect the highest statues. However, it is still not clear why they fought.
There are sparsely distributed trees to form natural mangroves. The argument raises if the inhabitants cut down all the tree vegetation to erect their statues. Others argue that the locals’ economic activity was agriculture, and thus deforestation was a means of providing sustainable food for the population.
The main point of interest was the giant statues standing on the island. Archaeological scientists and engineers from Modem attempt to recreate and decode the mystery of Easter Island’s Moai statues by experimenting with ancient engineering and obscure activities. The human figures, carved from stone, have over-sized heads, often resting on massive rock platforms called ahus, partially buried underground. There are 1,000 sculptures on the island, 30 feet high, weighing a whopping 75 tons, spread in the mountains across the desolate landscape and near the ocean Tribal and ancient practices, with black magic priests chieftains writing mysterious hieroglyphic languages known as rongorongo. This culture created and moved these monolithic statues without present-day tools and supplies, not unlike Europe’s Stonehenge.
According to archaeologists, the statues were caved in the huge quarries found on the island. It usually took around twelve men to craft one statute in one year. They were crafted from the original material on the quarries lying on their back after which, they were completed and moved to the island where others were erected. However, the central point of concern for the archaeologists was how the statues were transported. Archaeologists argue differently on the topic. The most fascinating of them all is one that states that they “walked.” In the video, two archaeologists were determined to prove their theory as they made a clay model of the statues and tried to move it for fifty yards. Though they were only successful in moving it for ten yards, they proved the theory that the statues walked.