Have you ever wondered what happened to the people of Easter Island? When a European expedition arrived at Rapa Nui on the Easter Sunday of 1722, they were met by a shore devoid of trees and studded with the ominous Moai, titanic representations of ancestors carved in stone. Here we look at...
The islanders brought a variety of crops with them - including sweet potatoes, gourds, bananas, taro and berries. They would have relied on the palm trees of the island for wood, while catching visiting fish and fowl for meat.
Another settler that needs to be mentioned at this point is the Polynesian rat. These tenacious little creatures are thought to have come with the settlers (either as food or as stowaways) and they might be behind the disaster that eventually struck the island.
There's just shy of a thousand of these carvings remaining today, each resembling an ancestral figure of the Rapa Nui that had been elevated to a deific state. Research by Sherwood et al suggests that they were thought to bring fertility to the ground around them.
The Moai (or at least 95% of them) were carved at Rano Raraku, a quarry in the center of the island from which they would have had to be moved to their intended home. The islanders would have to somehow transport these fourteen ton monuments as far as eighteen kilometers, all without the benefit of modern technology. One particularly neat theory is that they may have been walked to their destination using teams with ropes and a rocking pendulum motion!
Interestingly, the ground around Rano Raraku has a much higher fertility than the rest of the island due to the minerals scattered into the soil by the quarrying process. There's even evidence that the islanders had transformed the area surrounding the quarry into a farm of sorts, using the enriched soil to support a massive vegetable garden!
Another theory is that Polynesian rats were to blame. There are a huge amount of rat bones in the soil and sand of the islands, accompanied by gnawed palm seed shells. It could be that the rats (free of any natural predators) gorged on palm seeds and prevented new palms from growing.
Whether from human exploitation, rodent hunger or a combination of both, deforestation caused an ecological chain reaction. Without the palm roots to secure the topsoil, rain and wind took the fertile volcanic soil and washed it into the waves. The islanders took to burning grass for heat - and rat meat became a significant part of the rank and file diet. The elites still had access to fish - presumably they had access to the patched remains of the fishing canoes.
There's also the possibility that resource shortages may have led to cannibalism. The cave known as Ana Kai Tangata offers some support to this theory - decorated with shark-fat paintings, the name can roughly translate as “the cave where men are eaten” but could also be interpreted as "the cave that eats men." Strangely, the subject of many of the paintings is the seagull - a main icon of the cult of Tangata Manu that would develop on the island.
Other researchers blame slave raids and smallpox for the dwindling population. Raids from the mainland would have found the isolated islanders easy prey, while even a peaceful encounter could have resulted in exposure to deadly diseases.
When European explorer Jacob Roggeveen reached the island in 1722, there were a few thousand islanders. This number would dwindle to a few hundred during the 1800s.
One rite of the cult was an annual (and frequently deadly) race. Celebrants engaged in various ceremonies (allegedly including ritual cannibalism) in honor of Make Make, the creator deity of the Rapa Nui people. Chosen champions from each clan would descend the cliffs, swim across the shark-infested waters to an islet using a float, climb the rocks and finally wait to snatch an egg. Tucking the prize into their headband, they had to make the return trip in the same manner - all while keeping the egg intact.
Death was very common, but the chieftain whose champion brought back the egg became Tangata Manu... and the de-facto ruler of the island. So desirable was the prize that a winning clan once enacted rules that barred members of other clans from competing!
Elements of the birdman ritual can be seen in the Tapati Rapa Nui festival held by the modern islanders each February, with contests of carving, dancing and music. The islanders split into two teams, each led by a prospective "queen" - and the winning team's queen is crowned for the year!Thanks for reading - perhaps you'd also like...
- The first settlers
- Moai, the ancestral effigies
- What happened to the palm trees?
- Civil war and slave raids
- Tangata Manu, the bird-man
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| The Moai watch over Easter Island... (ask-mediendesign) |
The First Settlers
The first settlers on Easter Island were Polynesians led by the chief Hotu Matu’a. Making the journey in large canoes, the sailors relied on the stars to guide their cargo of people, crops and livestock. Eventually they landed on and settled Rapa Nui, a volcanic island 3540 kilometers off the coast of Chile.The islanders brought a variety of crops with them - including sweet potatoes, gourds, bananas, taro and berries. They would have relied on the palm trees of the island for wood, while catching visiting fish and fowl for meat.
Despite the commonly established narrative of a booming population, modern research suggests that there was never that many inhabitants of Rapa Nui. Estimates based on "rock gardens" used for agriculture and the genetics of islander remains suggest a peak population of only around four thousand.
Another settler that needs to be mentioned at this point is the Polynesian rat. These tenacious little creatures are thought to have come with the settlers (either as food or as stowaways) and they might be behind the disaster that eventually struck the island.
Moai, the Ancestral Effigies
The most iconic image of Easter Island is the grassy coast overlooked by imposing carved-stone figures. There used to be several thousand - but civil war and wealthy collectors have lead to the destruction or theft of many of the Moai.There's just shy of a thousand of these carvings remaining today, each resembling an ancestral figure of the Rapa Nui that had been elevated to a deific state. Research by Sherwood et al suggests that they were thought to bring fertility to the ground around them.
The Moai (or at least 95% of them) were carved at Rano Raraku, a quarry in the center of the island from which they would have had to be moved to their intended home. The islanders would have to somehow transport these fourteen ton monuments as far as eighteen kilometers, all without the benefit of modern technology. One particularly neat theory is that they may have been walked to their destination using teams with ropes and a rocking pendulum motion!
Interestingly, the ground around Rano Raraku has a much higher fertility than the rest of the island due to the minerals scattered into the soil by the quarrying process. There's even evidence that the islanders had transformed the area surrounding the quarry into a farm of sorts, using the enriched soil to support a massive vegetable garden!
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| Rapa Nui once had swaths of palms... (jaboczw) |
What Happened to the Palm Trees?
There's debate over what caused the palm tree population of Rapa Nui to dwindle. A common theory is that they were cut down for fuel, construction or even to free up farmland - and at some point the rate of deforestation overcame the growth rate.Another theory is that Polynesian rats were to blame. There are a huge amount of rat bones in the soil and sand of the islands, accompanied by gnawed palm seed shells. It could be that the rats (free of any natural predators) gorged on palm seeds and prevented new palms from growing.
Whether from human exploitation, rodent hunger or a combination of both, deforestation caused an ecological chain reaction. Without the palm roots to secure the topsoil, rain and wind took the fertile volcanic soil and washed it into the waves. The islanders took to burning grass for heat - and rat meat became a significant part of the rank and file diet. The elites still had access to fish - presumably they had access to the patched remains of the fishing canoes.
Civil War and Slave Raids
Researchers are conflicted on what happened next. Local legend suggests that the islanders turned on each other in a vicious civil war - after many years of co-existence, the Hanau Momoko (commoner) faction rebelled against the Hanau Epe (ruling) faction and put many of them to death.There's also the possibility that resource shortages may have led to cannibalism. The cave known as Ana Kai Tangata offers some support to this theory - decorated with shark-fat paintings, the name can roughly translate as “the cave where men are eaten” but could also be interpreted as "the cave that eats men." Strangely, the subject of many of the paintings is the seagull - a main icon of the cult of Tangata Manu that would develop on the island.
Other researchers blame slave raids and smallpox for the dwindling population. Raids from the mainland would have found the isolated islanders easy prey, while even a peaceful encounter could have resulted in exposure to deadly diseases.
When European explorer Jacob Roggeveen reached the island in 1722, there were a few thousand islanders. This number would dwindle to a few hundred during the 1800s.
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| Sea birds were considered symbols of luck by the islanders... (TheOtherKev) |
Tangata Manu, the Bird-Man
Sometime near the start of the 18th century, the islanders seem to have moved away from veneration of the Moai statues. Instead, they began carving designs celebrating a "birdman" figure. The islanders had long considered the manutara bird (terns) a symbol of luck - after all, migratory birds brought a glut of eggs and meat to the Rapa Nui. Transferring worship from the "failed" Moai probably seemed like a good idea to the increasingly hungry population - and carvings of human-bird hybrids have even been found etched into the back of some Moai.One rite of the cult was an annual (and frequently deadly) race. Celebrants engaged in various ceremonies (allegedly including ritual cannibalism) in honor of Make Make, the creator deity of the Rapa Nui people. Chosen champions from each clan would descend the cliffs, swim across the shark-infested waters to an islet using a float, climb the rocks and finally wait to snatch an egg. Tucking the prize into their headband, they had to make the return trip in the same manner - all while keeping the egg intact.
Death was very common, but the chieftain whose champion brought back the egg became Tangata Manu... and the de-facto ruler of the island. So desirable was the prize that a winning clan once enacted rules that barred members of other clans from competing!
Elements of the birdman ritual can be seen in the Tapati Rapa Nui festival held by the modern islanders each February, with contests of carving, dancing and music. The islanders split into two teams, each led by a prospective "queen" - and the winning team's queen is crowned for the year!