reader question Arthur Lengler, Porto Alegre, RS
illustrates Jonathan Sarmento
edition Felipe van Deursen
It’s still a mystery. The very end of the culture of the people of the island, the Rapanui, has not been fully deciphered. Most experts say an environmental catastrophe wiped them out. Sure, the Europeans contributed a lot and accelerated the process, as they enslaved the islanders and brought deadly diseases. But when that happened, the Rapanui were already in decline. The Dutch arrived at Easter 1722, and saw a civilization with less than 2,000 people starving on an impoverished and heavily deforested island. The local population would drop to 100 by 1877. No moai have been made since then.
SEE TOO
– What was Machu Picchu?
– What was the Acropolis of Athens?
– How is Lhasa, the capital of Tibet?
“LONJURE”
Easter Island is the most isolated inhabited spot in the world. It is 3,600 km from South America and 2,000 km from the nearest island, Pitcairn. It has only 163 km2, half the area of Belo Horizonte. The name given by the Rapanuis, Te Pito o Te Henua, means something like “the navel of the world”.
HEAD FACTORY
The statues were carved with basalt tools, harder than volcanic rock, at the foot of the Rano Raraku volcano. The work was carried out by a master and a team of assistants, and lasted up to a year.
TO ETERNITY
There are still 300 unfinished statues near the volcano’s crater. Across the island, there are around 600 moais. Each of them represented a spirit of someone important who had died.
CHICKEN AND SWEET POTATOES
Polynesians arrived on the island, which was covered in palm trees, around the year 1000. The richest villages had stone chicken coops (chickens were currency). The volcanic soil was conducive to planting sweet potatoes. Fishermen went after dolphins, but they also ate seals and birds.
THE UNTOUCHABLES
One theory says that the statues were transported on wooden rails. While some pulled, others used rods, as if rowing. The method would have contributed to the devastation of the island. Furthermore, the moai could not touch the ground. If that happened, another one would have to be made.
ORNAMENTS
Upon reaching the village, the moai was lifted with a type of crane. The oldest, perhaps, were raised with wooden supports and stone ramps. They stood on a stone altar, the ahu. In the village, the moai gained eyes, made of coral. The most recent ones also had pukao, a headdress made of reddish rock, which represented the deceased’s hair.
FOOT GIANTS
Another theory explains that the figures were carried upright. The Rapanuis lifted them with ropes and boards and pulled them with gyrating motions, rather as if they were carrying an enormous refrigerator. The method had an impressive look, as, seen from afar, it looked like the moai was walking alone across the island.
GROWTH
In 1100, the first statues were 2 or 3 m high. In 1400, they reached 10 m and 80 tons
ECOLOGICAL CHAOS
The biggest consumer of wood on the island was the increase in population, which also used the raw material in houses and canoes. Between the 16th and 17th centuries, Páscoa had 15 to 20 thousand inhabitants. The areas under cultivation grew larger and larger, devastating the trees and the soil. Scarce land paved the way for tribal wars. Around this time, another moai, kavakava, became popular. It was small and skeletal in body. The big ones were abandoned
SEE TOO
– What are the main riddles of Easter Island?
– How do archaeologists estimate the population of ancient civilizations?
– Who were the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs?
Consultancy Colin Richards, Professor of Archeology and Rapanui Specialist at the University of Manchester (UK)
Sources eisp.org and memoriachilena.cl websites; magazine Adventures in Historydocumentary Giants of Easter Islandfrom the History Channel