On Easter Sunday in 1722, Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, was discovered, named after the day of its discovery. This remote piece of land in the Pacific, which today belongs to Chile, produced a society whose level of development, writing system, and stone carving skills represent one of the most advanced stages of a so-called “primitive” civilization. The term “primitive” here refers to the label European powers used during the colonial era to describe non-European civilizations, whose art and culture were seen as underdeveloped or incomprehensible to the “civilized” European man.
The Discovery of Easter Island
The discovery of Easter Island challenged European prejudices about the primitive savage, due to the enormous megalithic statues, known today as moai, which continue to intrigue both experts and the public. Created from volcanic rock—just like the island itself, which owes its origin to volcanic activity—it is speculated that the statues were erected during times of conflict on the island as monuments representing the ancestors of different clans. Most of the nearly 1,000 monumental statues were created between 1000 and 1600 AD.
The moai are not the only examples of stone art on Rapa Nui. The island also boasts an impressive collection of petroglyphs and petrographs, stone carvings and drawings, which reflect a high level of stone-working skill. These drawings, found on volcanic rocks, were created not just through simple engraving but by removing excess stone to create reliefs. The diversity of these artworks indicates the use of various tools, and their motifs include representations of nature, island life, and even European colonizers, suggesting that this form of art continued even after contact with European settlers. These carvings also depict the bird-man cult, unique to the Polynesian islands and found only on Rapa Nui. It is believed that this cult, formed around 1500 AD, replaced the ancestor worship and the construction of the monumental statues.
The island, called the “navel of the world” by its inhabitants, became a focus of scientific inquiry—not only because of its high level of civilization but also due to theories linking the collapse of Rapa Nui society to an ecological disaster. According to this theory, which is a topic of intense debate, the advanced society was unable to prevent the destruction of its ecosystem, leading to the extinction of its animal life. This destruction took place over several centuries, as the island was settled in the early 13th century and discovered in the 18th century when European sailors reported its sparse vegetation. Archaeological findings do show changes in burial practices, rituals, cannibalism, and a drastic reduction in the population. However, scholars disagree on the timing of these catastrophic events, with some placing them between 1500 and 1600, prior to contact with Europeans, and others viewing them as a result of diseases like smallpox, syphilis, tuberculosis, and the slave trade during colonization. The fact that European contact with the indigenous population was sporadic from the discovery in 1722 until the arrival of Jesuit missionaries in 1860 complicates efforts to determine the exact cause of the civilization’s collapse.
Regardless of the debate about the causes of Easter Island’s sparse flora and fauna (only 48 plant species), it is certain that predictions for the restoration of the ecosystem are very pessimistic. The island has become a model for a potential catastrophic scenario for the global ecosystem.
Both scenarios—whether the islanders overexploited their resources or European colonizers overexploited the native population—imply that the island was destroyed by human violence against nature.
I wish you a Happy Easter in the warmth of your “Easter Islands,” and may the fact that stars are visible over the capital offer you some comfort, despite the limited space available.
Sources:
- Lee, Georgia, and Jo Anne Van Tilburg. “Rock Art on Easter Island.” Archaeology, vol. 35, no. 6, 1982, pp. 58–60., www.jstor.org/stable/41728601. Accessed 14 2020.
- Van Tilburg, Jo Anne. “Moving the Moai.” Archaeology, vol. 48, no. 1, 1995, pp. 34–43., www.jstor.org/stable/41766544. Accessed 14 2020.
- Van Tilburg, JoAnne. “Symbolic Archaeology on Easter Island.” Archaeology, vol. 40, no. 2, 1987, pp. 26–33., www.jstor.org/stable/41731857. Accessed 14 2020.
- Hunt, Terry L. “Rethinking the Fall of Easter Island: New Evidence Points to an Alternative Explanation for a Civilization’s Collapse.” American Scientist, vol. 94, no. 5, 2006, pp. 412–419., www.jstor.org/stable/27858833. Accessed 14 2020.
- Peiser, Benny. “FROM GENOCIDE TO ECOCIDE: THE RAPE OF ‘RAPA NUI.’” Energy & Environment, vol. 16, no. 3/4, 2005, pp. 513–539., www.jstor.org/stable/43735687. Accessed 14 2020.
Illustration: https://chocoholixblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/p1030589.jpg