A Mayor on Easter Island Is Up in Arms After a
Runaway Pickup Truck Knocked Over a Sacred
Statue
(1º§)Archaeologists have long assumed that the ancient
society that erected the colossal Moai figures on Chile's
Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island, collapsed many
centuries ago. Now, a new study indicates that the
islanders' civilization was still going strong when
Europeans arrived in 1722.
(2º§)The island was settled in the 13th century by
Polynesians, and is known __ the famed Easter Island
"heads" (many of the bodies have been buried by erosion
over the centuries).
(3º§)The research, which appears in the Journal of
Archaeological Science, contests the accepted timeline
that the Easter Island society was already in decline by
the year 1600 and its massive stone statues left to fall
into disrepair.
(4º§)Conducting radiocarbon dating on 11 sites __ Easter
Island, the authors determined the timeline of each
monument's construction. Their findings indicate that
Easter Islanders were still actively building new Moai
figures, and maintaining existing ones, up until at least
1750.s of fresh water-a precious resource. As well as
moments to their ancestors, it turns out they may have
also served a more utilitarian purpose.
(5º§)Further supporting these results are historical
documents __ the island's first European visitors. Written
accounts from the Dutch explorers who arrived in 1722
found that the monuments were in active ritual use, with
no signs of decline, and the same goes for the Spaniards
who landed in 1770. It was only in 1774 that James Cook
found the giant statues in ruins and the figures knocked
over.
(6º§)"The way we interpret our results and this sequence
of historical accounts is that the notion of a pre-European
collapse of monument construction is no longer
supported," lead author Robert DiNapoli told Archaeology
& Arts.
(7º§)"Once Europeans arrive on the island, there are
many documented tragic events due to disease, murder,
slave raiding and other conflicts," added co-author Carl
Lipo. "The degree to which [the Rapa Nui people's]
cultural heritage was passed on-and is still present today
through language, arts, and cultural practices-is quite
notable and impressive. I think this degree of resilience
has been overlooked due to the collapse narrative and
deserves recognition."
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