World History
I was recently reading Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond. It is an excellent book and I found it thought provoking. A chapter of the book focused on Easter Island and how the Polynesian settlers there via civil war and resource exploitation wrecked the ecosystem of the island.
I also have been following the recent campaign by the government of Chile to get Easter Island to be declared one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. How wonderful are the Moai (giant statues) that are all over the island? A recent show I was watching on the History Channel referenced Easter Island as proof of alien interventions in the past of humanity. However, I give the alien hypothesis no credibility. Humans built the monuments on Easter Island and they also destroyed the environment as well. The paradise of Easter Island was ruined by good old human nature.
However, my recent exposures to Easter Island have made me curious about the collapse of Easter Island. As such, I have sought out a few good Web resources on the topic. Here are some I found useful:
History of Easter Island - "At the time of Roggeveens discovery the island probably contained from 2000 to 3000 inhabitants of Polynesian race but it appears that there were as many as 10,000 to15,000 of them in the 16th and 17th Centuries. The civilization of Easter Island had degenerated drastically during the 100 years before the arrival of the Dutch, owing to the overpopulation, deforestation and exploitation of the extremely isolated island with its limited natural resources."
Easter Island's End - "I suspect, though, that the disaster happened not with a bang but with a whimper. After all, there are those hundreds of abandoned statues to consider. The forest the islanders depended on for rollers and rope didn't simply disappear one day-it vanished slowly, over decades. Perhaps war interrupted the moving teams; perhaps by the time the carvers had finished their work, the last rope snapped. In the meantime, any islander who tried to warn about the dangers of progressive deforestation would have been overridden by vested interests of carvers, bureaucrats, and chiefs, whose jobs depended on continued deforestation."
The Chilling Tale of Easter Island - "When the last palm was cut down there was no longer the wood to make the heavy canoes needed for long sea voyages or to hunt the porpoises that were an important part of the Islanders diet. With the porpoises gone the people had to turn even more to the seabirds, and then the rats, as a source of food. When they were gone, starvation resulted, the government collapsed and cannibalism appeared. Human bones started to find their way into trash pits."
The Lessons of Easter Island - "What amazed and intrigued the first European visitors was the evidence, amongst all the squalor and barbarism, of a once flourishing and advanced society. Scattered across the island were over 600 massive stone statues, on average over twenty feet high. When anthropologists began to consider the history and culture of Easter Island early in the twentieth century they agreed on one thing. The primitive people living in such poverty-stricken and backward conditions when the Europeans first visited the island could not have been responsible for such a socially advanced and technologically complex task as carving, transporting and erecting the statues."
There are problems with comparing Easter Island and the Earth. The analogy is not quite an exact one. However, there is some truth to it which is why Jared Diamond's coverage of Easter Island is so fascinating and powerful. Is the Easter Island tragedy now happening on a global scale? Regardless, the whole history of Easter Island is well worth researching and reading about.
- Chicken Bones Suggest Polynesians Found Americas Before Columbus
Were Polynesians in South America before Columbus happened upon the Americas in 1492? Some evidence suggests this is the case. An article by Heather Whipps titled Chicken Bones Suggest Polynesians Found Americas Before Columbus has the details. Whipps...
- The Settlement Of Polynesia
This is a two part essay on human migration in Polynesia. It includes The Settlement of Polynesia, Part 1 and The Settlement of Polynesia, Part 2. It was written by Dennis Kawaharada. Some of the islands of Oceania were among the last habitable land areas...
- History Of St. Lucia
History of St. Lucia - This is a brief essay which covers the history of this small island nation. Nothing real exciting here but if you want a quick overview to the history of St. Lucia, this will do. From the site: St. Lucia's first known inhabitants...
- History Of Pitcairn Island
History of Pitcairn Island. This is a history of Pitcairn Island in the Pacific Ocean. It is best known as destination of the mutineers of the HMS Bounty in the 18th Century. Wikipedia notes, "The Pitcairn Islands are a group of five islands, of which...
- History Of Guam
History of Guam. This site offers a brief overview to the pacific island territory of Guam. From the site: Guam was discovered by Magellan in 1521, was occupied by Spain in 1688, was captured by the United States cruiser " Charleston " in June 1899, and...
World History
The Collapse of Easter Island
I was recently reading Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond. It is an excellent book and I found it thought provoking. A chapter of the book focused on Easter Island and how the Polynesian settlers there via civil war and resource exploitation wrecked the ecosystem of the island. I also have been following the recent campaign by the government of Chile to get Easter Island to be declared one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. How wonderful are the Moai (giant statues) that are all over the island? A recent show I was watching on the History Channel referenced Easter Island as proof of alien interventions in the past of humanity. However, I give the alien hypothesis no credibility. Humans built the monuments on Easter Island and they also destroyed the environment as well. The paradise of Easter Island was ruined by good old human nature.
However, my recent exposures to Easter Island have made me curious about the collapse of Easter Island. As such, I have sought out a few good Web resources on the topic. Here are some I found useful:
History of Easter Island - "At the time of Roggeveens discovery the island probably contained from 2000 to 3000 inhabitants of Polynesian race but it appears that there were as many as 10,000 to15,000 of them in the 16th and 17th Centuries. The civilization of Easter Island had degenerated drastically during the 100 years before the arrival of the Dutch, owing to the overpopulation, deforestation and exploitation of the extremely isolated island with its limited natural resources."
Easter Island's End - "I suspect, though, that the disaster happened not with a bang but with a whimper. After all, there are those hundreds of abandoned statues to consider. The forest the islanders depended on for rollers and rope didn't simply disappear one day-it vanished slowly, over decades. Perhaps war interrupted the moving teams; perhaps by the time the carvers had finished their work, the last rope snapped. In the meantime, any islander who tried to warn about the dangers of progressive deforestation would have been overridden by vested interests of carvers, bureaucrats, and chiefs, whose jobs depended on continued deforestation."
The Chilling Tale of Easter Island - "When the last palm was cut down there was no longer the wood to make the heavy canoes needed for long sea voyages or to hunt the porpoises that were an important part of the Islanders diet. With the porpoises gone the people had to turn even more to the seabirds, and then the rats, as a source of food. When they were gone, starvation resulted, the government collapsed and cannibalism appeared. Human bones started to find their way into trash pits."
The Lessons of Easter Island - "What amazed and intrigued the first European visitors was the evidence, amongst all the squalor and barbarism, of a once flourishing and advanced society. Scattered across the island were over 600 massive stone statues, on average over twenty feet high. When anthropologists began to consider the history and culture of Easter Island early in the twentieth century they agreed on one thing. The primitive people living in such poverty-stricken and backward conditions when the Europeans first visited the island could not have been responsible for such a socially advanced and technologically complex task as carving, transporting and erecting the statues."
There are problems with comparing Easter Island and the Earth. The analogy is not quite an exact one. However, there is some truth to it which is why Jared Diamond's coverage of Easter Island is so fascinating and powerful. Is the Easter Island tragedy now happening on a global scale? Regardless, the whole history of Easter Island is well worth researching and reading about.
- Chicken Bones Suggest Polynesians Found Americas Before Columbus
Were Polynesians in South America before Columbus happened upon the Americas in 1492? Some evidence suggests this is the case. An article by Heather Whipps titled Chicken Bones Suggest Polynesians Found Americas Before Columbus has the details. Whipps...
- The Settlement Of Polynesia
This is a two part essay on human migration in Polynesia. It includes The Settlement of Polynesia, Part 1 and The Settlement of Polynesia, Part 2. It was written by Dennis Kawaharada. Some of the islands of Oceania were among the last habitable land areas...
- History Of St. Lucia
History of St. Lucia - This is a brief essay which covers the history of this small island nation. Nothing real exciting here but if you want a quick overview to the history of St. Lucia, this will do. From the site: St. Lucia's first known inhabitants...
- History Of Pitcairn Island
History of Pitcairn Island. This is a history of Pitcairn Island in the Pacific Ocean. It is best known as destination of the mutineers of the HMS Bounty in the 18th Century. Wikipedia notes, "The Pitcairn Islands are a group of five islands, of which...
- History Of Guam
History of Guam. This site offers a brief overview to the pacific island territory of Guam. From the site: Guam was discovered by Magellan in 1521, was occupied by Spain in 1688, was captured by the United States cruiser " Charleston " in June 1899, and...