IndexEarly SettlementHuman DisappearanceExteriors on Easter IslandWhat Happened to the Trees Easter Island TodayEaster Island covers an area of ​​64 miles square in the South Pacific Ocean and is located approximately 2,300 miles off the west coast of Chile and 2,500 miles east of Tahiti. Known as Rapa Nui by its first inhabitants, the island was named Paaseiland, or Easter Island, by Dutch explorers in honor of the day of their arrival in 1722. It was annexed by Chile in the late 19th century and now maintains an economy based largely on tourism. Easter Island's most spectacular claim to fame is a series of nearly 900 gigantic stone figures that date back many centuries. The statues reveal that their creators were master craftsmen and engineers and are distinctive among other stone sculptures found in Polynesian cultures. There has been much speculation about the exact purpose of the statues, the role they played in Easter Island's ancient civilization, and how they may have been constructed and transported. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Early Settlement The first human inhabitants of this mysterious island are believed to have arrived in an organized group of emigrants. Archeology dates their arrival to 700-800 AD, while linguists estimate around the year 400. Tradition holds that the first king of Rapa Nui was Hoto-Matua, a ruler of a Polynesian subgroup (perhaps of the Marquesas Islands ) whose ship traveled thousands of miles before landing at Anakena, one of the few sandy beaches on Rapa Nui's rocky coast. Now, it is hypothesized that after the decline of the moai culture, a new bird-worshipping cult developed on Easter Island. Its center was a ceremonial village called Orongo, built on the edge of the crater of the Rano Kao volcano. The greatest evidence of the rich culture developed by Rapa Nui's original settlers and their descendants is the existence of nearly 900 unimaginable giant stone statues that have been found in several locations across the island. Averaging 4 meters tall and weighing 13 tonnes, these enormous stone busts, known as moai, were carved from tuff (the light, porous rock formed from consolidated volcanic ash) and placed on ceremonial stone platforms called ahus. . It is not yet known exactly why these statues were built in such numbers and on such a scale, or how they were moved to the island. Human disappearance Previous research has shown that the late period of the island's civilization was characterized by civil wars and general destruction which also led to the fall of other statues. Island tradition indicates that around 1680, after coexisting peacefully for many years, one of the island's two main groups, known as the Short Ears, rebelled against the Long Ears, burning many alive on a pyre built along a ancient moat. in Poike, on the extreme north-eastern coast of the island. Another mystery behind the decline of the human population in the Easter Islands was ecocide; the natives cut down large forests and palm trees creating free space for moving statues and for agriculture. They thought the trees would grow back pretty quickly. It was a misleading concept. The deterioration of the environment led to starvation. And this, in turn, led to wars and cannibalism. Nowadays, however, this theory has been disproved. First of all, the inhabitants of Rapa Nui appeared to be very talented agricultural engineers. Imagine you created those Moai statues. They deliberately fertilized the fields with volcanic rock. In fact, another research has.