Table of contentsEarly colonizationHuman disappearanceAliens on Easter IslandWhat happened to the treesEaster Island todayEaster Island is extends over an area of ​​64 square miles in the South Pacific Ocean and is located approximately 2,300 miles from the west coast of Chile and 2,500 miles east of Tahiti. Known as Rapa Nui to 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 to the end of the 19th century and today maintains an economy based largely on tourism. Easter Island's most spectacular claim to fame is a collection of nearly 900 giant stone figures dating back centuries. The statues reveal that their creators were master craftsmen and engineers and are distinct from other stone sculptures found in Polynesian cultures. There has been much speculation about the exact function of the statues, the role they played in the ancient civilization of Easter Island, and how they may have been constructed and transported. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayEarly SettlementThe first human inhabitants of this mysterious island are believed to have arrived as part of an organized group of emigrants. Archeology dates their arrival between 700 and 800 AD. traveled thousands of kilometers before landing at Anakena, one of the few sandy beaches on the rocky coast of Rapa Nui. Today, it is assumed that after the decline of moai culture, a new bird cult developed on Easter Island. It was centered on a ceremonial village called Orongo, built on the crater rim of the Rano Kao volcano. The greatest evidence of the rich culture developed by Rapa Nui's early settlers and their descendants is the existence of nearly 900 unimaginably giant stone statues that have been found in various locations across the island. Measuring on average 4 meters high and weighing 13 tonnes, these enormous stone busts, known as moai, were carved from tuff (the light, porous rock formed by consolidated volcanic ash) and placed atop platforms -ceremonial stone forms called ahus. . It remains unclear exactly why these statues were built in such large numbers and on such a scale, nor how they were moved around the island. led to the toppling of other statues. Island tradition indicates that around 1680, after coexisting peacefully for many years, one of the two main groups on the island, known as the Short Ears, rebelled against the Long Ears, burning many between them to death on a pyre built along an old ditch. in Poike, on the northeast coast of the island. Another mystery behind the decline of the Easter Islands' human population was ecocide: the natives cut down large forests and palm trees, freeing up space for moving statues as well as agriculture. They thought the trees would grow back pretty quickly. It was a misleading concept. Environmental deterioration has led to hunger. And this led to wars and cannibalism. But today such a theory has been proven wrong. First of all, the people of Rapa Nui seemed to be very talented agricultural engineers. Imagine they created these Moai statues. They deliberately fertilized the fields with volcanic rock. In fact, other research showed that people had lived on the island for several centuries. And the population only began to decline when Europeans began to invade.