Was there ever trees on Easter Island?
Easter Island was covered with palm trees for over 30,000 years, but is treeless today. There is good evidence that the trees largely disappeared between 1200 and 1650.
What happened to the forests of Easter Island?
Scientists have proven that the island was covered by forests until the 17th century. It’s believed the trees were cut down by the ancestors of today’s Easter Islanders in order to transport the giant stone statues – the Moai – as well as to build canoes, houses and fires to burn the dead.
Where did the settlers on Easter Island originally come from?
Linguists estimate Easter Island’s first inhabitants arrived around AD 400, and most agree that they came from East Polynesia. The archaeological record suggests a somewhat later date of settlement, between AD 700 and 800. As early as BC 5500 people in Melanesia were voyaging in boats and trading in obsidian.
Why were the people clearing the forests in Easter Island?
Regarding the causes, humans were not the only factors responsible for forest clearing, as climatic droughts as well as climate–human–landscape feedbacks and synergies also played a role.
Are there any Rapa Nui left?
The Rapa Nui are the indigenous Polynesian people of Easter Island. At the 2017 census there were 7,750 island inhabitants—almost all living in the village of Hanga Roa on the sheltered west coast.
What really happened on Easter Island?
In this story, made popular by geographer Jared Diamond’s bestselling book Collapse, the Indigenous people of the island, the Rapanui, so destroyed their environment that, by around 1600, their society fell into a downward spiral of warfare, cannibalism, and population decline.
What’s the language spoken on Easter Island?
It is spoken on the island of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island….Rapa Nui language.
| Rapa Nui | |
|---|---|
| Region | Easter Island |
| Ethnicity | Rapa Nui |
| Native speakers | 1,000 (2016) |
| Language family | Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Polynesian Eastern Polynesian Rapa Nui |
Is there WiFi on Easter Island?
In Easter Island almost all hotels offer internet connection, in some cases through computers accessible to customers and in others there is WiFi signal, although it usually covers only the common areas and not the rooms. In both cases the connection is still very slow and is often interrupted.
What kind of forest was on Easter Island?
The Easter Island of ancient times supported a sub-tropical forest complete with the tall Easter Island Palm, a tree suitable for building homes, canoes, and latticing necessary for the construction of such statues.
What makes Easter Island a World Heritage Site?
The island is most famous for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, called moai, which were created by the early Rapa Nui people. In 1995, UNESCO named Easter Island a World Heritage Site, with much of the island protected within Rapa Nui National Park. Experts disagree on when the island’s Polynesian inhabitants first reached the island.
What was the original name of Easter Island?
Known as Rapa Nui to its earliest inhabitants, the island was christened 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.
How many statues are there on Easter Island?
Easter Island (Rapa Nui: Rapa Nui, Spanish: Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. Easter Island is most famous for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapa Nui people.