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The history of Easter Island is a great example of the destruction of forests and the environment. The whole forest was wiped out. The species of trees became extinct. This has resulted in the depletion of raw materials, the extinction of wild animals, the depletion of food and the decline in agricultural production.
Finished wood, bark, rope, cloth and so on. Boats were wiped out due to the loss of large trees, as well as the transport of statues. When the Europeans arrived, they had a few weak boats for one or two people left. There was no wood to burn on cold and wet nights. Sugarcane, grass and crop residues were burned and used as fuel. There was fierce competition for access to the remaining wooden bushes. They were needed to build houses, cover bodies and make tools. The ritual of cremation after death also ended.
After the boats ran out, the bones of the big fish and the fishing hooks also disappeared from the garbage. Palm fruits, apples and wild fruits are out of the diet. The only wild food left was rats. Crop yields declined. One of the reasons for this was the erosion caused by rain and wind. Initially, the crop was grown in the shade of a palm tree, which protected it from wind and rain. After the palm was gone, the erosion and flow of soil from the fields in Puke buried Ahu and the buildings in the soil. Soil nutrition is reduced. Rotten leaves, fruits and branches of wild trees have run out of manure.
This resulted in starvation, population crashes and cannibalism. An artist has carved images of this period on a small sculpture called Mwai Kawa Kawa. Ribs protruding, puffy cheeks, starving people. When Captain Cook met the islanders, he called them "small, weak, and sad." The number of residences was a quarter of its peak. The ruined houses were left empty. The last thing to eat was humans. The last piles of rubbish on Easter Island contain broken human bones that have been broken to suck the pulp of the dead. Man-eating is mentioned in oral traditions. Also found in abuses here.
Prosperity depends on a high level of political and religious leadership. Monuments are also a symbol of prosperity. Projects made from fallen trees, fertile land crops and extra food. When this series began to end, the revolution came. The military leadership, Matatova, overthrew the traditional leadership in 1680. Civil war broke out and the political unit disintegrated. The spears of this era are still scattered on Easter Island. Ordinary people began to live in the areas of the elite, Hari Payanga. Housing began in the caves. They were widened. The entrance was narrowed for security. The discovery of food scraps, bone needles, wooden tools, and cloth repair tools here makes it clear that the caves were used not for hiding, but for housing. Collapsed societies pay a heavy human price. It doesn't happen gradually. Revolution comes from civil war and murder. Easter Island is one such example.
Traditional ideologies and leaders were rejected. Their power is gone, and so are their projects. The last Ahu and the last Maui were erected in 1620. This was the beginning of the collapse of society. Between 1600 and 1680, as the population declined, agricultural land was abandoned. After the military revolution of 1680, the tribes began to crush their rivals. They are pushed forward and dropped face down so that they fall on hard places and are more likely to break.
Like every collapsing society, the decline came shortly after and very fast. According to tradition, the last statue to be demolished was the largest Mercury, which was demolished in 1840. It was built by a woman in memory of her husband. It was a rival family that toppled him.
Many sighs were broken. Debris piled up. Even today, while driving here, these broken ahu and statues can be seen. When you look at it, you think that the islanders did it themselves. The tragedy and sorrow of this island is well felt when it destroyed the centuries-old work of its fathers.
For example, after the collapse of communism, Romanians or Russians overthrew statues of Chavez or Stalin. In the same way, the people living here may have vented their anger on them or may have followed the orders of the new revolutionaries, Matatova.
The lifestyle of the people living here was ruined. Hunger destroyed society. People are gone. Civil war population killed each other. They started eating each other. But human beings also find a way to live. We see an increase in the number of chickens. New ideas appear. The artwork now looks like a sculptor. The "interesting" pictures of women are the most engraved, the pictures of people's routines and the pictures of birds. Fallen sculptures became the site of this new art. Every year there was a competition to swim one mile in cold water. The annual champion was honored. These competitions lasted until 1867. When the rest of Easter Island culture was wiped out by the outside world.
The story of Easter Island's rapacious society was cut short by contact with the outside world. Europeans kept coming here after Captain Cook's brief stay in 1774. In 1805, the people here were arrested for forced labor. The worst year was 1862. The island's population had shrunk from 30,000 to 3,000 at its peak. This year, ships from Peru enslaved half of them. One and a half thousand people were sold at auction. They were taken to Peru to work on Guano's mines and for other work. Most died in captivity. Under international pressure, Peru released a dozen survivors and sent them back to the island. The returnees brought smallpox epidemic with them, which targeted the rest of the population. In 1872, only 111 natives survived.
European traders brought their sheep and claimed ownership of the land. In 1888, the Chilean government annexed the island. The island practically became a pasture for sheep. The Chilean Scottish company won the contract. All the locals were confined to one village and worked for the company. Rebelled in 1914. The Chilean army eliminated it. Sheep, goats and horses largely destroyed the remaining vegetation. The last Hoho and Toro Mario ended in 1934. In 1966, locals were granted Chilean citizenship. Today there are an equal number of Chileans and locals. Many flights bring tourists every week.
Written by Vihara Ambakar
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