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easter_island [2013-01-24 05:07] – created nikeaster_island [2013-01-24 05:07] (current) nik
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 A completely different story emerged from Hunt and Lipo’s archaeology.  Polynesians first arrived as late as 1200AD.  There are no signs of violence---none of the fortifications common on other Pacific islands, no weapons, no traumatized skeletons.  The palm trees that originally covered the island succumbed mainly to rats that arrived with the Polynesians and ate all the nuts.  The natives burned what remained to enrich the poor soil and then engineered the whole island with small rocks (“lithic mulch”) to grow taro and sweet potatoes.  The population stabilized around 4,000 and kept itself in balance with its resources for 500 years until it was totally destroyed in the 18th century by European diseases and enslavement.  (It wasn’t Collapse; it was Guns, Germs, and Steel.) A completely different story emerged from Hunt and Lipo’s archaeology.  Polynesians first arrived as late as 1200AD.  There are no signs of violence---none of the fortifications common on other Pacific islands, no weapons, no traumatized skeletons.  The palm trees that originally covered the island succumbed mainly to rats that arrived with the Polynesians and ate all the nuts.  The natives burned what remained to enrich the poor soil and then engineered the whole island with small rocks (“lithic mulch”) to grow taro and sweet potatoes.  The population stabilized around 4,000 and kept itself in balance with its resources for 500 years until it was totally destroyed in the 18th century by European diseases and enslavement.  (It wasn’t Collapse; it was Guns, Germs, and Steel.)
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 http://longnow.org/seminars/02013/jan/17/statues-walked-what-really-happened-easter-island/ http://longnow.org/seminars/02013/jan/17/statues-walked-what-really-happened-easter-island/
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  • easter_island.1359004048.txt.gz
  • Last modified: 2013-01-24 05:07
  • by nik