BC Cook
THE giant statues are not the greatest mystery of the Easter Island. The people are. What did they do on the island besides build massive statues? Where did they go? Did they move away or die off? Recently, a major shift has occurred regarding the answers.
The language of Easter Island (Rapa Nui to locals) is so different from other Polynesian tongues that it suggests extreme isolation, which is no surprise. But there are no written records. We have no historical evidence of events before the 1700s. We rely completely on archaeological and environmental clues to piece together what happened. By the time European explorers arrived in the early 1700s the island was deforested and had a very small population. Now we have two stories for what occurred on the island.
Previous thinking: We used to believe that the first Polynesians settled Easter Island came in small numbers around the year 800 AD, or 1200 years ago, and the population remained modest and sustainable. The islanders lived in harmony with their surroundings, respecting the fragile balance between humans and nature. Then, a few hundred years ago, it ballooned to around 15,000 people. Population growth led to competition for land, food, wood, and other resources. This competition became severe and eventually led to building giant statues as a way to assert clan dominance over rivals. Abandoning sustainable agriculture, islanders degraded the environment until all the trees were gone and the island could no longer support a population. Wood was necessary for shelter, fires, boats and tools. Mass starvation or relocation followed. When European sailors arrived in the early 1700s they counted 3000 people, a small remnant of a once-proud civilization, a shell of its former glory. The enduring question has been, ‘What went through the mind of the person as he cut down the last tree?’
New thinking: New evidence has shot holes all through that story. In fact, hardly any of it is true. Settlement began much later than thought, around the year 1200 AD, or 800 years ago. The population rapidly reached around 3000 and leveled off until the Europeans arrived five hundred years later. There was no “Garden of Eden” period when a small group of islanders lived in harmony with nature, nor is there any evidence to support a period of intense competition between rival clans, no warfare. The statues were almost certainly not built to intimidate enemies. The environment was degraded and the once plentiful trees died off, it is true, but it occurred very early after the arrival of humans. They could not have destroyed the environment so quickly, at least not without help.
What accounts for the dramatic change in understanding? What caused the destruction of the trees, and with them the civilization, on Easter Island? Rats. They arrived with the earliest settlers and reproduced rapidly. In a healthy environment, and in the absence of a predator, rat populations can double every six or seven weeks. A single pair can become 17 million in only three years. Nearly all palm tree seeds found on Easter Island show evidence of being gnawed by rats. It was not people cutting down all the trees so much as rats eating all the seeds that led to massive deforestation. With fewer trees growing and people cutting those few down, collapse was inevitable. So rats brought about the environmental destruction that caused the island culture to collapse.
Dr. BC Cook taught history for thirty years and is a director and Pacific historian at Sealark Exploration (sealarkexploration.org). He currently lives in Hawaii.
