Easter Island: the future's not set in stone

Easter Island stone heads are 'dying'

Sloping slightly sideways on the grassy hills beneath the Ranu Raraku volcano, a giant stone head known as a moai shows the wear and tear of time on this triangular 64-square-mile island. On the right side of the oblong rectangular face with male features, the rock is lighter in color and its long, carefully sculpted ear and nostril are clearly visible. But on the statue"s left side, the sun and wind have eroded the nose, lip and ear. "The moai are dying by natural causes," said archaeologist Se...

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Did rats cause death of Easter Island ?

It was the first and most extreme ecological disaster. Easter Island, in the south Pacific, once lush with subtropical broadleaf forest, was left barren and vast seabird colonies were destroyed after the arrival of man. But now there is new evidence that human beings may not have been responsible for the destruction after all. Although Easter Island has long been held to be the most important example of a traditional society destroying itself, it appears that the real culprits were rats - up to ...

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Leaving stones unturned on Easter Island

As remnants of a vanished culture and a lure to tourists, the mysterious giant statues that stand as mute sentinels along the rocky coast here are the greatest treasure of this remote place. For local people, though, they also present a problem: what should be done about the hundreds of other stone icons scattered around the island, many of them damaged or still embedded in the ground?Commercial and political interests, as well as some archaeologists, would like nothing better than to restoremor...

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Cave system found on Easter Island

A six-kilometer long cave system has been discovered on Easter Island which is believed to have been used by the island"s inhabitants in the 16th century. Spears, axes, petroglyphs and even human skeletons have been found there."A team of experts recently discovered a six-kilometer-long lava cave system on Easter Island thought to have been used as arefuge by the island’s inhabitants during the 16th century. . The team con...

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Easter Island and death of an ecosystem

The giant stone statues of Easter Island have perplexed generations of archaeologists, engineers and scholars. Ever since European explorers first set eyes on them three centuries ago these carvings have presented a problem. How could the island's primitive inhabitants have erected such massive edifices – each weighing many tons – without the help of wheels, cranes, machines, metal tools or draft animals? The very existence of these giant heads on a barren outcrop of land in the middle of th...

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Giant statues give up hat secret

How did the Easter Island statues get their red hats ? Archaeologists now believe that the mysterious headpieces sported by the statues were rolled down from avolcano and are composed of compressed red scoriadust."Archaeologists believe they have solved one ancient mystery surrounding the famous Easter Island statues. . At 2,500 miles off the coast of Chile, the island is one of the world"smost remote places inhabited by people...

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The other mystery of Easter Island

Easter Island is branded into popular consciousness as the home of the mysterious and towering moai statues, but these are not the only curiosity the South Pacific island holds. Where the moai are fascinating for their unknown purpose and mysterious craftsmen, the island's lost language of Rongorongo is equally perplexing. The unique written language seems to have appeared suddenly in the 1700s, but within just two centuries it was exiled to obscurity.Known as Rapa Nui to the island's in...

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Easter Island Exposed

© 2001 Jason Colavito On a dusty speck of rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, one of the most celebrated cultures in history found a foot-hold into the popular imagination. The inhabitants of Easter Island created a cultural legacy that continues to resonate today as tourists flock to the tiny Chilean possession to see for themselves the impressive and distinctive statues, called Moai, which dot the landscape and stare with empty eyes toward the endless ocea...

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Easter Island - shedding light on an ancient mystery

Between 1200 and 1500 A.D., the small, remote island, 2,000 miles off the coast of Chile, was inhabited by over 10,000 people and had a relatively sophisticated and technologically advanced society.During this time, inhabitants used large boats for fishing and navigation, constructed numerous buildings and built many of the large statues, known as Tiki Gods, for which the island is now best known.However, by the late 18th century, when European explorers first discovered the island, ...

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Easter Island compound extends life

A compound first discovered in the soil of Easter Island called "rapamycin" has shown promising results when administered to mice, increasing their lifespan by a third and offering hope for similar application in humans. "These Easter Islandmonoliths have endured for centuries. . New research suggests that a compound first discovered in soil of the remote South Pacific island might help humans stand the test of time, too.&...

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