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 ocean. They stand on
platform temples, called Ahu, which the islanders built up and enlarged over
the course of centuries. Tourists are astounded by the fine craftsmanship and
breath-taking beauty of Easter Island. Many believe a great mystery lies
hidden there.
Alternative history author
Graham Hancock believes that Easter Island is a focal point for a
vanished civilization whose influence stretches across millennia:
"The mystery of Easter Island so far seems to have involved... the mystery of
the master architects who first conceived the great Ahu and Moai [and] the
mystery of the master scribes who understood the Rongorongo language," he
wrote in Heaven's Mirror (1998).
Decades ago, anthropologist Robert Suggs wrote a history of Polynesia that was
a standard text on the subject. He firmly believed that archaeology had solved
most of the island's puzzles: "The mystery of this island, then, is largely of
an artificial nature, created for specific purposes by nonscientific authors."
He implied that those authors seek only fame and fortune, not truth. For that
reason, they obscure the history of the famous Moai.
The Moai of Easter Island are usually dated to the period between A.D. 1200 -
1650, and are considered a late addition to the Ahu platforms, which
originated with the founding of Easter Island. When I asked Graham Hancock to
comment on the age of the statues, he told me in August 2001 that the
archaeological dating is "probably correct as far as it goes, though not
necessarily the whole story." He referred me to Heaven's Mirror for a
full explanation of his views, so it is from their that I quote...
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 ocean. They stand on
platform temples, called Ahu, which the islanders built up and enlarged over
the course of centuries. Tourists are astounded by the fine craftsmanship and
breath-taking beauty of Easter Island. Many believe a great mystery lies
hidden there.
Alternative history author
Graham Hancock believes that Easter Island is a focal point for a
vanished civilization whose influence stretches across millennia:
"The mystery of Easter Island so far seems to have involved... the mystery of
the master architects who first conceived the great Ahu and Moai [and] the
mystery of the master scribes who understood the Rongorongo language," he
wrote in Heaven's Mirror (1998).
Decades ago, anthropologist Robert Suggs wrote a history of Polynesia that was
a standard text on the subject. He firmly believed that archaeology had solved
most of the island's puzzles: "The mystery of this island, then, is largely of
an artificial nature, created for specific purposes by nonscientific authors."
He implied that those authors seek only fame and fortune, not truth. For that
reason, they obscure the history of the famous Moai.
The Moai of Easter Island are usually dated to the period between A.D. 1200 -
1650, and are considered a late addition to the Ahu platforms, which
originated with the founding of Easter Island. When I asked Graham Hancock to
comment on the age of the statues, he told me in August 2001 that the
archaeological dating is "probably correct as far as it goes, though not
necessarily the whole story." He referred me to Heaven's Mirror for a
full explanation of his views, so it is from their that I quote...
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(Read the FULL Article here... | 15176 bytes more | comments? | Score: 0 ) Posted by nuke on Thursday, February 01 @ 08:13:51 CST (700 reads)
Easter Island is the world's most isolated inhabited island. It is also one
of the most mysterious. Easter Island is roughly midway between Chile and
Tahiti. The triangular shaped island is made mostly of volcanic rock. Small
coral formations exist along the shoreline, but the lack of a coral reef has
allowed the sea to cut cliffs around much of the island. The coastline has many
lava tubes and volcanic caves. The only sandy beaches are on the northeast
coast.
The inhabitants of this charming and mysterious place called their land: Te
Pito o TeHenua, 'the navel of the world.'
It sits in the South Pacific Ocean 2,300 miles west of South America, 2,500
miles southeast of Tahiti, 4,300 miles south of Hawaii, 3,700 miles north of
Antarctica. The closest other inhabited island is 1,260 miles away - tiny
Pitcairn Island where the mutineers of the H.M.S. Bounty settled in 1790.
Archaeological evidence indicates discovery of the island by Polynesians at
about 400 AD.
In 1722, a Dutch explorer, Jacob Roggeveen, sighted and visited the island.
This happened to be on a Sunday, Easter Sunday to be precise, and the name
stuck: Easter Island (Isla de Pascua in Spanish). What he discovered on Easter Island were three distinct groups of people,
Dark skinned, Red skinned, and very Pale skinned People with red hair".
The Polynesian name of the island is Rapanui, which is a name given by a
Tahitian visitor in the 19th century who says that the island looked like the
Tahitian island of 'Rapa,' but bigger, 'Nui.' Inhabitants are of Polynesian descent, but for decades anthropologists have
argued the true origins of these people, some claiming that ancient
South-American mariners settled the island first. What many early explorers who visited the island found, was a scattered
population with almost no culture they could remember and without any links to
the outside world. The Easter islanders were easy prey for 19th century slave traders which
depreciated even more their precarious culture, knowledge of the past, and
skills of the ancestors...
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(Read the FULL Article here... | 23612 bytes more | comments? | Score: 0 ) Posted by nuke on Sunday, October 16 @ 12:36:54 CDT (263 reads)
One of the greatest mysteries on Earth are the
statutes which stand on Easter Island. Easter Island is one of the most remote
islands on Earth. It is in the southern Pacific Ocean, 2,300 miles west of the
coast of Chile and 2500 miles southeast of Tahiti. The closest island is 1400
miles away, and that island is uninhabited. Easter Island is only 15 miles long
and 10 miles wide. Yet, Easter Island, which was almost uninhabited when it was
discovered on Easter Day in 1722 by a Dutch captain, is covered with hundreds of
giant statutes, each weighing several tons and some standing more than 30 feet
tall.
Who built these statutes and why and how did
they get there?
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(Read the FULL Article here... | 7525 bytes more | comments? | Score: 0 ) Posted by nuke on Monday, May 02 @ 22:15:29 CDT (603 reads)
LISBON, Portugal - The Great Wall of China, Rome's Colosseum, India's Taj Mahal and three architectural marvels from Latin America were among the new seven wonders of the world chosen in a global poll released on Saturday. Jordan's Petra was the seventh winner. Peru's Machu Picchu, Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer and Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid also made the cut. About 100 million votes were cast by the Internet and cellphone text messages, said New7Wonders, ... Read More
Submitted by Pendekar Timur: The Great Wall of China, Rome's Colosseum, India's Taj Mahal and three architectural marvels from Latin America were among the new seven wonders of the world chosen in a global poll released on Saturday. Jordan's Petra was the seventh winner. Peru's Machu Picchu, Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer and Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid also made the cut.About 100 million votes were cast by the Internet and cellphone text messages, said New7Wonders,... Read More
Submitted by Pendekar Timur: The Acropolis in Athens and Mexico's Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza are among the leaders in a competition, ending in one month, to choose the New Seven Wonders of the World, the organizers said on Thursday. The winners will be chosen through a global online and phone vote, organizers of the New 7 Wonders of the World competition said, a far cry from the methods used by the Greeks who chose the original Seven Wonders more than 2,000 years ago.Some 50 million people... Read More
It is a familiar tale of greed, stupidity and self-destruction. For hundreds of years the inhabitants of one of the most remote islands on Earth vied with each other to build ever more impressive statues, pillaging their resources to feed their obsession. Ecological disaster was inevitable. As the island's last tree was felled, the society collapsed into a holocaust of internecine warfare, starvation and cannibalism. Rival clans toppled each other's statues. Armed with deadly obs... Read More
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 restore mo... Read More
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 ... Read More
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