The mystery of Easter Island: who ate whom and who was guarded by the famous stone idols (7 photos)

Everyone knows - Easter Island, this is the place where stick out of the ground mysterious stone heads. The question is who made them and why, as well as many versions about this, made Easter Island one of the most famous in the world. Because of these heads, scientists have studied the history of the island along and across, understood how the statues were created and even how they were transferred along throughout the island, but the main question was not answered.





Moai on Easter Island

Easter Island is part of Chile - there are even own capital, which is also the only city - Anga Roa. The area of the entire island is just over 160 square kilometers. current population of about 6,000 people. By the way, this is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world.

The island was discovered and described in 1722 - this was done Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen, he also gave him the name. Choice was simple - the island was opened on Easter day.

The natives themselves, by the way, called the island Rapanui, which, by the way, translates as "the Navel of the Earth."

Actively visit the island and study the moai (as these statues) began only in the 20th century. It turned out that doing moai was not so hard - they are made of volcanic ash, which easy enough to handle.



Undercut moai in the rock

Although the myth that the statues are very heavy still persists so far, that's not entirely true. The fact is that scientists at first, amazed the size of the statues (when they realized that most of them are “hiding” under earth), figured - since they are made of basalt and are so large, then should be heavy.

The question immediately arose - how were they transported around the island then? All these theories about aliens, etc.

But at the beginning of research, in the middle of the 20th century, none of these statues, of course, did not weigh. In fact, they could not even lift them. The statues were simply measured and purely mathematically calculated how much weigh a piece of basalt this size.

But we have already said above that it was not a simple basalt - most moai are carved from volcanic tuff, that is, from volcanic ash. The density of such a rock is less, and therefore and the mass is very different from ordinary basalt.





Triangular Easter Island

They also found the same volcano, on the slopes of which they were cut down moai - it is called Rano Raraku (extinct volcanoes on the island, which has the shape of a triangle, several - it's funny that they are located right around the corners).

And they even found “undercut” statues, which, accordingly, flaunt on the mountainside.

In general, even an estimate of the weight of a pair of the largest statues (under 10 meters high) of more than 80 tons turned out to be very overestimated. The largest figures have already been raised - it is believed that the usual crane, designed for a maximum of 15 tons. And the weight of ordinary idols now estimated at about 5 tons, no more.

They moved them, most likely, with the help of ropes - but not dragged and not rolled, but forced to "walk". In this video of ours link you can see how this, according to the researchers, should have been take place. In general, nothing complicated.



This is how huge statues were dragged with simple cranes on Easter Island

If they weighed 100 tons, as originally thought, then such a version would seem fantastic, of course - but it’s quite believable.

Thus, the question of creating and moving moai is, as it were, can be considered closed, it remains to understand why all this. Versions too many, the simplest (well, in our case) relies on the fact that the root Easter Islanders believe that volcanic ash holds power their ancestors.

Perhaps the statues themselves symbolized these ancestors, who were supposed to guard here or another part of the island. It may even be that it was something like "birthmarks", somehow denoting the belonging of territories to one or another clan or tribe. Although no There is no clear evidence for this theory.

However, scientists do not even know where they came from on the island local residents, although there are, of course, theories about this.



Easter Island, left virtually without forests

Some scholars have suggested that the local population were settlers from ancient Peru. Others believe that around the year 900people arrived here by boat with animals and plants from Polynesia. Allegedly they then created a developed civilization here, they also made now world-famous statues.

But then the question arises, the most important today for historians, probably - where did this mysterious civilization go? Answer Surprise, although he fully explains everything.

This theory says that the island itself was covered in dense forest, had fertile land - in general, it turned out to be very suitable for life. But when people, thanks to such well-being, began to multiply and divided into separate tribes, they began to fight with each other.

They fought, of course, for territory. The forest was uprooted and burned to release for agriculture - that's maybe the idols from the stone in which the spirit of the ancestors lives began to be set as guards.



Moai guarding the territory

It is believed that when the first Europeans came to this island, they saw only a small number of local residents who met the ships, setting fires near the huge idols, about which they themselves have only legends. They even say they were cannibals.

However, there are other versions - that all trees somehow the elements destroyed in a way that they were eaten by animals (for example, sheep, left here by the Europeans), and because of such a decline, people simply died out.

You can also find assumptions that in fact the same Europeans simply plundered the island, people were taken into slavery, and the forest cut down for their own purposes.

Well, they could come up with cannibals so that no one asked questions, where did all the people go from the island - they ate each other and that's it.



A whole platoon of moai guards

As you understand, most of what was said is a retelling theories, but the reality could be different. It is often written, for example, that the "ancient Rapanui" installed moai because they believed that they bring a big harvest.

Although no contradictions - if they guarded against neighbors the territory of their descendants. Maybe everyone started robbing there each other and the statues just killed all the people. Okay, joke, but how There is a lot of room for imagination, as they say.