Summer Camp Themes

But pollen analysis also showed that trees began declining after human arrival and were replaced by ferns and grasses.  Then between 1400 and 1600, pollen levels plummeted. Charcoal in the soil proved the forest had been burned, likely in slash-and-burn farming. Researchers concluded that the islanders, desperate for forest resources and cropland, had deforested their own island.

With the forest gone, soil eroded away (data from lake bottoms showed a great deal of accumulated sediment). Erosion would have lowered yields of bananas, sugarcane, and sweet potatoes, perhaps leading to starvation and population decline. Further evidence indicated that wild animals disappeared. Archaeologist David Steadman analyzed 6500 bones and found that at least 31 bird species had provided food for the islanders. Today, only one native bird species is left. Remains from charcoal fires show that early islanders feasted on fish, sharks, porpoises, turtles, octopus, and shellfish—but in later years they consumed little seafood. As resources declined, researchers concluded, people fell into clan warfare, revealed by unearthed weapons and skulls with head wounds.

Rapa Nui appeared to be a tragic case of ecological suicide: A once-flourishing civilization depleted its resources and destroyed itself. In this interpretation—advanced by Flenley and writer Paul Bahn, and popularized by scientist Jared Diamond.

 

Rapa Nui seemed to offer a clear lesson: We on our global island, planet Earth, had better learn to use our limited resources sustainably.

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