Why is ecology considered a complex science?
Ecology is the branch of biology that studies how organisms interact with their environment and other organisms. Every organism experiences complex relationships with other organisms of its species, and organisms of different species. These complex interactions lead to different selective pressures on organisms.
What are the parallels of Easter Island?
The parallels between the modern world and Easter Island that are chillingly obvious noted by Diamond are that all countries of the world are interconnect and rely on one another for certain needs, much like the clans on the island, and that Easter Island was isolated, just like our planet (page 119).
Are Easter Island heads full bodies?
Though moʻai are whole-body statues, they are often referred to as “Easter Island heads” in some popular literature.
Are the Rapa Nui still alive?
First of all, the Rapa Nui haven’t been wiped off the face of the Earth: the Rapa Nui people still make up over half the Polynesian population today. Their ancestors likely arrived on Easter Island, now part of Chile, roughly a millennium ago.
Where are the giant stone heads?
The Easter Island heads are known as Moai by the Rapa Nui people who carved the figures in the tropical South Pacific directly west of Chile. The Moai monoliths, carved from stone found on the island, are between 1,100 and 1,500 CE.
Where is Rapa Nui?
Easter Island, Spanish Isla de Pascua, also called Rapa Nui, Chilean dependency in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is the easternmost outpost of the Polynesian island world. It is famous for its giant stone statues.
Who lives on Rapa Nui?
Scholars estimate that between 15,000 to 20,000 people lived on Rapa Nui at the peak of its habitation.
How many Rapa Nui are there?
7,750 people
How did the Rapa Nui die?
Destruction of society and population. A series of devastating events killed almost the entire population of Easter Island in the 1860s. Such devastating events that contributed to the downfall and collapse of the Easter Island society can be attributed to the rapid deforestation during the time of moai-construction.
Why do moai face inland?
The story goes that the people who built the Moai believed that they were the only people in the whole world. Any invaders or bad people that would be coming would have to come from within the island – not by sea! So the Moai face inwards to protect the community.
What is the meaning of Rapa Nui?
The current Polynesian name of the island, Rapa Nui (“Big Rapa”), was coined after the slave raids of the early 1860s, and refers to the island’s topographic resemblance to the island of Rapa in the Bass Islands of the Austral Islands group.
Why is Rapa Nui important?
Easter Island is famous for its stone statues of human figures, known as moai (meaning “statue”). The island is known to its inhabitants as Rapa Nui. The moai were probably carved to commemorate important ancestors and were made from around 1000 C.E. until the second half of the seventeenth century.
How were the moai carved?
Using basalt stone picks, the Easter Island Moai were carved from the solidified volcanic ash of Rano Raraku volcano. They are all monolithic the carvings are created in one piece and an average weight of 20 tons and measuring 20 feet tall or more. One unfinished statue is 69 feet tall, estimated to weigh 270 tons.
Why did the Rapa Nui build the moai?
Moai statues were built to honor chieftain or other important people who had passed away. They were placed on rectangular stone platforms called ahu, which are tombs for the people that the statues represented.
Why was moai toppled?
Why were the Moai toppled? Yet by the end of the 19th century, the Moai reportedly had all toppled and fallen over. There are different theories about this – some believe it was because of earthquake activity, others say the statues were toppled during tribal wars as a way of humiliating their opposition.
How old are Moai statues?
500 years old
Do the Easter Island statues have names?
“This suggested to people who had not seen photos of [other unearthed statues on the island] that they are heads only.” The statues, whose traditional name is “moai,” were carved from volcanic rock between A.D. 1100 and 1500 by ancient Polynesians.
How many moai statues are there?
887
How tall is a moai?
13 feet high
Where are the moai statues located?
Easter Island
Why are there no trees on Easter Island?
When it rains on the island, also known as Rapa Nui, the water rapidly drains through the porous volcanic soil, leaving the grass dry again. That’s one reason why the island at the end of the world has stayed almost entirely bare, with no trees or shrubs.
Did Easter Island ever have trees?
First version: Easter Island is a small 63-square-mile patch of land — more than a thousand miles from the next inhabited spot in the Pacific Ocean. Pretty soon the island had too many people, too few trees, and then, in only a few generations, no trees at all.
What is the lesson of Easter Island?
When our human systems, be it agricultural, energy, social, political, or economic are not serving us anymore, we need to question them, or risk a demise like that of the early Polynesian inhabitants of Easter Island.