Page 26 - Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

First, their radiocarbon dating on other islands. Moreover, people groups. Islanders had adapted to their
(p. 42) indicated that people had not col- brought the rats, so the forest was resource-poor environment by becom-
onized the island until about a.d. 1200. still destroyed as a result of human ing a peaceful and cooperative society,
This finding suggested that deforesta- colonization. with the statues providing a harmless
tion occurred suddenly, soon after Despite the forest loss, Hunt and outlet for competition over status and
arrival. How could so few people have Lipo argue that islanders were able to prestige.
destroyed so much forest so fast? persist and thrive. Archaeology shows Altogether, the evidence led Hunt
Hunt and Lipo’s answer: rats. how islanders adapted to Rapa Nui’s and Lipo to propose that far from
When Polynesians settled new islands, poor soil and windy weather by devel- destroying their environment, the
they brought crop plants, domestic oping rock gardens to protect crop islanders had acted as responsible
animals such as chickens, and rats. plants and nourish the soil. Tools that stewards. The collapse of this sustain-
Whether rats were stowaways or previous researchers viewed as weap- able civilization, they argue, came with
were brought intentionally as food is ons were actually farm implements, the arrival of Europeans, who unwit-
not known. In either case, rats can Hunt and Lipo concluded; lethal tingly brought contagious diseases to
multiply quickly, and they soon overran injuries were rare; and no evidence which the islanders had never been
Rapa Nui. of battle or defensive fortresses was exposed. Indeed, historical journals of
Rats ate palm nuts (research- uncovered. sequential European voyages depict a
ers see their tooth marks on old nut Hunt, Lipo, and others also society falling into disarray as if reeling
casings). Hunt and Lipo suggest they unearthed old roads and inferred from epidemics, its statues tumbling
ate so many nuts and shoots that the how the statues were transported. around it.
trees could not regenerate. With no It had been thought that a power- Peruvian ships then began raiding
young trees growing, the palm went ful central authority forced armies of Rapa Nui and taking islanders away
extinct once mature trees died. laborers to move them, but Hunt and into slavery. Foreigners acquired the
Diamond and others counter Lipo concluded that small numbers of land, forced the remaining people into
that over 20 additional plant species people could move them by tilting and labor, and introduced thousands of
went extinct on Rapa Nui, that plenty rocking them upright like refrigerators. sheep, which destroyed the few native
of palm nuts escaped rat damage, Indeed, the distribution of statues on plants left on the island. Thus, the col-
and that most plants survived rats the island suggested the work of family lapse of Rapa Nui civilization resulted
from a barrage of disease, violence,
and slave-raids following foreign con-
tact. Before that, Hunt and Lipo say,
Rapa Nui’s people boasted 500 years
of a peaceful and resilient society.
Hunt and Lipo’s interpretation, CHAPTER 1 • SCIENCE AND SUSTAIN ABILITY : AN INTR ODUCTI ON T O ENVIR ONMENTAL SCIENCE
put forth in a 2011 book, The Statues
That Walked, represents a paradigm
shift (p. 31) in how we view Easter
Island. Debate between the two camps
remains heated. Meanwhile, research
continues as scientists look for new
ways to test the differing hypotheses.
In the long-term, data from additional
studies should lead us closer and
closer to the truth.
Like the people of Rapa Nui, we
are all stranded together on an island
with limited resources. What is the
lesson of Easter Island for our global
island, Earth? Perhaps there are two:
That any island population must learn
Were the haunting statues of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) erected by a civilization that to live within its means—but that with
collapsed after devastating its environment, or by a sustainable civilization that fell care and ingenuity, there is hope that
because of outside influence? we can.
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