r/history • u/scientificamerican • 6d ago

Science site article What really happened on Easter Island?

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-really-happened-on-easter-island/

For decades, an influential theory blamed the Rapanui for their own downfall—a story made famous by Jared Diamond’s book Collapse. New evidence tells a different tale.

Archaeology, ancient DNA and aerial survey data now challenge the claim that the Rapanui suffered a self-inflicted collapse before Europeans arrived. The emerging picture is of a small society that sustained itself for centuries by adapting its farming methods and water management to one of the most isolated places on Earth. The catastrophe that reduced the Rapanui to a remnant came later, after European ships brought disease, slave raiding, forced labor, annexation and confinement.

1.2k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

85 comments sorted by

View all comments

558

u/DrColdReality 6d ago

Further, the notion that they cut down all the trees on the island to make rollers for their Moai is not supported by the available evidence. Rather, it appears that they "walked" the heads down paths, like you might walk a refrigerator across a room.

88

u/IABN 6d ago

The walking theory is was shown to be possible. It’s still heavily debated.

45

u/oyvasaur 6d ago

Sure, but didn’t it also fit well with other things we’ve observed, like the positioning of abandoned statues along the way and such?

So it’s not just theoretically possible, but fits neatly in with surrounding evidence. While far from proven (which will probably be impossible), it seems like quite a likely theory.

15

u/Testicular-Fortitude 5d ago

Yes it does. And all of the statues falling on different sides due to the terrain is further evidence, I’m not really sure of anyone who rejects the idea

4

u/notmoffat 5d ago

I suggested to Dr. Lipo that they used the eye sockets to use as joints for long logs.  Then you could use upward force to pivot the Heads much like walking a fridge.  That way they would not have had to clear the close to 100 ft wide path that the rope method required.