how to get stone blocks paradise island 2

But as the trees disappeared and people began to starve, warfare broke out among the tribes. According to this theory, the population grew to several thousand, freeing some of the labor force to work on the moai. They believe the culture thrived for hundreds of years, breaking up into settlements and living off the fruitful land. Many experts maintain that the settlers landed around 800 A.D.

By the time Dutch explorers-the first Europeans to reach the remote island-arrived on Easter day in 1722, the land was nearly barren.Īlthough these events are generally accepted by scientists, the date of the Polynesians' arrival on the island and why their civilization ultimately collapsed is still being debated. 'You have to be pretty desperate to take to burning grass,' says John Flenley, who with Paul Bahn co-authored The Enigmas of Easter Island. The treeless terrain eroded nutrient-rich soil, and, with little wood to use for daily activities, the people turned to grass. Many trees had been cut down to make room for agriculture others had been burned for fire and used to transport statues across the island. They moved the mammoth blocks of stone-on average 13 feet tall and 14 tons-to different ceremonial structures around the island, a feat that required several days and many men.Įventually the giant palms that the Rapanui depended on dwindled. On this outpost nearly 2,300 miles west of South America and 1,100 miles from the nearest island, the newcomers chiseled away at volcanic stone, carving moai, monolithic statues built to honor their ancestors. But what is clear is that they made a small, uninhabited island with rolling hills and a lush carpet of palm trees their new home, eventually naming their 63 square miles of paradise Rapa Nui-now popularly known as Easter Island. When and why these people left their native land remains a mystery. Hundreds of years ago, a small group of Polynesians rowed their wooden outrigger canoes across vast stretches of open sea, navigating by the evening stars and the day's ocean swells.

How to get stone blocks paradise island 2