Easter Island

Settled by the Polynesians, sometime around AD600, this tiny speck of land, with its limited natural resources, was the scene of the development of some of the most mysterious and awe-inspiring prehistoric art. The best known expressions of cultural development on Rapa Nui are the famous monolithic statues known as maoi, the monolithic altars (ahu) and a type of hieroglyphic script (rongo rongo), which has not yet been deciphered. The real mystery of the island lies not so much in the maoi and the techniques for their transportation, but in what seems a paradox: the development of a complicated culture under such isolated conditions. This book looks into the history of the island and the rich culture that developed there over just a few centuries. It also examines the island's unique environment and how this was shaped by its inhabitants-and ultimately how its degradation, and contact with Europeans in the eighteenth century, were to have profound consequences on the island's people. As a story of discovery, exploitation and the effects of environmental degradation, the history of Easter Island has become a metaphor for ecological disaster....