Who discovered Easter Island in 1722?
Dutchman Jacob Roggeveen
Ever since the Dutchman Jacob Roggeveen, the first European known to have reached Easter Island, arrived in 1722, scholars have debated the origins of the isolated population he found there.
Why is Easter Island part of Chile?
The first known European visitor to Easter Island was the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who arrived in 1722. The Dutch named the island Paaseiland (Easter Island) to commemorate the day they arrived. In 1888, Chile annexed Easter Island, leasing much of the land for sheep raising.
Is Stonehenge on Easter Island?
Stonehenge is located near Salisbury, Wiltshire, England within the Salisbury Plain — not the Pacific Ocean’s Easter Island.
Why did the people of Easter Island resort to cannibalism?
With no trees to anchor the soil, fertile land eroded away resulting in poor crop yields, while a lack of wood meant islanders couldn’t build canoes to access fish or move statues. This led to internecine warfare and, ultimately, cannibalism.
Do the Easter Island heads actually have bodies?
As a part of the Easter Island Statue Project, the team excavated two moai and discovered that each one had a body, proving, as the team excitedly explained in a letter, “that the ‘heads’ on the slope here are, in fact, full but incomplete statues.”
What happened to the trees on Easter Island?
There is good evidence that the trees largely disappeared between 1200 and 1650. Assuming that wood was used to move statues, a popular proposal was formulated that the islanders, besotted with their moai, cut down all the palm trees in order to move statues.
What was the original name of Easter Island?
Known as Rapa Nui to its earliest inhabitants, the island was christened Paaseiland, or Easter Island, by Dutch explorers in honor of the day of their arrival in 1722. It was annexed by Chile in the late 19th century and now maintains an economy based largely on tourism.
What was the population of Easter Island in 1770?
In 1770, the Spanish viceroy of Peru sent an expedition to the island; the explorers spent four days ashore and estimated a native population of some 3,000 people.
Where was the pyre built on Easter Island?
Island tradition claims that around 1680, after peacefully coexisting for many years, one of the island’s two main groups, known as the Short-Ears, rebelled against the Long-Ears, burning many of them to death on a pyre constructed along an ancient ditch at Poike, on the island’s far northeastern coast.
Where was the bird worship on Easter Island?
After the decline of the moai culture, a new cult of bird worship developed on Easter Island. It was centered on a ceremonial village called Orongo, built on the rim of the crater of the Rano Kao volcano.