I’m at Easter Island, a remote volcanic island in Polynesia famed for its archaeological sites, including some 900 monumental statues, called moai, created by its early Rapa Nui inhabitants during the 10th-16th centuries. No one knows why they began carving giant statues out of volcanic rock. The moai are carved human figures with oversize heads, often resting on massive rock altars called ahus. Ahu Tongariki has the largest group of upright moai.
The Mystery of Easter Island
The island has an interesting story. It is said that Easter Island was once a land abundant with rich soil and forests. The Rapa Nui colonized it, and over the course of a mere 300 years, they depleted the bountiful resources and started dying out. Missionaries and slave traders added to the damage and entirely wiped out the civilization and its history. Now, the only remnants are these Moai.
The story of the Rapa Nui is eerily similar to what we’re doing to our planet, isn’t it? The Earth is but an Easter island in a never ending sea, and we’re all like the Rapa Nui, settlers who keep taking from the land. Unless we take corrective steps, we might just end up leaving stone testimonies to the bounty there once was.