The Easter Parade

The following article is an example of why it's important to always have some kind of a written record. The giant statues of Easter Island have captivated people across the world for hundreds of years. But why were they even made in the first place? Their creators left no record of their reasons or daily life. Were the statues worshiped as gods? Were they made by aliens? Author Erich von Daniken helped spread this possible alien theory with his book Chariots of the Gods?: Unsolved Mysteries of the Past. Daniken also believes the ancient Egyptians could not possibly have built the pyramids by themselves as they lacked the intelligence and strength. Similar theories explain the Mayan pyramids and the Nazca line drawings. Let's explore this mystery in depth following the jump.

From Life Magazine Special - Strange But True: 100 of the World's Weirdest Wonders
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One of the most remote inhabited islands on earth, Easter Island lies more than 2,000 miles from the shores of both Chile and Tahiti. Questions here start with when the first people arrived, which estimates peg between A.D. 400 and 1200. Legend has it that the early settlers were Polynesians who discovered a lush land, with giant palms useful for boats and housing. By the time descendants of these early pioneers were finished, however, Easter Island would be a hellhole. Until about 160o, the islanders devoted much of their time to constructing and siting enormous, anthropomorphic statues, called moai, from volcanic tuff. Since the islanders left no written record, there is no way to hold an informed opinion as to the purpose of the nearly 900 moai. In any case, simply carving these monuments, with their exaggerated noses and ears, was not enough: A third of them were transported around the island and placed on ceremonial platforms. 

Moving the moai was a tremendous undertaking—the tallest stood 32.6 feet tall and weighed 82 tons. Some archaeologists, such as the American Jo Anne Van Tilburg, believe the islanders used palm trunks to convey the statues. The great number of palms used in the effort led to the deforestation of Easter Island, which became one factor in the culture's decline and fall. With the disappearance of trees, topsoil was washed into the sea, leaving the inhabitants with no way to raise food. Historians believe other problems plagued the island as well, from unfamiliar diseases that arrived with new waves of human settlers to rats, who may have eaten the palms' seeds. In time, the social order collapsed, and in its place came civil war and cannibalism. In what must have been particularly frenzied activity, the moai were toppled by the Easter Islanders themselves. (Those standing today are the result of archaeological enterprise.) An entire ecosystem was wrecked and a beautiful island left barren. Today, Easter Island is home to only about 6,000 people. 

From Life Magazine Special - Strange But True: 100 of the World's Weirdest Wonders
Purchase here!