What are the mysteries of Easter Island?

Deforestation, slavery and rats were all factors in the Pacific island’s population decline. Most people have heard of the decimation of the population of Easter Island (also called Rapa Nui) and have seen pictures of the massive stone statues (moai) that line the coastline.

What is the mystery of the statues that made Easter Island famous?

Moai
What purpose do the statues of Easter island Have? Archaeologists suggest that the statues were a representation of the Polynesian people’s ancestors. The Moai statues face away from the sea and towards the villages, by way of watching over the people. So here at Ahu Tongariki these Moai look over a flat village site.

Does anyone live on Easter Island?

Think about it like this: About 5,000 people (many of them native Rapa Nui) live on the island year-round. In 2007, about 40,000 tourists a year visited Easter Island. Now that number is upwards of 1,000. For travelers, visiting the island, know that—like most islands in the world—things are not cheap.

Why Easter Island became a mystery?

The Easter Island mystery is mainly due to its isolation. This made the Rapa Nui culture and history have not been completely unraveled and made the Easter Island myths and legends very relevant. They been transmitted orally by the natives and collected by ancient visitants.

What went wrong on Easter Island?

In this story, made popular by geographer Jared Diamond’s bestselling book Collapse, the Indigenous people of the island, the Rapanui, so destroyed their environment that, by around 1600, their society fell into a downward spiral of warfare, cannibalism, and population decline.

Where do Easter Island statues come from?

Easter Island – The Statues and Rock Art of Rapa Nui. Using basalt stone picks, the Easter Island Moai were carved from the solidified volcanic ash of Rano Raraku volcano. They are all monolithic the carvings are created in one piece and an average weight of 20 tons and measuring 20 feet tall or more.

Is there a McDonalds on Easter Island?

There are no fast food franchised like McDonalds, Taco Bell or KFC on Easter Island, but they do they Club Sandwich which sell huge hotdog and hamburgers with toppings that the locals like.

Can you fish on Easter Island?

In case you didn’t bring your own equipment you can buy weights, hooks and a fishing line at the shop Polynesia 2000 just below the church. …

Are there any mysterious islands in the world?

Most of the world’s islands are well-explored, their secrets learned long ago, but a few remain mysterious. Islands shown on maps for centuries suddenly appear to vanish. Dangerous, top-secret facilities on remote islands are abandoned or destroyed.

What to do on Isla de Pascua?

Isla de Pascua. At present, in addition to being an archeological landmark, the ecological features of the island permit geological and astronomical research to be carried out, thus giving this place the position of one of the most interesting scientific epicenters in South America. Chile has exercised sovereignty over the island since 1888.

Did Mexico’s lost island ever get found?

Although the lost island wasn’t found, Elias Cardenas, the head of Mexico’s congressional Maritime Committee, planned to continue his country’s search for it, hoping it might turn up elsewhere. Perhaps the island had sunk or submerged, he said.

What happens when you visit an ancient island?

Islands shown on maps for centuries suddenly appear to vanish. Dangerous, top-secret facilities on remote islands are abandoned or destroyed. Islands used to house the diseased or insane offer their disturbing and haunting memories to those willing to visit.