It’s now been over two months since I returned from Patagonia, Antarctica, the Falklands, Iguazu Falls and Easter Island. Most of that time I have been writing up Easter Island, which I have now finished. Having got home I have been processing all images and therefore posting more of them.
Easter Island especially demands explanations to go with the images and I have given quite detailed accounts of many aspects of the history and archaeology of Easter Island. There have been 24 posts, 150 images and lots of words.
It started out just about photography. It’s become somewhat more than that, though the images remain central.
One thing I discovered, not in other accounts, was that Easter Island had a two-stage crisis. First was an ecological crisis that lead to starvation and warfare. Second and only after European contact, the overthrow of the old religion and the downing of the moai.
I finished up by considering whether the history of Easter Island offers a parable for our times. I hope many people read this because I believe we all need to understand these issues to help build a consensus for positive change.
Below is a list of my special topics. These are folded into the posts which have quite different names, specific to locations, that may not reflect the content of the special topics. Further below I also present a list of the titles of the posts and then the sources of my research.
Special Topics
- Mysteries
- History
- The Birdman Cult
- Moving the Moai
- Tongariki Over Time
- Hanga Roa
- Papa Vaka/ Easter Island Art
- Ecology and History
- The Climax of the Classical Period
- The Fall of the Moai and the Ahu
- First Contact: Roggeveen in 1722
- Second Contact: Gonzalez in 1770
- Third Contact: Cook in 1774
- What do we learn from the early accounts of European visitors?
- Speculation: Did the Spanish get to Easter Island in the sixteenth century?
- Easter Island – Parable for Our Times?
Posts
- 20th April: Tongariki
- 21st and 22nd April: Tahai Complex
- 21st April: Anakena
- 21st & 22nd April: Orongo
- 22nd & 23rd April: Rano Raraku
- 25th April: Puna Pau
- 23rd April: Tongariki revisited
- 22nd April: Cemetery in Hanga Roa
- 23rd April: South Coast
- 22nd April: Ahu Akivi and Ahu Vai Teka
- 27th & 28th April: Petroglyphs
- 24th April: Ana Kakenga
- 22nd & 24th April: Ovahe
- 25th April: Ahu Te Pito Kura
- 25th April: Ana Kai Tangata
- 25th April: Ahu Te Peu
- 26th April: Ahu Hanga Kio’e
- 22nd April: Hanga Taharoa
- 26th April: Vinapu
- 26th April: Hanga Poukura, Vaihu and Akahanga
- 27th April: Hanga Piko
- 27th April: Ana Te Pahu
- 27th April: Ahu Huri A Urenga
- 27th April: Ahu Runga Va’e and Ahu Hanga Te Tenga
Note that posts are not necessarily chonological because they are also combined by content.
You need to click on the map to get it twice as large so you can read the place names. The maps covers 16 of the 25 place names in the titles of posts. Of those not covered:
- Puna Pau is shown as Maunga Vai Ohao,
- the South Coast is the whole south-east coast,
- Ahu Vai Teka is just to the West of Ahu Akivi,
- Ana Kakenga is just near Motu Tautara (which you can see from the cave),
- Ahu Hange Kio’e is near Punta Cook,
- Hanga Taharoa is the bay near Mahatua,
- Hanga Piko is just below the big point at Hanga Roa,
- Ana Te Pahu is about halfway between Ahu Akivi and Ahu Te Peu on the South side of the road
- and Ahu Runga Vae’e is just below Ahu Hanga Te Tenga.
Bibliography
My discourse on Easter Island reflects what I’ve read, my observations and my analysis. I don’t claim to be a scientist or an archaeologist. Apart from being a photographer, I am an economic historian (in terms of academic qualifications) who found a career as a systems developer (and I’m now retired). Here is a list of the books and articles I used:
Easter Island
- Books
- Shawn McLaughlin: The Complete Guide to Easter Island(2007)
- highly recommended
- Katherine Routledge: The Mystery of Easter Island (1919)
- Patrick Vinton Kirch: On the Road of the Winds (2000)
- Eric Kjellgren: Splendid Isolation, Art of Easter Island(2002)
- Articles by Jo Anne Van Tilberg and Adrienne L Kaeppler
- Jared Diamond: Collapse (2005)
- On the Web
- Bob Gosford (Crikey.com): El Ritual del Hombre-Pajaro – the bird-man cult of Rapa Nui (2009)
- BBC Two: The Mystery of Easter Island(2003)
- John Shrapnell, Jo Anne Van Tilburg, Paul Rainbird, Charlie Love, John Flenley, Erika Hagelberg, Sergio Rapu, Doug Owsley, David Steadman
- Easter Island Statue Project
- Bradshaw Foundation: Easter Island, Rock Art and Statues of Rapa Nui
- University of Chile: Archaeological Excavations and Reconstruction of Ahu Tongariki – Easter Island (2002)
- Kenneth P Emory: Easter Island’s Position in the Prehistory of Polynesia (1972)
- Hunt & Lipo: Myth of Ecocide(2009)
- Note that I don’t find support for his views on date of settlement, extent of the role of rats in defoliation or timing of the ecological crisis
- The voyage of Captain Don Felipe González in the ship of the line San Lorenzo, with the frigate Santa Rosalia in company, to Easter Island in 1770-1. Preceded by an extract from Mynheer Jacob Roggeveen’s official log of his discovery of and visit to Easter Island in 1722.(1908)
- They didn’t believe in short titles in those days
- The voyages of Captain James Cook. Illustrated with maps and numerous engravings on wood. With an appendix, giving an account of the present condition of the South Sea Islands, &c. (1842)
Ecology
- Books
- Tim Flannery: Here on Earth(An Argument for Hope) 2010
- Confusingly, there seem to be several books with very similar titles. I suspect that this is publishers’ demand for different markets. Since this is the Australian version, it is probably the book Flannery intended to write.
- Tim Flannery: The Weather Makers (2005)
- Tim Flannery: The Future Eaters (1994)
- Tim Flannery: The Eternal Frontier (2001)
- On the Web
- FAO: The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (2006)
- The Independent: Oceans’ fish could disappear in 40 years: UN (2010)
- Science Daily: Scientists Agree Human-Induced Global Warming Is Real, Survey Says (2009)
- The Independent (Brian Fagan): Fresh water supplies are going to run out, so what can we do to make the taps keep running? (2011)