Archeology: Easter Island enigma guesswork (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, May 11, 2016, 18:25 (3117 days ago)

Challenging theories of guesswork haven't solved the issue:-https://aeon.co/opinions/the-easter-island-controversy-has-no-single-simple-answer?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=f201ef379a-Daily_Newsletter_11_May_20165_10_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_411a82e59d-f201ef379a-68942561-Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, is an island in the Pacific famous for the massive humanoid statues peppered along its coasts. These moai are commonly called stone heads, but actually most possess bodies, and the largest constructed stands at over 30 feet and weighs 82 tons. Ever since these monoliths were encountered by European explorers in the 18th century, the history of the island has been a topic of fascination and debate. Most captivating is the mystery of how almost 900 moai were carved and transported, mostly between 1250 CE and 1500 CE, only to be toppled and abandoned by the 18th century.-The history remains contentious and its scholarship is currently hosting a fierce debate between two rival camps. The first account, popularised by Jared Diamond in his bestselling book Collapse (2005), presents the island's history as a cautionary tale of the destructive potential of humans to overexploit natural resources. A contradictory account has been advocated over the past decade by a group of scholars, led by the anthropologists Carl Lipo and Terry Hunt, who contend that the ‘collapse' Diamond describes is largely a European myth. Instead, continuity is the hallmark of settlement on Rapa Nui.-Let's start with the Collapse narrative, a simplified version of which goes as follows: Easter Island was once a lush forested environment that housed a thriving Polynesian civilisation. However, overpopulation and destructive agricultural practices eventually depleted its natural resources, which in turn resulted in destructive tribal conflicts. Starvation, mass warfare and even cannibalism led to a population crash.-The moai have a part in this story, too: the pressure on resources is thought to have been exacerbated by the need for trees, which served as a means of transporting the massive icons that signalled a chief's status and power. -***-In this telling, the island's population was never much higher than 3,000, and the construction of moai was not really that resource-intensive. This latter point forms the core argument of Lipo and Hunt's book The Statues That Walked (2011), which proposes that the moai did not require many trees to transport, as they could be ‘walked' upright into place by small groups rocking them from side to side by rhythmically pulling them with ropes.-***-This year, another new study led by Lipo and Hunt analysed obsidian artefacts known as mata'a which are found on Rapa Nui, and claimed to offer more evidence in support of their position. Mata'a are plentiful across the island, and were previously believed to be spear points. They were therefore seen as archaeological evidence that supported oral traditions of mass warfare on the island. But the new study called this interpretation into question by demonstrating that the mata'a came in many shapes, most of which would have been poor for stabbing and piercing. Instead, the authors suggest that mata'a were more likely used as tools in agricultural cultivation, or as part of domestic and ritual practices.-This study presented a compelling case and made a valuable contribution to the research literature examining the island's history. However, the way such scientific studies are packaged by university PR departments, promoted by academics and then presented to the public is a problem. -***
Most of the articles summarising the study presented it as decisively overturning a false consensus based on Diamond's misleading portrayal, and quotes from the study's authors seemed to reinforce this view.-It is understandable why this is an appealing angle: Diamond is a controversial figure, especially among anthropologists (a 2013 paper was titled ‘F**k Jared Diamond'), and he has repeatedly been accused of misrepresenting facts to fit his grand narratives. -***-The crucial point is that such debates continue, and can almost never be settled by a single study or analyses of a single type of artefact. Writers, readers, researchers and scientists must recognise that most questions worth asking demand complex answers that cannot be provided by any single study, regardless of whether we prefer the narrative it implies.-Comment: I agree.