Monday, August 31, 2009

Easter Island Obsession






This summer, I became obsessed with Easter Island. I am fascinated with the size, style, and story behind these historical and mysterious statues. The islanders that created these stone heads where Polynesian seafarers that, for some unknown reason, landed and stayed on Easter Island. At that time, the island was covered with palm trees, which the islanders used for housing and boats to get food. Some think that the statues were built to honor chiefs or to bring the living closer to the heavens. They transported these statues by rolling them on top of palm trees that they cut down. A type of conveyer belt. Eventually, the tribes became obsessed with creating these statues and competing with other tribes to make the best and biggest statues. They became more and more detailed and bigger and bigger. This competition is what killed them. The islanders went through their tree supply, which meant they had no boats to get food. With no food, they starved. Marooned on the island, war broke out amongst the tribes. They destroyed themselves.

Emily Ritter

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