The Moai a.k.a the Easter Island stone statues and their mysterious history have the way for a distinct people and culture. The natives of the island dwelled in one of the most remote communities all over the world and left with them a significant legacy and heritage to their descendants.
And unfortunately, the original islanders also left the world with more unanswered questions than answers. There’s a lot to be told about how these ancient people thrived on the island and managed to erect such massive statues from the ground. Archaeologists had difficulty explaining their exact origins and the reasons why the ancient islanders stopped building them. It’s a pacific wonder that’s truly covered in mystery. But perhaps what’s even more puzzling is the location of the island itself…
Resistance
While various contradicting theories exist involving the strange disappearance of the early Easter Islanders, the majority of anthropologists have similar views when it comes to one specific fact. At one particular time during the 18th century, the early inhabitants of the Easter Island began massive riots, in resistance against their tribal leaders.
When resources started to dwindle, tensions between various groups grew and eventually explode into violent clashes and actual battles. Because of the large-scale unrest that happened during that time, a lot of the Moai statues were destroyed and taken down. As it appears, the majority of the statues were left lying beneath the earth. Obviously, each one of them has been re-elected ever since.
The Norwegian Adventurer
Based on the accounts of Thor Heyerdahl, a famous Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer, Easter Island originally had an ancient road system that its early inhabitants used as a primary means of transportation. The numerous different roads were uncovered together with a number of statues that were uprooted beside them.
The Norwegian adventurer refuted the British archaeologist Katherine Routledge’s belief that the ancient road networks were in fact used by its original dwellers to cater to religious and ritualistic activities. Regardless of Heyerdahl’s opinions, Routledge’s belief undeniably carries much factual weight. Every ancient road on the island eventually converged to the inactive Rano Raraku volcano, signifying that it served as a primary place of worship for the ancient Islanders.
The Unknown Connections
But it’s not just the island’s gigantic head statues and unexplained road networks that have been shrouded in mystery. Archaeologists and researchers were also puzzled about the kind of writing system that the early inhabitants of Easter Island would have possibly used during their time.
Robert M. Schoch, an American associate professor of Natural Sciences at the College of General Studies, Boston University, believes that the tablets with calligraphic writings could date as far back as 10,000 years older than they originally thought. If this were true, then Easter Island would be a lot more ancient than we have expected it to be. The idea hit Schoch following an exploration of the ancient Turkish ruins of Gobekli Tepe and felt that it was somewhat out of place based on where it is situated. Schoch has the same observation with the Moai and the pillars of Gobekli Tepe.
Playing By Ear
Archaeologists managed to dig up some of the remains of the early dwellers of the Easter Island and it gave them some idea about their potential origins as well. The ancient skulls that they unearthed within the remote island were somewhat out of the ordinary. They appeared long and narrow and also indicated that the people of Rapa Nui may have possessed longer ears than the typical human being.
In fact, there is even evidence that indicates a possible battle that occurred on the island between tribes with short ears against another tribe with long ears. The long-eared people appeared to have been ancient Peruvians while the short-eared ones descended from the Polynesian race.