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What was discovered on Easter Island?
Easter Island’s most dramatic claim to fame is an array of almost 900 giant stone figures that date back many centuries. The statues reveal their creators to be master craftsmen and engineers, and are distinctive among other stone sculptures found in Polynesian cultures.
Who discovered Easter Island by accident?
Overview. Dutch Admiral Jacob Roggeveen (1659-1729) made the first European discovery of Easter Island on Easter Day, April 5, 1722, and ended 1,400 years of isolation on the island.
What caused the collapse of Easter Island?
Around 1200 A.D., their growing numbers and an obsession with building moai led to increased pressure on the environment. By the end of the 17th century, the Rapanui had deforested the island, triggering war, famine and cultural collapse.
Who first discovered Easter Island?
explorer Jacob Roggeveen
Between 600 and 800 A.D., a group of colonists from an unidentified location in Eastern Polynesia settled on Easter Island after sailing in a southeasterly direction for many weeks. The name Easter Island originated with the European explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who first saw the island on Easter Sunday, 1722.
How did Jacob Roggeveen discover Easter Island?
He made landfall near Valdivia, Chile. He visited the Juan Fernández Islands, where he spent 24 February to 17 March. The expedition later arrived at Easter Island (Rapa Nui) on Easter Sunday, 5 April 1722 (whereupon he reported seeing 2,000-3,000 inhabitants).
Who was the first person to discover Easter Island?
Captain Jacob Roggeveen
NOVA Online | Secrets of Easter Island | First Inhabitants. Ever since 1722, when Captain Jacob Roggeveen, a Dutchman and the first European known to have reached Easter Island arrived, scholars have debated the origins of the isolated population he found there.
What did Jacob Roggeveen discover?
The Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen in 1722 discovered Makatea, Bora-Bora, and Maupiti.
Who was the first to discover Easter Island?
Though if we were to ask the seafarers of this time, we probably wouldn’t have an answer as clear. In 1687, English buccaneer Edward Davis and his crew probably spotted what today is known as Easter Island. They gave accounts of a sandy and low island.
Did Easter Island’s moai have rickets?
The leg bones of a 7-year-old, recovered from an ancient Roman cemetery, show bending and deformities associated with rickets. The famed Easter Island statues, called moai, were originally full-body figures that have been partially covered over the passage of time.
What is the ecoregion of Easter Island?
Easter Island, together with its closest neighbour, the tiny island of Isla Sala y Gómez 415 kilometres (258 mi) farther east, is recognized by ecologists as a distinct ecoregion, the Rapa Nui subtropical broadleaf forests.
Who are the Easter Islanders?
The Easter Islanders are considered to be South-East Polynesians. Similar sacred zones with statuary (marae and ahu) in East Polynesia demonstrates homology with most of Eastern Polynesia. At contact, populations were about 3,000-4,000.