Scientists at the University of Queensland in Australia have disproved the hypothesis that the ancient Rapanui civilization on Easter Island has disappeared as a result of war and resource depletion. According to scientists, the tribes, despite the belligerence, closely cooperated with each other, which ensured the existence of their culture until colonization by Europeans. This was announced in a press release on Phys.org.
The first settlers from Eastern Polynesia arrived on Easter Island about 900 years ago. For several centuries, the indigenous population has grown to over ten thousand people. Between 1250 and 1500, the aborigines erected moai - statues in the form of huge human heads, located on truncated bodies to the waist. The Rapanui culture was believed to have disappeared due to wars and environmental disaster. However, according to the authors of the new work, the civilization of Easter Island had a complex socio-political organization and disappeared only due to colonization by Europeans in the 18th century.
Scientists have carried out a chemical analysis of several dozen ancient artifacts found during excavations on the slopes of the extinct volcano Rano Raraku, where the quarries were located. Among the stone tools were hammers and chops made from Maya toki, a special type of local basalt rock. The researchers also reconstructed the tools piece by piece to understand how they were used. This made it possible to determine how communication was carried out between the craftsmen who create the tools and the sculptors.
It turned out that the material for most of the tools was supplied from one complex of quarries. According to Dale Simpson, one of the authors of the study, this means that those tribes that used the same stone quarry should have worked closely with each other, rather than fighting. However, the possibility remains that some groups of the island's population may have forced others to work together.
