Easter Island History – Cultural Development
The cultural development on the island has been fodder for widespread speculation. Since the island consists of volcanic rock, the early inhabitants quarried the material into giant statues, some as tall as 14 feet, 6 inches and weighing about 14 tons. This was the reason for the depletion of the rich forestry. The villagers used the trees to transport these giant rocks all over the island as early as AD 700. Most of the surviving statues are lined up all along the shoreline facing out to sea. Their faces and bodies resemble similar statues in Polynesia but have evolved uniquely. The statue cult symbolized male dominance and power throughout the societal structure of the inhabitants; not only signifying power and stature, the natives believed they were indwelled by a sacred spirit.

Worldwide knowledge of Easter Island’s strange statues has fueled many interesting theories, all of which have no scientific backing. One man wrote that armadas carrying elephants had been blown off course by typhoons and ended up on the island. The man goes on to claim that the elephants were then used as the muscle behind the movement of the monuments. A man by the name of Tom Gary suggested that Easter Island transmitted energy to Mexico and South America. He suggests that messages found on the statues are diagrams explaining how copies can be made in three-dimensions. Then there is the sunken city group (the same people who believe in Atlantis) who theorize that Easter Island is actually a sunken continent. Modern exploration with the use of sonar has proven this theory to be false. Of course, we can’t leave out the space travelers. Yes, the same ones who built the pyramids in Egypt stopped in at Easter Island and made all those statues. Authors have also written books about the island without actually visiting, neglecting to do their homework.

Easter Island History – The New Age Draw
New Agers are enthralled by places like Easter Island, the pyramids, and Stonehenge. There have even been claims of mystic energy fields and alien influence. The mysteries of this ancient civilization have caused theories to form and today many New Agers consider it to be a very spiritual place.

The statues that look out to sea are a poignant reminder that man is forever searching and seeking a place of peace and harmony. Despite whatever meaning the early builders may have originally had for these figures, only a sense of loss and hopelessness remains.

Easter Island's tiny land area (only 117 sq. km.) and remarkable isolation make its discovery and settlement an event that seems as unlikely as it was mysterious. The original settlers seem to have been Polynesian, although there is substantial evidence that they were joined by a South American people early in the island's history. The island's native name, Rapa Nui, is Polynesian. Isolated for centuries from the outside world, the people of Rapa Nui developed their own distinctive culture, a culture perhaps best known by the moai, huge figures carved of volcanic rock. Hundreds of these sculpted monoliths dot the landscape, some in imposing rows, others toppled, broken, and scarred by violence. Scholars have been able to reconstruct some of the tragic history that lies behind the disintegration of Rapa Nui culture, but many important parts of the puzzle-including how and why the moai were built-remain uncertain.

The first Europeans to stumble upon the tiny island were the Dutch, under the command of Admiral Jacob Roggeveen. Roggeveen made landfall on Rapa Nui on Easter Day of 1722, thus providing Easter Island with its modern name. Easter Island remained only slightly less isolated over the ensuing centuries, although it did attract the malevolent interest of Peruvian slave ships during the 19th century. Despite these depredations, the majority of Easter Island's population is still composed of descendants of its original inhabitants Even today, their distinctive language and cultural traditions give visitors a glimpse of an ancient lifestyle.

All of the residents of Easter Island live in the town of Hanga Roa, and it is an easy day's drive from town around the island in search of moai and ahu (the rectangular stone platforms which moai were mounted on). One of the most famous sites on the island is Rano Raraku, where 70 moai seem to rise from the earth. The remains of over 150 other figures lie in a nearby volcanic crater, where the rock for the moai was extracted. It is still unclear how the moai were moved from these rock quarries to other parts of the island.

The restored village of Orongo offers another Easter Island mystery. The village sits in a spectacular setting, between the volcano of Rano Kao and a sheer cliff drop-off. Rocks found at the village contain 150 carvings showing figures with a man's body and a bird's head. Anthropologists believe they were part of a religious cult, but the details on the "Bird Man" are still obscure.