Researchers have finally discovered what the purpose of the Easter Island Statues are,
and I’m going to tell you everything you need to know, right no on IO.
What is happening people this is inform overload, I’m charlotte dobre and if you need a place
to get your news on youtube, smash the subscribe and notification bell and follow us on instagram.
On easter island, a remote Chilean island in the south eastern pacific ocean, there
are around 900 statues, called moai.
These statues were created by the Rapu Nui people.
The exact reason why there are so many of these ancient statues was debated in the scientific
community for centuries.
Experts believed that Polynesians landed on easter island around the year 1200 AD.
The culture was rich and thriving.
At its height, there may have been 20 thousand people living on easter island.
But eventually, the Rapu Nui people were wiped out.
The reasons for this range from deforestation and the introduction of the Polynesian rat.
Trees on the island were cut down to build canoes, and also transport the statues.
When the Europeans got there in 1722, there were only around 2 to 3 thousand aboriginals
living on the island.
By 1877, the small population dwindled to no more than 111 people, thanks to European
diseases and slave raiding.
But the moai statues remained to this day.
Not much is known about why these elaborate statues were placed all over easter island,
but they are evidence of a rich culture.
What we do know is, Most of the statues are located on the coast, and exact reason for
that has been discovered.
Researchers from Binghamton University and new york state university have an explanation
for why the eastern island statues were placed along the island’s coast.
On easter island, theres very little fresh water.
Easter island is made up of volcanic soil, which incidentally absorbs rain.
This means there aren’t many rivers or streams on easter island because rainwater is absorbed
by the porous soil.
There are a couple of lakes on the island but they are hard to get to, and a lot of
the time they are reduced to being boggy marshes.
Not good for drinking water.
I mean I don’t know about you but I don’t like my water with a side of bug larvae and
scum but that’s just me.
To top everything off, easter island only gets around 49 inches of rainfall every year,
and a lot of the water evaporates.
Because of this, the people that lived on easter island probably relied on groundwater.
And according to these researchers, The statues were placed to mark the location of fresh
groundwater.
According to professor of anthropology at Binghamton University, carl lipo, water beneath
the ground of easter island flows downhill, and ultimately exits the ground directly at
the point at which the porous subterranean roc meets the ocean.
When the tides are low, this results in the flow of fresh water directly into the sea.
People can then take advantage of these sources of freshwater by capturing the water at these
points, which are marked by the easter island moai statues.
The first accounts from Europeans who landed on easter island said that the islanders appear
to drink seawater.
Last time I checked, humans cant drink seawater, our bodies cant process it.
But the researchers believe that these accounts are a reference to the groundwater discharge
on the island coast.
The fact that the Rapu Nui people were able to cultivate fresh drinking water in this
way is a pretty amazing thing.
I mean, we knew that they had a rich culture, but the fact that they were able to achieve
this level of engineering is pretty remarkable.
According to lipo, this information ultimately sheds light on the conditions that drove and
enabled these communities to work together to achieve their feats of engineering.
There are still some questions that need answers.
Like how the heck did these aboriginals build these statues and place them in these specific
places.
Each of these statues way 12 metric tons, and they were transported across long distances.
There are almost a thousand of them.
And many of them have these gigantic stone hats.
Earlier this year, the way that these people placed the stone hats on the statues was discovered
by experts at Binghamon University.
Its believed that the rocks were taken from the quarry.They used a method called parbuckling
that involves the use of ropes and a ramp, where a line is wrapped around the cylendar
and the hat was pulled the rope from the top of the platform.
But now we know exactly why the Rapu Nui people placed these statues where they did.
This research was published in the Hydrogeology Journal.
Alright guys, that’s all I have for you on that, its time to do some comment replies.
Cel Lyn – Now she really looks like miss honey in that dress.
I have heard that before and I am not mad about it.
Strandedstarfish – bring back the cute blazers and crop tops.
So cute.
Its actually gotten quite a bit colder since I was wearing those outfits but maybe I’ll
wear a blazer and crop top tomorrow just for you.
Meme god – yeah omg you deserve more subscribers.
Kyaellas – main host, im dying, charlotte carries this channel on her back.
Yes and it is very heavy.
Maybe I will use the parbuckling method har har.
Yes I just made an anthropology joke SOMEBODY STOP MEH.
Street st – this is the best channel on youtube.
NO YOU.
Welcome to the end screen, this means the video is over.
don’t you worry though, theres another great io video right over here for you to check
out.
And if you enjoyed your time here, make sure you smash the like and subscribe and notification
bell, and I will see you in a future IO video.