I've
visited Easter Island twice - 1990 and 2017. Before taking you around the
island and discuss several aspects, I'd like to give a kind of introduction.
As I've
also studied Social Anthropology, I've been interested in Rapanui and the
script (Kohau Rongorongo) from as early
as 1975, I've even written two lengthy homeworks (one in German and one in
English; see under Links and References).
Name
Easter
Island has several names: Rapa Nui (Great Rapa) or Te Pito Te Henua (also Te
Pito Ote Henua, meaning The Navel of the World)) to the original inhabitants,
the Rapanuians. To us it is mostly Easter Island or Isla de Pascua, as it had
been named by Dutch Admiral Roggeveen, who had been the first European visitor
- the original name in Dutch is Paaseiland as they arrived there on Easter
(06.04.1722). Though this discovery exited curiosity in Europe, it took about
50 years until the next visit to the island (Gonzales de Haedo in 1770; first
map). In 1774 Captain Cook called at Easter Island (sketches by William Hodge).
The impact of Roggeveen's visit couldn't have been great as his ship stayed
tehre only for a day.
Inhabitants
The
Rapanuians are of Polynesian descent. Where they have come from and why Thor
Heyerdahl has been wrong we be an own blogpost. The island is part of
Chile, to be more specific part of Valparaiso. Nowadays there are about 4000
Rapanuians and about 5000 non-rapanuian Chileans living on the island. Not to
mention tourists. In 1990 the number of visitors had been estimated at 5000 per
years, in 2017 there are about 100,000 tourists per years on the the island,
which would account for 500-1000 tourists on the island each day.
Language
Language will be an own topic. Rapanuian as it were isn't well known. The
population was deminished to about 100 during the second half of the 19th
century and Tahitian had been introduced. Today Rapanuian seems to come close
to the Maori spoken on the Cook Islands.
Island's Geography
Easter
Island lies remote at 27° South and 109° West, which means it is 3760 km off
the Chilean coast and the nearest inhabited island is Pitcairn (descendents of
the Bounty mutineers ans their Tahitian spouses) at 199 km West. The surface
area is about 166 square kilometer, which means it has the size of
Liechtenstein. The longest coast line is 24 km, the other two of the triangle
measure about 17 km each. Maouna Terevaka is the highest volcano with 525 m.
Easter
Island is formed by volcanoes, which had risen from the seafloor. So ideas that
Rapanui is the remnant of a sunken continent are nothing but a fanciful tale. The three
extinct volcanoes are chiefly composed of tuff, which is important if we come
to discuss the moai (huge statues).
Climate
The climate
is subtropical with considerable wind. The averaged temperatures vary from 18°
C (July) to 23° C (February). Rainfall is about 1200-1300 mm per year, but
varies a lot. The volcanic soil is porose, it cannot hold water well.
Flora
and Fauna
There are
only a few indigenous plants and animals. "Today only 31 wild
flowering plants, 14 ferns, and 14 mosses are reported." The toromiro tree
had become extinct in the 1950ies and was reintroduced in 1988 as seeds had
been collected and survived at the Gothenburg Botanical Garden.
Links
and References:
Articles
concerning Easter Island from the Encyclopædia Britannica 1994-2001 edition
Kirsch, Lothar M.; Die kohau rongorongo oder Ein Verscuh zur
Osterinselschrift. University of Cologne, Department of Ethnology,
January 1976.
Kirsch, Lothar M.: KOHAU RONGORONGO. A close look on Cultural
Distribution Theory and the semantic value of logographic writing systems in
comparison to the Kohau Rongorongo. National Taiwan University, Institue for
Archeology and Anthropology. Taipei, April 1979.
Lonely Planet Chile, 2006.
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