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Donnerstag, 6. Mai 2010
easter egg
diegolego, 11:37h
Currently I am reading “Collapse – How societies choose to fail or succeed” by Jared M. Diamond. I just finished the chapter about Easter Island. It is astonishing, that when the first (probably Polynesian) settlers came to the island it must have been covered by a huge forest with a diversity of trees and land birds. When the first (documented) Europeans reached the island it was already completely deforested. Within a couple of centuries a flourishing culture emerged and finally almost completely vanished. The author even describes cannibalism and that the remaining people destroyed Moai which their ancestors carved and raised with so much effort. I do not want to underplay that finally the Europeans contributed to the misery of Rapanui people.
The question I would like to raise is to which extend the destiny of those settlers was predetermined. Obviously, the resources were easy accessible but very limited. Thus, once the population passed the carrying capacity, resources were not sufficient anymore. Additionally, as Diamond points out, the climate is not that advantageous so that resources recover slowly. If the need is bigger than the recovery rate, then resources must run out leading to the extinction of the native animals and plants. Furthermore, the island is completely isolated so that there was no exchange of any kind.
I think there could have been a mode of sustainable culture on Easter Island. But only a small population could have been sustained by the resources. Since the settlers (probably) did not have birth control, the end of their high culture was probably unavoidable.
Stefan sent me this link: VHMENT
The question I would like to raise is to which extend the destiny of those settlers was predetermined. Obviously, the resources were easy accessible but very limited. Thus, once the population passed the carrying capacity, resources were not sufficient anymore. Additionally, as Diamond points out, the climate is not that advantageous so that resources recover slowly. If the need is bigger than the recovery rate, then resources must run out leading to the extinction of the native animals and plants. Furthermore, the island is completely isolated so that there was no exchange of any kind.
I think there could have been a mode of sustainable culture on Easter Island. But only a small population could have been sustained by the resources. Since the settlers (probably) did not have birth control, the end of their high culture was probably unavoidable.
Stefan sent me this link: VHMENT
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