
Easter Island: a sustainable society has been falsely blamed for its own demise - pseudolus
https://theconversation.com/the-truth-about-easter-island-a-sustainable-society-has-been-falsely-blamed-for-its-own-demise-85563?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The%20Weekend%20Conversation%20-%2085557084&utm_content=The%20Weekend%20Conversation%20-%2085557084+CID_f6932313f594bf0e743904f2f6d25bb4&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=The%20truth%20about%20Easter%20Island%20a%20sustainable%20society%20has%20been%20falsely%20blamed%20for%20its%20own%20demise
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bandrami
I'm not sure I follow this.

1\. Diamond mentioned the rats as contributors to the deforestation; invasive
species brought by humans (which the rats were) are a key example of
ecological destruction.

2\. Going from 9000 (or possibly as many as 15,000) in the 1500s to 3000
(using the most generous pre-disease estimate) at the time of first European
contact sure as hell sounds like a dramatic decline to me, and the author
doesn't propose how it happened.

~~~
brighteyes
I'd also add 3. It seems dubious that colonization would lead to oral
histories of civil war, somehow "transferring" brutality from a foreign
invader to themselves.

The author doesn't seem to give a lot of credit to the locals and their own
accounts of history. Those stories are often much more accurate than we think.

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justinator
> It seems dubious that colonization would lead to oral histories of civil war

Look at Africa, and the civil wars that popped up after post-colonization.

Or, I mean, look at Iraq now. When an outside government overthrows the
current power, sets up their own ideal of a government, and then leaves, it
usually doesn't end up well, right? There's going to be hangers-on of the old
ways, they are going to be a PITA for the new system, once it's set up.

~~~
oh_sigh
The civil wars were there pre-colonization as well.

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njarboe
Pre-colonization they were just wars. After Europeans drew lines and made
countries, many wars became civil wars.

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nebula
_The real answer is more sinister. Throughout the 19th century, South American
slave raids took away as much as half of the native population. By 1877, the
Rapanui numbered just 111. Introduced disease, destruction of property and
enforced migration by European traders further decimated the natives and lead
to increased conflict among those remaining._

~~~
mannykannot
This, however, provides no explanation for the decline in population prior to
the first European contact, as the author is claiming that DNA evidence
suggests this was not going on prior to the arrival of Europeans. The author
also claims that there was no pre-European decline, yet presents before-and-
then estimates that are only consistent with that at the extremes of their
ranges. In general, the argument being presented here is rather incoherent.

~~~
justinator
Just a theory, but is it possible that there was previous contact that wasn't
as well documented?

One theory posited by people like Charles C. Mann is that the native
population of say, North America were drastically reduced before the likes of
English colonizers came onto the scene by infectious diseases.

Maybe, maybe not (and maybe that happened well after)

~~~
mannykannot
It would think that is possible, but the author seems to be claiming otherwise
in the third-from-last paragraph.

One consideration (not raised in the article) is that perhaps the people of
South America (unlike the Polynesians) did not have the seagoing technology or
know-how to make a round trip to the island, prior to the arrival of
europeans.

The English were relative latecomers among the European colonists of the
americas, and by then smallpox and other diseases had spread widely.
Apparently, the Wampanoag had suffered from an epidemic, now suspected to have
been smallpox, in the years prior to the arrival of the Mayflower Pilgrims in
1620.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wampanoag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wampanoag)

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corbet
A fascinating talk on this subject was given in the Long Now series a little
while back: [http://longnow.org/seminars/02013/jan/17/statues-walked-
what...](http://longnow.org/seminars/02013/jan/17/statues-walked-what-really-
happened-easter-island/) . Highly recommended.

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justinator
A strange article for sure, but the first I had heard about the island's
population being cut in half by slave raids. That would cause a pretty
terrible blow to any culture.

