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red clay
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Topic: Easter Island Wooden Sculpture Posted: 09-Jan-2012 at 09:56 |
The Moai grab everyones attention. These items seem to get lost in the fuss.
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Nick1986
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Posted: 09-Jan-2012 at 20:19 |
Apparently the construction of the moai required widespread deforestation, resulting in the erosion of Easter Island's fertile soil. These carvings represent starving people in a collapsing society
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Nick1986
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Posted: 10-Jan-2012 at 22:15 |
Around the time the Moai fell out of use, a new religion emerged: the cult of the Birdmen. Young tribesmen participated in a swimming race to a neighboring island. Only by bringing back an egg would they be recognised as grown men by the elders
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Nick1986
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Posted: 14-Jan-2012 at 20:14 |
The winner of the Birdman competition was made king of the island for a year. The contest continued until the islanders converted to Christianity in the 1880s Easter Island's rich and tragic past
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Nick1986
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Posted: 23-Jan-2012 at 19:21 |
This link contains images of rock art depicting birdmen
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Nick1986
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Posted: 24-Jan-2012 at 19:27 |
The
wood carvings are all the more remarkable because Easter Island had
been largely deforested by the 18th century. Did the tribesmen reuse the
wood used to roll the moai or did they salvage driftwood from the
beach?
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Nick1986
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Posted: 07-Jun-2012 at 19:25 |
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red clay
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Posted: 08-Jun-2012 at 10:11 |
There are scientists who are now questioning the existance of trees at any time on the Island.
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TheAlaniDragonRising
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Posted: 08-Jun-2012 at 13:20 |
Originally posted by red clay
There are scientists who are now questioning the existance of trees at any time on the Island. |
The little I have read, so far, on an alternative to the usual ecocide on Easter Island, doesn't suggest there was no trees. What I read, and this has supposedly to have happened elsewhere on other Polynesian islands, is that the earlier Polynesian arrivals on Easter Island inadvertently brought rats with them. The rats then ate the palm tree seeds, which then devastated the tree population over time.
Edited by TheAlaniDragonRising - 08-Jun-2012 at 13:32
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red clay
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Posted: 08-Jun-2012 at 13:46 |
There are quite a few "fringe" theories out there, that's one of them. This whole question comes up because of the idea that the inhabitants moved the Moai on wooden rollers. If it's proved that there weren't any trees, then the question becomes "how did they do this". The legends of the Rapi Nui speak of the statues "walking" to their platforms. This isn't the only case of this kind. On Nan Nadol, where huge basltic columns were transported 50 miles to construct artificial islands, legend has it that the stones were caused to move on their own by "magic". If something isn't understood it's magic. The minute you understand whatever process, it becomes science. I firmly believe they had a simple but very old technology that allowed them to move large stones. This may be what was rediscovered by a man in Florida some years back.
Google- Coral Castle.
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"Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces".
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Sidney
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Posted: 08-Jun-2012 at 17:49 |
Those wooden sculptures look remarkably well preserved. How old are they? I suspect a tourist/foreign trade created market.
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TheAlaniDragonRising
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Posted: 09-Jun-2012 at 08:25 |
Originally posted by red clay
There are quite a few "fringe" theories out there, that's one of them. This whole question comes up because of the idea that the inhabitants moved the Moai on wooden rollers. If it's proved that there weren't any trees, then the question becomes "how did they do this". The legends of the Rapi Nui speak of the statues "walking" to their platforms. This isn't the only case of this kind. On Nan Nadol, where huge basltic columns were transported 50 miles to construct artificial islands, legend has it that the stones were caused to move on their own by "magic". If something isn't understood it's magic. The minute you understand whatever process, it becomes science. I firmly believe they had a simple but very old technology that allowed them to move large stones. This may be what was rediscovered by a man in Florida some years back.Google- Coral Castle. |
My guess is that walking, and moving on their own, denotes movement in an upright position. The question for me is, with sizeable structures like these, what is possible and what is impossible in terms of being moved upright, that is if what has been suggested means upright? You could be right, red, in regards to Coral Castle, a fascinating structure, no doubt about it.
Edited by TheAlaniDragonRising - 09-Jun-2012 at 09:48
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What a handsome figure of a dragon. No wonder I fall madly in love with the Alani Dragon now, the avatar, it's a gorgeous dragon picture.
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red clay
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Posted: 09-Jun-2012 at 09:44 |
Another question, with a moai that weighs say, 50 tons, did they have enough manpower on the island to provide enough force to break the inertial moment of the moai? If they were using rollers it would take a great amount of force to get it out of the quarry and get it moving.
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"Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces".
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red clay
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Posted: 09-Jun-2012 at 09:51 |
Originally posted by Sidney
Those wooden sculptures look remarkably well preserved. How old are they? I suspect a tourist/foreign trade created market. |
Some of the wooden sculptures were done after contact, most were done prior. As for a tourist trade, Easter Island is in a remote and isolated area. It was'nt well known until Aku Aku was
published.
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"Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces".
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TheAlaniDragonRising
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Posted: 09-Jun-2012 at 16:23 |
Originally posted by red clay
Another question, with a moai that weighs say, 50 tons, did they have enough manpower on the island to provide enough force to break the inertial moment of the moai? If they were using rollers it would take a great amount of force to get it out of the quarry and get it moving. |
This may or may not have relevance to these monuments, red, but this link on moving large blocks in regards to the pyramids shows concepts which could possibly have smaller numbers moving larger blocks. http://www.cheops-pyramide.ch/khufu-pyramid/granite-transport.html
Edited by TheAlaniDragonRising - 21-Jun-2012 at 07:52
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What a handsome figure of a dragon. No wonder I fall madly in love with the Alani Dragon now, the avatar, it's a gorgeous dragon picture.
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Cryptic
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Posted: 10-Jun-2012 at 23:04 |
Originally posted by red clay
There are scientists who are now questioning the existance of trees at any time on the Island. |
If there were no trees, then the Islanders were doomd to be stranded. A lack of trees would mean the inability to construct new ocean going canoes, or even to make extensive repairs to the ones that brought the first colonists. Then, once the trade route connecting Easter Island to other Polynesian islands died out, the islanders were truly screwed.
I am surprised that they were able to build the statues. Other stranded peoples such as the Adaman Islanders and Tasmanian aborigiones regressed technology wise and forgot such skills as building ocean going canoes and then even forgot skills such as bows, fire drills, fish hooks, returning boomerangs etc. Perhaps the Easter Island polynesians were not truly stranded and had some sporadic contact with other polynesians.
Edited by Cryptic - 10-Jun-2012 at 23:11
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