What the
... I had a great reply to this and then the stupid page refreshed. I'll restate my gist quickly though:
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You are simply wrong on Rapa Nui. And I am not calling you nor anyone else a racist. Just that "Environmental Determinism" has replaced the racist theories of genetic inferiority from 50-100 years ago.
The first case for ecocide on Easter Island comes from French explore La Perouse who speculated that Rapa Nui's inhabitants cut down all of its trees, writing:
"They exposed their soil to the burning ardor of the sun, and has deprived them of ravines, brooks, and springs...". He believed that they destroyed their soils to the point of decline, which as you will see is false.
His treatise is easily refuted by the earlier Dutch explorer in 1722 (Jacob Roggeven):
"People mistook the parched up grass, hay, and or other scorched and charred brushwood for a soil of arid nature, because from its outward appearance it suggested no other idea than that of an extraordinarily sparse and meager vegetation." He then goes on to mention his soil samples demonstrating a rich soil, unlike what it appeared. He goes on to say then too, "We found exceedingly fruitful swathes of producing bananas, potatoes, rows of sugar-cane of remarkable thickness, and many other harvestable fruits of the earth, although destitute of many trees and domestic animals"
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The Island's soils had not declined and its been proven in the last 10 years or archaeological research.
Excavations at Anakena from 2003-2010 coupled with radiocarbon dates, show that soils never actually decreased in quality from the start of human inhabitation until European contact. Limestone sinkholes act as excellent sediment traps show that soils on the contrary relatively increased in richness over the centuries during human inhabitation even until the contact with Europeans.
Archaeological and Paleo-environmental research on Rapa Nui of sand shifts and radiocarbon samples from undisturbed clay deposits demonstrate that the forests remained steady and times actually increased during human habitation of Rapa Nui unlike the claims of ecocide state. I will explain why forests declined now:
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So what happened to the forests? As archaeologists now realize, Rapa Nui wasn't the only pacific island to lose the majority of its forests during the same time period. Hawaii, nearly uninhabited Pacific Atolls, Rapa Nui etc. all see a crash in native forests.
Why? The Pacific Rat (
Rattus exulans), was a non-native species that through trade contacts/routes was carried over to various Pacific islands. These rats breed so quickly and eat almost any tree seed, including the incredibly tough shelled coconuts. Trees went extinct on various islands across the Pacific that were largely uninhabited, due to this rat. We find the corpses of these rats on Rapa Nui everywhere, buried into the archaeological records in Easter Island, Hawaii, etc. their sudden appearance led to drives to kill the rat that were largely unsuccessful. In 3 years from their introduction across various Pacific islands, the population is estimated to have increased to 17 million rats. That ate through forest after forest. The subsequent die off of the rats is also included in the archaeological record at excavations on Rapa Nui.
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So now that most pacific Archaeologists dismiss the silly idea of purposeful ecocide of the trees, let me address the Genocide vs "Environmental Determinism" ecocide.
Ethnographer Alfred Metraux long described the period after the Dutch explorers of 1722 on Rapa Nui as a period of Genocide. Only in the last 30 years did that tale get twisted to environmental determinism and thankfully, its finally being returned back to a tale of genocide, rather than determinism [As its being taught again properly in universities like Hawaii, California, etc. once again, it will take time, but the truth will once again facilitate]. Habitation sites remained with steady growth from 1350-1650. From 1650-1722, habitation sites according to our techniques of obsidian hydration, not only remained stable, they grew on Rapa Nui. Population didn't decline unlike most "Ecocidists" claim, it grew substantially. So what happened?
The natives tell tales of disease, slavery, murder, rape, etc. once Europeans made contact. The obsidian hydrations records, show that during this time of European contact, population halved every 50-70 years. Slave records in the Spanish Colonies show thousands of Rapa Nui islanders being removed to the mines of South America. Prior to European contact, Rapa Nui populated in the thousands. By 1870, population had decreased to 100.
All environmental determinism has done, is raped the historical record of its cruelty and European destruction of the island
