RAPA NUI

20th September, 2024 Geography

RAPA NUI

Disclaimer: Copyright infringement not intended.

Context:

Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, never experienced a ruinous population collapse, according to an analysis of ancient DNA from 15 former inhabitants of the remote island in the Pacific Ocean.

Key facts about the Island

Geographical aspect

Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, is one of the world's most isolated inhabited islands.
The name of this Island was derived from its inhabitants called “ Rapa Nui”.
It is a special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean.
It has an area of 6 km2, and a maximum elevation of 507 m. above mean sea level.
There are three Rano (freshwater crater lakes) - Rano Kau, Rano Raraku and Rano Aroi, near the summit of Terevaka - but no permanent streams or rivers.
It is a volcanic high island, consisting mainly of three extinct coalesced volcanoes: Terevaka (altitude 507 metres) forms the bulk of the island, while two other volcanoes, Poike and Rano Kau.
Lesser cones and other volcanic features include the crater Rano Raraku, the cinder cone Puna Pau and many volcanic caves including lava tubes.
The island is dominated by hawaiite and basalt flows which are rich in iron and show affinity with igneous rocks found in the Galápagos Islands.
The coast is formed by soft, eroded, ashy cliffs, with a vertical drop of about 150 to 300 metres; the cliffs are intercepted by long stretches of low, hard, and rugged lava formations.
There is no natural harbour, but anchorage is found.

Language and scripts

Rongo-rongo is an ancient Easter Island glyph writing.
It is the only known native writing in all of Polynesia.
Rongo-rongo uses symbols of items, as with the Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Rapa Nui National Park

The UNESCO World Heritage site referred to as Rapa Nui National Park makes up almost all of the small island.

Nearly 1,000 inland-facing stone statues, or “moai,” that are found throughout the island.

Moai specifications

Moai statues were built to honor chieftain or other important people who had passed away.
The moais were built in approximately 1400 - 1650 A.D. by the natives of this island.
These statues were made from “tuff” , a compressed volcanic ash which is easy to carve.
Since the natives had no metal to carve with, but used only stone tools; the so called “toki”.
They were placed on rectangular stone platforms called “ahu”.
A “pukao” of red scoria stone later placed on the head of the statue to represent the long hair the desceased had, which was a sign of “mana”; a kind of mental power.