The case in summary: New research confirms that there has been contact between the inhabitants of Easter Island and South America, which supports Thor Heyerdahl’s earlier theories. The researchers studied the remains of 15 people from Easter Island and found that up to 12 percent of their DNA was South American. Contact between Polynesia and South America is believed to have occurred between 1250 and 1430, but it is unclear who initiated the contact. The study also rejects the theory that the population on Easter Island collapsed and started eating each other, as DNA analyzes show that the population did not decrease. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Far out there in the Pacific Ocean it lies. The mythical Easter Island, or Rapa Nui as it is called locally. It has no more than 7,500 inhabitants, and the nearest inhabited island is almost 2,000 kilometers away. In addition to people, Easter Island is home to 887 large stone statues and a number of more or less scientific theories. Until now, the prevailing explanation has been that the inhabitants of Polynesia and Easter Island originally came from Asia. When the first Europeans came to Easter Island in 1722, around 3,000 people lived there. 150 years later, the population had shrunk to around 175. Slave trade and disease are largely to blame for the depopulation. Photo: Esteban Felix / AP It has also been said that almost the entire population of the small island disappeared as a result of a collapse. It must have ended with people starting to eat each other. But now these theories are being challenged. For a brand new study published in Nature shows that the Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl was closer to the truth than previously thought. Thor Heyerdahl from Larvik traveled the world and had many theories about how things were connected. Photo: Nordisk Film Oppreisning Thor Heyerdahl believed that the islands of Polynesia were first populated by people from South America. The theory was met with laughter. To prove that he was right, he built the Kon-Tiki raft and sailed it across the Pacific Ocean from Peru. Thor Heyerdahl had a raft built which he sailed with five others. On 7 August 1947, the fleet ran aground on the Raroia reef in Polynesia. The expedition was a success. Photo: Kon-Tiki Museet Another thing that supports Heyerdahl’s theory is about the sweet potato and its existence in Polynesia. Because the vegetable is originally from South America, not from Asia. And on Easter Island there are also some walls that are very reminiscent of constructions you find in the old Inca capital of Cuzco in Peru. This is what Mads Ravn, archaeologist and board member at the Kon-Tiki Museum, tells us. – I have stood and watched it myself. It’s really striking how similar it is. It has been difficult to explain that there has been no contact. This is what it looks like in one of the streets in the old Inca capital of Cuzco. Photo: Rodrigo Abd / AP And that is precisely what the new study provides evidence for. The meeting The researchers behind the new study were given permission by the inhabitants of Easter Island to study the remains of 15 people who are in a museum in Paris. They took samples that enabled them to find the entire DNA code of the deceased. This in turn led them to determine that up to 12 percent of the DNA was South American. – Fundamentally, Thor Heyerdahl was right that there was contact with South America, but he was not right that everyone came from there, says Ravn. Archaeologist Mars Ravn was on Easter Island last summer. Photo: Liv Heyerdahl In the study, the researchers write that their calculations show that people from Polynesia and South America were in contact between 1250 and 1430. However, they emphasize that they do not know when they had contact. That is, whether it was the Polynesians or the South Americans who set out in boats or rafts and crossed the Pacific Ocean. Collapse and cannibalism One of the other stories that the study has looked at is the theory that the population on Easter Island went through a kind of collapse. In the mid-2000s, a popular science book was published in which Jared Diamond stated that people on Easter Island cut down all the trees on the island to erect the famous giant statues. It must have ended with the population plummeting, and people starting to eat each other. The story has served as a warning to modern people. Many of the moai were carved out of a single piece of rock. Photo: CARLOS BARRIA / Reuters – It’s a strong story because it’s a bit like the one we have today, where we also overuse nature for our own gain, vanity and wealth. That is why it is a difficult story to put down, says Mads Ravn. But the new study provides concrete evidence that Diamond was wrong, according to Ravn. – Because you can see through the DNA analyzes that the number of people has not decreased. They have shot holes in the theory that it was the people who did it to themselves. – Like the Vikings Ingjerd Hoëm is a social anthropologist and former head of research at the Kon-Tiki Museum. She says this research is not so much fun for those who want huge stories like the one about the collapse on Easter Island. But she thinks it is extremely exciting that evidence has been found for contact across the Pacific Ocean. – But there is nothing to indicate that that contact was as Heyerdahl imagined it. All by itself in the Pacific Ocean, far away from the nearest settlement on Pitcairn, lies Easter Island. She says that given what is known about Polynesian maritime technology at the time, it is more likely that it was the South Americans who visited. Among other things, the Polynesians had boats that enabled them to cross against the wind. King Harald and Queen Sonja were on holiday on Easter Island in 2014. Photo: The Royal Court Mads Ravn says it this way: – I think perhaps it has been a bit like the Vikings who came to North America. They may have met a little too much resistance. Then they may have brought back some women, men and children, as well as some sweet potatoes. In 1986 Thor Heyerdahl visited Easter Island together with several archaeologists. Here they tried to show the hill the stone statues may have “walked” across the island. Published 19.09.2024, at 05.43
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The mysteries surrounding Easter Island are revealed – rejects collapse and confirms contact with South America – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
