April 16, 2012
ENG 205
Shorter Writing Summary
In the article, “Who Killed Easter Island” by Jared Diamond he states that people can affect and destroy our environment and natural resources. Easter Island can be used as a warning that cultural and environmental dangers exist due to overexploitation. Although, civilizations have vanished from the island it still has a remaining mystery and history to its untouched landscape. Easter Island was formed out of an ancient volcanic eruption; the island is only sixty-four square miles with habitable land and subtropical weather that makes the soil fertile. Easter Island was name by the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, on Easter in 1722. Easter Island is famous for its tight-lipped statues that stand across the island, which were erected by the Rapa Nui people between the 10th and 16th centuries AD. These are ancient wonders of the world that are still being studied to get a full understanding of how and why these statues were created. From written history the explorer’s first impression of the island was that it was a waste because the people who lived on the island represented it as being of insufficient and ruthless to them. With all the current studies that have consumed the island many are fascinated with the history and abundance of Easter Island. Many questions have arisen to Easter Islands existence because the people who are putting time and effort are very interested and curious. They have come to conclusion that many of the natural resources of the island were used in order for the first settlers to survive from using the forests to gather food and build canoes and also using the ocean to fish and drink. Remains that have been left on the island have been from fish, porpoises, rats, birds from both the land and sea, and even seals have been linked to the food chain of the people of Easter Island. Researchers have also linked cannibalism to the people of Easter Islands’ meat