Fighting the Fungus [ Easter Island statues threatened by lichens ]

Lichen are eating away at the Moai, the 400 volcanic stone heads that dominate the skyline of Easter Island. Earlier treatments to preserve these ancient monoliths at this World Heritage Site called for filling some of the most deeply corroded stones with concrete. Unfortunately, experts think that this treatment might have worsened the damaging effects of the wind and saltwater that batter the Polynesian island. In fact, the lichen may even be feeding off the concrete used to save the Moai.

Professor Lorenzo Casamenti and five of his students from the restoration school Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence have found an inexpensive treatment for the gigantic statues of Rapa Nui -- the indigenous name of Eastern Island.

Casamenti visited Easter Island in 2008 and asked for samples of the island's volcanic rock which, like the Moai, are also contaminated by these dangerous fungi. Lengthy research has now produced a "chemical" solution to the problem. "We have at long last discovered a solvent that destroys the lichen but not the statues," said Casamenti.

He will work in collaboration with archaeologists living on Easter Island who have already attended university courses on stone restoration in Florence. The aim of the treatment is to rid the stones of the "white flowers of evil" that leave holes in the colossal statues.

I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment’s gone
All my dreams, pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind.
Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do, crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see

Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind

[Now] Don’t hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away, and all your money won’t another minute buy.

Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind
Dust in the wind, everything is dust in the wind.

Their own oral tradition is, there were three major revolts against the ruling Long-ears; each time the Long-ears and families would take refuge on a neck of land they had fortified with stones, earth, and fire. The third time this happened they were betrayed (by a woman who had married in from the Short-ears) and were slaughtered but for one. Later on a couple Long-ears who had escaped to the quarry but had starved to death there became the models for a traditional common subject for wood carving:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Skeletal_easter_island_statue.JPG
http://www.google.com/images?q=wood+carving+easter+island

In the quarry itself there’s an unfinished statue, all but done, over 90 feet in length, which is speculated to have been the last straw. In that scenario, the Short-ears threw down their tools (which supposedly can still be found in the quarry) and rebelled.

What followed was the Birdman phase, which lasted perhaps 100-150 years, and a lot of that time the extended families spent hiding in their own caves, involved in an island-wide feud. There is of course a strictly political view that everything on the island was peachy until Europeans visited and destroyed the entire ecosystem. This outlook is exactly congruent with the Nation of Islam’s idiotic racist fantasy about the past.

Europeans first arrived in the form of Captain Cook’s expedition, I think. An earlier voyage to find this rumored island was a failure because the titular head of the expedition couldn’t get the pee-pants captain to sail in the correct direction. Had that succeeded, Europeans would have arrived when the statues were still being built! That would have settled a lot of questions I think, and perhaps have resulted in a continuity that is lacking now.

Interesting, a bearded statue:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rano_Raraku#Tukuturi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Moai_Easter_Island_geod0095.jpg

the wiki-wacky pedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Island

There used to be specialty cruises advertised in “Archaeology” mag et al, going to the Galapagos (that name just cries out to be pronounced “Gal oh PAY goes”) and seems to me once in a while they had Easter Island cruises. It can’t be much of a cruise, but you’d see a part of the Earth’s wet surface that over 99 percent of humanity has never seen. :’)

Years ago in “Strange” magazine (published by the late Mark Chorvinsky) Vincent Gaddis (an old stage magician and anomalist) penned an article about vanished islands and mystery lands that was very interesting; the one that is in context here is a small, inhabited archipelago w of Panama (a long way west) which was obscure and unheard of. An otherwise obscure 18th c ship’s captain learned of it from a priest who had lived on the islands, and who told him its discovery history and location. The captain sailed off to visit it, but couldn’t find it. He did however find floating debris, including broken nearly-whole trees, suggestive of submergence (volcanic eruption? landslide?) of a landmass.

Interesting stuff.Yes,the disappearance of that island you mention certainly could have been the result of a volcanic eruption.God knows the Pacific has enough volcanoes...known and unknown.Regarding Easter Island,I've never been on a cruise and I don't plan on doing so in the future (too boring) but I just read recently that the Chilean national airline has regular flights (I think it was twice a week) to the Easter Islands (which Chile owns).That's very probably the way I'd go.IIRC,that flight continues on to French Polynesia which I'd also like to see.

Who knows! ;-)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.