Did Easter Island Really Collapse?

A new study contradicts the idea that the prehistoric Rapa Nui people of Easter Island suffered a demographic collapse brought on by poor environmental stewardship. Scholars had theorized that unchecked agricultural growth after the first settlers arrived around A.D. 1200 strained the island's fragile ecosystem to the breaking point, leading to the erosion of topsoil and the eventual death by starvation of many members of Rapa Nui society. But prehistoric demographics are notoriously difficult to determine with precision. Phys.org reports that an international research team has evaluated the claim that the population of Easter Island collapsed by studying how land was used at different times on the island. They dated obisidian farming tools from a variety of agricultural sites on the island using a method known as obsidian hydration and found that there were population shifts that correlated with changes in rainfall and soil quality. Some areas did lose population, but others gained in population over time. Overall, they were unable to find evidence for a dramatic population collapse, which happened only once Europeans reached the island in A.D. 1722 and islanders succumbed to diseases such as syphilis and smallpox.

You can never rule out a Jerry Jones type event as well. The simple fact is that without any written accounts we will never really know for sure the whats or whys, forever to be a mystery.

This is not really a change of story but rather a change of emphasis in a liberally politically correct way. Because the islanders did deforest Easter Island long before the Europeans came so they lost their ability to fish and travel—while they degraded the soil.

I just came back from a tour of Mayan ruins in central America. There were miles of temples pyramids that all returned to the jungles about 800 AD for reasons that are murky. I was heard there was some kind of peasant revolt but that would only come if the gods killed the crops byo drought flood, pestilence disease erosion etc.

The Spanish had nothing to do with Mayan decline. Same goes for the Moocha in Peru—who disappeared in the same time frame.

Study suggests history of Rapa Nui on Easter Island far more complex than thought
http://phys.org/news/2015-01-history-rapa-nui-easter-island.html
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No it doesn’t. What you’re reading is the reporters complex biases on the subject. Not the actual subject itself.

Take a look at this last paragraph from the physorg story and and then look at the last sentence.

The analysis suggests region-specific dynamics including precontact land use decline in some near-coastal and upland areas and postcontact increases and subsequent declines in other coastal locations. These temporal land-use patterns correlate with rainfall variation and soil quality, with poorer environmental locations declining earlier. This analysis confirms that the intensity of land use decreased substantially in some areas of the island before European contact.

Note: this topic is from 1/06/2015. Jared Diamond still wrong.

"Despite its almost complete isolation, the inhabitants of Easter Island created a complicated social structure and these amazing works of art before a dramatic change occurred," says Dr. Cedric Puleston, lead author of this study, based at the Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, USA. "We've tried to solve one piece of the puzzle - to figure out the maximum population size before it fell. It appears the island could have supported 17,500 people at its peak, which represents the upper end of the range of previous estimates." He adds, "If the population fell from 17,500 to the small number that missionaries counted many years after European contact, it presents a very different picture from the maximum population of 3,000 or less that some have suggested." [Solving the Easter Island population puzzle]

New study challenges theories on Easter Island collapse {2013}
Humans will be extinct in 100 years says eminent scientist [Australia's Frank Fenner] {2010, posted 2015}
How geography shapes cultural diversity {2012}
Collapse of the American Empire: swift, silent, certain {2010}
Jared Diamond Predicts 49 Percent Chance of Civilization Collapse due to our Encomic Crisis {2009}
New ideas emerge about old empires [ Jared Diamond wrong, sez Norman Yoffee ] {2009}
Model Of Easter Island Collapse Might Reveal Message For Today {2008}
The Other Mystery of Easter Island [Language of Rongorongo] {2006}
Rethinking the Fall of Easter Island [ Jared Diamond refuted ] {2006}
How Africa Became Black {2006}
Did humans devastate Easter Island on arrival? {2009}
Did Humans Decimate Easter Island On Arrival? {2006}
It's the demography, stupid ..... Mark Steyn {2006}
Groundbreaking Research Sheds Light On Ancient Mystery (Easter Island) [William Basener, assistant professor of mathematics] {2005}
Under the Spell of Malthus {2005}
Jared Diamond, Fabulist? {2005}
'Collapse': How the World Ends {2009}
How societies commit suicide 'Guns, Germs' author explores why an entire people can hit a dead end {2005}
Jared Diamond's "Collapse"... Fascinating {2005}
[Jared Diamond, writing in the Slimes] The Ends of the World as We Know Them {2005}
Easter Island, Fools' Paradise {2004}
Keyword: jareddiamond

So the Rapa Nui crossed the vast Pacific Ocean to reach Easter Island, and then what? Agriculture got difficult and rather than sail away they elected to starve? Yeah, that sounds likely!

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