In the 20s of the eighteenth century, on the initiative of the leadership of the West India Company, the Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeven went on an expedition to the Pacific Ocean in order to find the southern mainland in the western side of Chile.
Three frigates: Arend, Tinhoven and Afrikaans Halley were poisoned to conquer uncharted lands. And a few months after sailing, on an early Easter morning, the crew of the guiding ship saw a rocky island. Subsequently, the Europeans dubbed this amazing place Easter Island.
Now it is considered one of the most isolated islands on the planet. In addition, it is one of the most popular tourist destinations. The history of Easter Island is full of unsolved mysteries, which are primarily associated with huge stone statues erected by the inhabitants of the island for many centuries.
Introducing the 10 most incredible facts about Easter Island.
10. The only industry on Easter Island is tourism
To this day, local residents continue to search for new and valuable artifacts from the past of their people, which could open the veil of secrecy that covers the entire history of this amazing island, and for one, increase the flow of tourists to the island, because this is their only source of real income.
Due to the certain geographical isolation of Easter Island, many people still think that getting to it is very difficult. However, you can visit the island with regular commercial flights Hanga Roa.
9. The last king of Easter Island mysteriously died during a visit to Chile
10 years after the actual accession of Easter Island to Chile, the local supreme leader decided to visit Santiago and complain about the abuse of his powers by local Chilean authorities. However, soon after his arrival, he died under mysterious circumstances. Since then, no new supreme leaders have been elected on Easter Island.
8. The local airport may accept space shuttles
The construction of the Mataveri airport started in 1965. At that time, there was still a NASA tracking station. It ceased to exist 10 years later, when the airport was already in full swing.
The then leadership of Chile during the construction of the airport showed an enviable insight. First of all, the airport is adapted to receive a spacecraft. And, secondly, the government foresaw that the flow of tourists to the island will grow every year.
To realize these two goals, it was decided to build a long and wide runway. Moreover, the terminal there is not large. However, it contains a couple of cafes, shops that tourists visit to buy souvenirs.
7. Once the measure of wealth on Easter Island was hens
For a long time on the island, as a result of the disappearance of the forest, chickens became the only source of meat. These poultry were held in high esteem and spacious stone coops were erected for them.
Also, for a long time, local residents considered the presence of a large number of chickens a sign of family well-being.
6. Caves on Easter Island were used for a variety of purposes.
Easter Island is replete with a huge variety of caves. They were used by locals for a variety of purposes until the middle of the 20th century. They lived there, shelled women and children during periods of war and raids, stored fresh water, stored chickens and even arranged burials.
Many of the caves are well known to the current inhabitants of Easter Island - they played there in childhood. But even now, when any research group can freely visit the island, only a small part of these caves is well studied and mapped.
5. Once upon a time on Easter Island 2 peoples lived, moai did only one of them
The oldest written legends say that the ancestors of the modern inhabitants of the island were the so-called “short-eared”. They arrived, led by their leader Tuu-ko-ihu, from an island that was far away in Polynesia.
Having landed on land, they realized that the island was already inhabited by another nation, calling itself "long-eared", which, led by the discoverer Hotu Matua, came from the eastern part of the ocean. For almost two months, they sailed from a hot country, where the scorching sun burned the entire crop.
Since they were the first to populate the island, they immediately began to build those very giant statues - the moai. For two hundred years, the “short-eared” helped the “long-eared” in this work of theirs.
But at some point, the peaceful neighborhood coexistence ceased and the two nations began to war. As a result, the "short-eared" killed almost all the "long-eared".
4. Once Easter Island was covered in forest
Once upon a time, most of the island was occupied by dense vegetation, including vast forest territories. Gradually, the population of the island increased, deforestation took on a massive scale.
That part of the land, where originally there was a dense forest, became a place for growing crops. In addition, wood was used as a source of fuel, raw materials for the construction of houses, as well as for the movement of giant statues. Because of this, by the beginning of the 17th century, the island no longer had forests.
3. Scientists are still arguing about how the first inhabitants got to Easter Island
It is still not known for certain about the route of settlement of the island. In the XX century, many theories appeared, put forward by scientists involved in the study of the island. But, unfortunately, to this day, none of them has proven evidence.
2. All stone moai statues (except seven) look inland
In total, there are approximately 900 stone statues on the island.
The largest of them reach a mass of up to 50 tons. Sledgehammers, axes, and chisels made of stone were used to create them, since the inhabitants of the island did not know how to mine metal.
The largest of these giants is 22 meters high.
But the most mysterious thing is that almost all of these stone statues are facing the island. What this is connected with is still unknown.
1. It is still unknown how and why the moai statues were made
The so-called "moai" is the most important mystery of a mysterious island. These statues are like guards guarding their territory. Despite some primitive features, the stone giants are fascinating.
Many mysteries are associated with these stone statues. First of all, it is not known how they managed to be moved to a certain place.
But the main secret is the purpose of erecting these moai? According to one of the scientific hypotheses, the statues depicted deceased leaders, according to another, they were idolized deities of the island, and according to the third, they were part of the cult.