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The inhabitants of Rapa Nui had an agricultural system with ingenious ways to fertilise its soil. It is currently still used here and there. The trees were most

The inhabitants of Rapa Nui had an agricultural system with ingenious ways to fertilise its soil. It is currently still used here and there. The trees were mostly cut to make way to provide more land for agriculture, so that the population could be fed. Rapa Nui's population eventually diminished by 90% after the first contact with Europeans, partly because of imported diseases and partly because inhabitants were captured and exported as slaves to South America, mostly Peru. Sources: https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2017/07/12/rapa-nui-people-cultivated-and-managed-crops/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CPrevious%20work%20has%20shown%20that,islanders%20may%20have%20added%20fertilizers.%E2%80%9D https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2017/07/12/rapa-nui-people-culti... https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Epidemics-of-introduced-diseases-on-Easter-Island-after-the-first-European-contact-in_fig4_272830262 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Epidemics-of-introduced-...

idoubtit 6y ago
Indeed, the inhabitants of Rapa Nui were well fed. I remember a archaeology paper that compared their nutrition with other pacific islands. The people of Easter Island were among the best fed peoples. IIRC, the women of Rapa Nui were only at the average level, but this was a social problem. The lack of trees did not impede the food availability. Here is the conclusion of a recent (2017) study of their diet: "Our results point to concerted efforts to manipulate agricultural soils, and suggest the prehistoric Rapa Nui population had extensive knowledge of how to overcome poor soil fertility, improve environmental conditions, and create a sustainable food supply. These activities demonstrate considerable adaptation and resilience to environmental challenges ‐ a finding that is inconsistent with an “ecocide” narrative." From https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5637906/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5637906/

idoubtit 6y ago

Indeed, the inhabitants of Rapa Nui were well fed. I remember a archaeology paper that compared their nutrition with other pacific islands. The people of Easter Island were among the best fed peoples. IIRC, the women of Rapa Nui were only at the average level, but this was a social problem. The lack of trees did not impede the food availability. Here is the conclusion of a recent (2017) study of their diet: "Our results point to concerted efforts to manipulate agricultural soils, and suggest the prehistoric Rapa Nui population had extensive knowledge of how to overcome poor soil fertility, improve environmental conditions, and create a sustainable food supply. These activities demonstrate considerable adaptation and resilience to environmental challenges ‐ a finding that is inconsistent with an “ecocide” narrative." From https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5637906/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5637906/