A remote and isolated island, thousands of miles off the coast of Chile, Easter Island has always bewildered historians, anthropologists and researchers with the mysteries of its civilization and ancient culture.
Easter Island culture is unique in its own way. Due to internal conflicts, European influence and degeneration of natural resources, the ancient culture gradually declined, yet remains of it can be found among the native island dwellers. Easter Island is like a museum of a lost civilization that anyone can visit.
The stone giants spread all over the island are the mute witness to a rich culture that is no more. These huge statues are locally known as Moai. They are also famous as “Easter Island Heads”. For centuries people have been bugged by the question how these statues came to stand where they are, who made them and for what purpose. None of the answers have been satisfactory enough for all to agree. It is said that the island was full of huge tress called Paschalococos disperta and Saphora toromiro in around 200 A.D. and these huge trees were used to transport the giants from their quarries. The Moai are made up of volcanic rock available on the island. The heads are of different types. Some have long ears and some have short ears. It is assumed that these statues were used for religious purposes as according to the native Polynesians. If a rock or a piece of wood is carved in proper religious manner then they get infused with a spirit of their own called mana. Mana has definitely not left any Moai till date, as their aura can still be felt on the entire island.
On Easter Island, stone chicken houses have been found which are ten feet wide and more than twenty feet long, with very narrow openings. According to some historians, these chambers were used as graves as in ancient South American cultures. The ancient script found on the island is called Rongorongo, which according to some writers, stands for “peace-peace”. No one knows how to read the scripts. A lot can be understood about the Easter Island culture if the scripts could be deciphered. Till then the island will continue to be engulfed in unsolved mysteries. Keep surfing the pages of Christmas Carnivals for more information on Easter Island.
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