Rapa Nui Theory

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Between the years 300BC-400BC, a group of inhabitants landed ashore the island of Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui. Once ashore, these settlers began collecting resources and learned to survive with no help from the outside, stranded on an island in the middle of the Pacific. They created methods to hunt, fish, make clothing, and cook food properly. In addition, the people of Rapa Nui also separated into different groups or tribes. These tribes coexisted on the island for some time – until civil wars broke out across the island. The inhabitants of Rapa Nui disappeared from the island without a trace. The cause of their disappearance is unknown although experts believe the inhabitants of Rapa Nui were irresponsible with their resources. …show more content…

Before the Europeans sailed between the two regions (1000 AD) Squash and sweet potatoes were present in both South America and Polynesia. There is also biological evidence supporting this theory. Scientists discovered and ran tests on chicken bones from Samoa and from Southern Chile. They found that the bones consisted of the same DNA sequence which suggests that Polynesian chickens were introduced in the fourteenth century in South America. That being said, there has been no evidence showing that Polynesian people stayed for extended periods of time in South America or vice versa. This suggests that the meetings between the two regions were brief and did not take place all that often. (Imagina Easter …show more content…

To become ill, stranded on the island with no means of medication most of the time resulted in death. The most commonly cooked food was called “Umu Rapa Nui”, which means Easter Island curanto. Curanto is a Chilean influenced food that was cooked on the island inside of a hole in the ground. Inside of the hole, there would be a fire with made with firewood and extremely hot rocks inside. Leaves were placed on the rocks, followed by meat such as fish or chicken placed on top of the leaves. The meat was then covered with more leaves and rocks. Taro was then placed atop the first layer, which was again covered by leaves and dirt in substitute of rocks. The process of heating the food was slow and took a very long time. Large quantities of these dishes were cooked at one time. In turn, once the Umu Rapa Nui was finished cooking, it became a communal food source for many people on the island. (Maziere

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