ISLAND OF SECRETS
Sitting in the southern Pacific more than 3000
km off the coast of mainland Chile, Rapa Nui
is eerily remote - as if it had been deliberately
quarantined from the rest of the world. Small wonder the
first Europeans to reach it sensed there was something
strange about the island. When the Dutch explorer Jacob
Roggeveen and his crew came across it in 1722, they
were amazed to discover islanders eking out an existence
there. According to some researchers, there were once far
more inhabitants on Rapa Nui, and a plentiful supply of
trees. But first the trees and then the islanders fell victim
to ecological ignorance - the same ignorance that could
yet spell disaster for the rest of the planet during the 21st
century.
In his 2005 book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or
Succeed, Jared Diamond, a biogeographer and best-selling
author, made headlines by portraying the fate of Rapa
Nui as an example of ecocide: the systematic destruction
of an ecosystem by humans. The resulting loss of natural
resources triggered war, chaos and cultural collapse,
‘the clearest example of a society that destroyed itself by
overexploiting its own resources,’ says Diamond, adding:
‘The parallels between Rapa Nui and the whole modern
world are chillingly obvious.’ While not the first to draw
such a dark conclusion, Diamond’s high profile brought it
to worldwide notice.
Until now, the conventional view - based partly on
carbon dating and archaeological surveys - has been
that the island was first colonised around the year 800
by settlers from elsewhere in Polynesia. By the year 1200
those settlers had started to chop down the island’s
extensive forests to make homes and fishing boats,
and to help with the transportation and erection of the
moai*.
The question of what happened next is controversial.
According to Diamond and others, the population
soared to around 15,000, and deforestation took place
at a furious rate. Within 250 years, virtually all the
trees had gone, and the island’s resources were simply
incapable of supporting the population and its statuebuilding
- triggering famine and war. The islanders seen
by Roggeveen were the only survivors of this ecological
disaster.
Yet, according to Rapa Nui specialists such as
anthropologist Professor Carl Lipo of California State
University in Long Beach, this storyline is based largely
on extrapolations of known facts to fit preconceptions.
While deforestation definitely took place, the claim that
it was triggered by the islanders when they began erecting
the moai is flawed.
According to Professor Terry Hunt of the University of
Hawaii, the islanders may indeed have been to blame,
but not in the way most environmentalists believe.
Huge numbers of ancient rat bones have been found on
the island, suggesting the original settlers introduced
a foreign species that wreaked havoc in the forests.
Research on the other Pacific islands has shown that rats
are capable of triggering deforestation by eating the seeds
of palms. ‘The ‘cautionary tale’ from the island is that
invasive species can lead to a catastrophe for the native
ecosystem,’ says Hunt.
But while the islanders may have coped well with the
resulting deforestation, they were no match for the
microbial species introduced by the Europeans, in the
form of smallpox and other contagious diseases. Within
150 years of the arrival of Roggeveen, Rapa Nui had
suffered a population collapse of far greater proportions
than anything suggested by environmentalists. A
combination of disease and forced emigration had cut the
population to barely one hundred.
Clearly the controversy over the true story of Rapa Nui
will continue for years yet. But both sides are agreed on
one thing: the need to back theories with hard evidence.
‘Archaeology should be more than a prop for the current
popular story,’ says Professor Hunt. ‘It should be a
scientific means of documenting history.’
54
B. Read the text and complete the blanks with the correct form of the words in capitals.
It never RAINS but it pours!
Little did I know what was in store for me when
I was making my (1) for my
holiday in Italy. It was upon my cousin’s
(2) that I went ahead and made
all my arrangements using an Internet site.
Anyway, all went surprisingly well until my
(3) at the airport in Rome. That
is where things started going wrong. As
I was making my way through the crowd of people
gathered at the baggage claim, I stumbled over
somebody’s luggage and hit my head. When I had
recovered, I found my way to customs control where
an (4) of some sort was in progress. I remember wondering what all the fuss was
about when a man came hurtling past so violently that I once again found myself on the marble floor.
This time two customs officers came to my (5) and I was given time to get a hold
of myself.
Afterwards, I went to the taxi rank. My (6) must have been cause for concern as I
noticed many people glancing in my (7) and then looking the other way. Finally,
a taxi came and just as I was getting comfortable, the taxi driver stopped outside an old building in an
unpleasant (8) . I stared in disbelief and tried in broken Italian to communicate
my (9) but the taxi driver glared angrily at me and pointed at his watch. I rang the
bell for what seemed like ages, getting more and more uneasy as (10) fell. Suddenly,
to my relief, an old lady came to the door. It turned out the hotel at which I had booked a room did not
exist. Fortunately, the old lady offered to put me up for the night and, with some help from her son, I
was able to find suitable (11) the following day. Although all’s well that ends well, I
definitely appreciate the friendly (l2) at the travel agency around the corner more
than I did before this incident.
BOOK
INSIST
ARRIVE
ARGUE
ASSIST
APPEAR
DIRECT
NEIGHBOUR
RESERVE
DARK
ACCOMMODATE
ASSIST
1. Roggeveen did not expect to find people inhabiting Rapa Nui.
2. Some researchers maintain that the modern world could suffer the same fate as Rapa Nui.
3. New evidence indicates that Rapa Nui initially did not have forests.
4. Carbon dating is one of the newest techniques to be used in the assessment of historical events.
5. According to Jared Diamond, Roggeveen encountered what remained of a once thriving population.
6. Deforestation on Rapa Nui is attributed by some anthropologists to the introduction of an animal species
that originally did not exist there.
7. The current population of Rapa Nui is predominantly of Polynesian descent.
EXAMINATION PRAC TICE
*moai: stone statues of human figures
55
Sitting in the southern Pacific more than 3000
km off the coast of mainland Chile, Rapa Nui
is eerily remote - as if it had been deliberately
quarantined from the rest of the world. Small wonder the
first Europeans to reach it sensed there was something
strange about the island. When the Dutch explorer Jacob
Roggeveen and his crew came across it in 1722, they
were amazed to discover islanders eking out an existence
there. According to some researchers, there were once far
more inhabitants on Rapa Nui, and a plentiful supply of
trees. But first the trees and then the islanders fell victim
to ecological ignorance - the same ignorance that could
yet spell disaster for the rest of the planet during the 21st
century.
In his 2005 book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or
Succeed, Jared Diamond, a biogeographer and best-selling
author, made headlines by portraying the fate of Rapa
Nui as an example of ecocide: the systematic destruction
of an ecosystem by humans. The resulting loss of natural
resources triggered war, chaos and cultural collapse,
‘the clearest example of a society that destroyed itself by
overexploiting its own resources,’ says Diamond, adding:
‘The parallels between Rapa Nui and the whole modern
world are chillingly obvious.’ While not the first to draw
such a dark conclusion, Diamond’s high profile brought it
to worldwide notice.
Until now, the conventional view - based partly on
carbon dating and archaeological surveys - has been
that the island was first colonised around the year 800
by settlers from elsewhere in Polynesia. By the year 1200
those settlers had started to chop down the island’s
extensive forests to make homes and fishing boats,
and to help with the transportation and erection of the
moai*.
The question of what happened next is controversial.
According to Diamond and others, the population
soared to around 15,000, and deforestation took place
at a furious rate. Within 250 years, virtually all the
trees had gone, and the island’s resources were simply
incapable of supporting the population and its statuebuilding
- triggering famine and war. The islanders seen
by Roggeveen were the only survivors of this ecological
disaster.
Yet, according to Rapa Nui specialists such as
anthropologist Professor Carl Lipo of California State
University in Long Beach, this storyline is based largely
on extrapolations of known facts to fit preconceptions.
While deforestation definitely took place, the claim that
it was triggered by the islanders when they began erecting
the moai is flawed.
According to Professor Terry Hunt of the University of
Hawaii, the islanders may indeed have been to blame,
but not in the way most environmentalists believe.
Huge numbers of ancient rat bones have been found on
the island, suggesting the original settlers introduced
a foreign species that wreaked havoc in the forests.
Research on the other Pacific islands has shown that rats
are capable of triggering deforestation by eating the seeds
of palms. ‘The ‘cautionary tale’ from the island is that
invasive species can lead to a catastrophe for the native
ecosystem,’ says Hunt.
But while the islanders may have coped well with the
resulting deforestation, they were no match for the
microbial species introduced by the Europeans, in the
form of smallpox and other contagious diseases. Within
150 years of the arrival of Roggeveen, Rapa Nui had
suffered a population collapse of far greater proportions
than anything suggested by environmentalists. A
combination of disease and forced emigration had cut the
population to barely one hundred.
Clearly the controversy over the true story of Rapa Nui
will continue for years yet. But both sides are agreed on
one thing: the need to back theories with hard evidence.
‘Archaeology should be more than a prop for the current
popular story,’ says Professor Hunt. ‘It should be a
scientific means of documenting history.’
54
B. Read the text and complete the blanks with the correct form of the words in capitals.
It never RAINS but it pours!
Little did I know what was in store for me when
I was making my (1) for my
holiday in Italy. It was upon my cousin’s
(2) that I went ahead and made
all my arrangements using an Internet site.
Anyway, all went surprisingly well until my
(3) at the airport in Rome. That
is where things started going wrong. As
I was making my way through the crowd of people
gathered at the baggage claim, I stumbled over
somebody’s luggage and hit my head. When I had
recovered, I found my way to customs control where
an (4) of some sort was in progress. I remember wondering what all the fuss was
about when a man came hurtling past so violently that I once again found myself on the marble floor.
This time two customs officers came to my (5) and I was given time to get a hold
of myself.
Afterwards, I went to the taxi rank. My (6) must have been cause for concern as I
noticed many people glancing in my (7) and then looking the other way. Finally,
a taxi came and just as I was getting comfortable, the taxi driver stopped outside an old building in an
unpleasant (8) . I stared in disbelief and tried in broken Italian to communicate
my (9) but the taxi driver glared angrily at me and pointed at his watch. I rang the
bell for what seemed like ages, getting more and more uneasy as (10) fell. Suddenly,
to my relief, an old lady came to the door. It turned out the hotel at which I had booked a room did not
exist. Fortunately, the old lady offered to put me up for the night and, with some help from her son, I
was able to find suitable (11) the following day. Although all’s well that ends well, I
definitely appreciate the friendly (l2) at the travel agency around the corner more
than I did before this incident.
BOOK
INSIST
ARRIVE
ARGUE
ASSIST
APPEAR
DIRECT
NEIGHBOUR
RESERVE
DARK
ACCOMMODATE
ASSIST
1. Roggeveen did not expect to find people inhabiting Rapa Nui.
2. Some researchers maintain that the modern world could suffer the same fate as Rapa Nui.
3. New evidence indicates that Rapa Nui initially did not have forests.
4. Carbon dating is one of the newest techniques to be used in the assessment of historical events.
5. According to Jared Diamond, Roggeveen encountered what remained of a once thriving population.
6. Deforestation on Rapa Nui is attributed by some anthropologists to the introduction of an animal species
that originally did not exist there.
7. The current population of Rapa Nui is predominantly of Polynesian descent.
EXAMINATION PRAC TICE
*moai: stone statues of human figures
55
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