Wall Street Hedge

Wednesday, January 20, 2021
Log in
  • Home
  • Nation & Politics
  • Financial News
  • Technology & Research
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Latest News
      • Business
      • Nature
      • Science
      • World
      • VA Hospitals Are Still Under Investigation for Suspected Drug Thefts

Environmental collapse caused demise of Rapa Nui civilization

By Leave a Comment

Moai-Statues-Easter-Island1

The reasons behind the extinction of Rapa Nui, the Polynesians that once lived on Easter Island, have been highly debated among the researchers group. But no distinct finding has been made in this regard so far.

While some says they died due to the scarcity of natural resources on the island, other believes Rapa Nui died because of the new diseases that the Europeans brought on the island.

But a new research work offers an entirely different story. The research was explained by study co-author Dr. Thegn Ladefoged, an anthropology professor at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

According to the researchers, it was the harsh environmental conditions on the Easter island that resulted in the shrinking of the population of Rapa Nui before the advent of Europeans in 1722.

Some of these environmental factors include variations in rainfall and soil quality degradation.

“The study’s findings were really quite surprising to me. In short, it does not support the suggestion that societal collapse occurred prior to European contact due to physical erosion and productivity decline, but it does indicate that use of less optimal environmental regions changed prior to European contact,” Dr. Ladefoged said.

easter-island1-665x385

During the study, the researchers involved 428 obsidian tools and flakes of obsidian rock that were found in various locations on Easter Island and carried close analysis on them, followed by dating the pieces of obsidian.

Dating helped the researchers in determining that when and how the Rapa Nui population used the natural resources and land at different spots of Easter Island. It was found that the use of land and other resources varied widely all over the island. This made the researchers believe that the Rapa Nui suffered to a higher extent from environmental constraints than an environment abuse.

“While we do not have direct population data, it is clear that people were reacting to regional environmental variation on the island before they were devastated by the introduction of European diseases and other historic processes,” Dr. Ladefoged said.

Concluding the findings of the study, Dr. Ladefoged said that the realization of a collapse in the environmental factors on Easter Island and the extinction of Rapa Nui may assist the scientists, researchers and anthropologists in better understanding the extinction or collapse of similar ancient civilizations.

The study was published on January 5 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

 

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr

Filed Under: Technology & Research Tagged With: Dr. Thegn Ladefoged, Easter Island, Environmental collapse, Polynesians, Rapa Nui, Rapa Nui extinction

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 15 other subscribers

Recent Articles

AXA building in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Insurer AXA To Buy XL Group For $15 Billion

By Leave a Comment

New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street.

Wall Street Comes Out Intact As Global Stock Rise

By Leave a Comment

Ryanair profits are up despite threats of pilot strike.

Ryanair Profits Are Up But A New Pilot Strike May Be Around The Corner

By Leave a Comment

Bitcoin bubble may burst, analysts speculate.

Bitcoin Bubble Shows Signs Of Bursting

By Leave a Comment

One percent amassed 82 percent of the world's fortune last year.

82 Percent Of The World’s Wealth Went To The One Percent In 2017, According To Oxfam Report (Report)

By Leave a Comment

Morgan Stanley will be hit with a $1.25 billion charge as part of the new Republican tax cut.

Morgan Stanley To Be Hit With $1.25 Billion Charge From Republican Tax Reform

By Leave a Comment

General Electric Laboratory

High Demand For Renewable Forces General Electric To Slash 12 Thousand Jobs Worldwide

By Leave a Comment

Cryptocurrency bitcoin coins

Cryptocurrency Is Worth More Than JPMorgan, Bitcoin Raises Concerns

By Leave a Comment

Computer circuit board

Chipmaker Company, Marvell Technology, to Buy its Rival Cavium in $6 billion Deal

By Leave a Comment

Thanksgiving dinner

Thanksgiving Dinner Will Cost Less This Year as Food Gets Cheaper

By Leave a Comment

Doctors in surgery

Vermont Is Preparing New Health Care System

By Leave a Comment

Saudi Arabia’s capital city Riyadh

Saudi Arabia Has Just Bought Huge Stake in Uber

By Leave a Comment

No Agreement Yet on the Trans-Pacific Partnership

By Leave a Comment

Samsung Shareholders Approve Deal Which Sees Lee Family Gain More Control

By Leave a Comment

Related Articles

  • Google Home speaker placed on a wooden shelf

    The Spanish Google Home Might Be a Serious Blow for Amazon Alexa

  • Sea of Thieves screenshot showing an underwater pirate

    Sea of Thieves Devs Announce the Official Release Date of the First DLC

  • Xiaomi logo on an orange background

    Xiaomi Won’t Bring Its Smartphones to US but Has Smart Devices and Accessories

  • Nintendo logo on a red background

    Nintendo and Cygames Are Working on a Mobile RPG Called Dragalia Lost

  • Blue-green exoplanet that is uninhabitable

    Researchers Create Alien Searching AI to Find Exoplanets that Might Host Life

  • Fake news on laptop.

    Fake News Spreads A Lot Faster On Social Media Than The Truth (Study)

  • desktop computer with facebook on screen and mouse and keyboard in front

    People Spent Less Time on Facebook at the End of 2017

  • counter-strike global offensive logo in black on white

    Jess Cliffe, the Co-Creator of Counter-Strike, Was Arrested

  • mark zuckerberg against a blue background with facebook on it

    Facebook Updates: Local News Gain Visibility

  • A building with the Tesla logo on it

    Tesla Inc to Turn On World’s Biggest Lithium-Ion Battery in Australia

Categories

  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Financial News
  • Lifestyle & Health
  • Nation & Politics
  • National News
  • Nature
  • Science
  • Technology & Research
  • World

Copyright © 2021 WallStreetHedge.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more.