Rapa Nui is an island of volcanic origin posadu 170 square kilometers, with almost no trees. It is considered to be the most isolated inhabited island in the world. (Although the islanders call your island Rapa Nui and themselves ramanujam, the island is known as Easter island and its inhabitants are called pasalinami.) The whole island was declared historical monument, than he is obliged, in particular, stone statues, called moai. This statue is the work of the once prosperous civilization.

Moai were carved from volcanic rock. Some moai sticking out of the ground only huge head, the other on earth, visible and torso, and others "flaunt" stone hairstyle called pukao. The vast majority of the statues were unfinished in quarries or along ancient roads, as if working just threw down their tools and left. The remaining statues stand with their backs to the ocean singly or in series, which can comprise up to 15 statues. It is clear that the moai has long occupied the minds of visitors to the island.

In recent years, scientists have close to answer not only the secrets of the moai, but also why disappeared created them once highly developed civilization. Interestingly, the facts that establish the scientists have not only historical value. In "the encyclopedia Britannica" says that these data are taught "an important lesson for the modern world".

This is a lesson in how to deal with the Land, particularly in natural resources. Of course, the Earth is a much more complex and biologically diverse structure than the small Islands. But this does not mean that we can ignore the lesson that teaches us Rapa Nui.

The history of Rapa Nui starts around the year 400 BC, when the island came on large ocean-going canoes family of the first settlers. The only witnesses were hundreds of sea birds that hovered over their heads.

The island could not boast a great variety of vegetation, but there were forests, which grow palm trees, trees PAH-PAH, toromiro and shrubs, ferns and grasses. On this remote patch of land was found at least six species of forest birds, including owls, herons, birds and parrots. In the journal "discovery" States that the island Rapa Nui was also "largest bird Bazaar in Polynesia, and can be, and in the Pacific ocean".

Perhaps the colonists brought the chickens and edible rats that they were considered a delicacy. They brought and agricultural plants: Taro, yams, sweet potatoes, bananas and sugar cane. The soil on the island is fertile, so they immediately began to clear fields and sow them. This process continued until the growing population of the island. But Rapa Nui was not endless. And although it was a lush forest, yet the number of trees was limited.

The sources of our information about the history of Rapa Nui are mainly three Sciences: palynology, archaeology and paleontology. For the analysis of pollen palinology take pollen samples, buried in layers of deposits in the marshes and ponds. On these samples, you can learn which plants and how many were here for hundreds of years. The samples taken from deeper layers of sediments are of earlier periods.

Archeologists and paleontologists examine preserved buildings, household utensils, moai, as well as the remains of the animals ate. As the chronicle of Ramanujan written in hieroglyphs, which are hard to decipher, all dates prior to the time of contact of the islanders with Europeans, set about many assumptions impossible to prove. In addition, some of the following events may overlap in time.

a 400 year ad landed On the island from 20 to 50 Polynesian settlers. They come, probably in large 15-metre pirogue, can be used to access the ocean and is able to carry the load more than 8 tons.

800 year ad In the sediments decreases the amount of pollen of trees. This means that the island is cut down forest. An increasing number of grass pollen, as some of the cleared area covered with grass.

900-1300 year. About one-third of bones left from animals, the meat of which ate during this period, constitute the bones of dolphins. To catch dolphins in the open ocean, the islanders used big cakes made of trunks of palm trees. Trees also serve as the basis for devices with which move and raised to a vertical position moai, under construction at this time in large quantities. People are increasingly engaged in agriculture and harvested firewood, thereby continuing to destroy the forest.

1200-1500 year. The construction of statues in full bloom. All the resources and strength of the islanders is aimed at creating the moai and ceremonial platforms on which they are installed. Obviously, the moai statues not worshipped, although they played a role in the burial customs and rituals connected with agriculture. Perhaps they felt dwelling of the spirits. It seems that they also symbolized power, position, and the genealogy of those who made them.

1400-1600 year. The population reaches its maximum: from 7 to 9 thousand people. Disappear the last forest areas. Partly this is due to the extinction of lesnih birds that are pollinated trees and carried the seeds. The disappearance of the forest has contributed and rats. Found evidence that they were eating the nuts trees.

Begins soil erosion, dry river, not enough water. In the layers of sediments, Dating from about 1500 year, disappear bones dolphins. Perhaps the island are no trees, suitable for building a large ocean pie. The islanders now can't leave the island. People is running out of food, and they destroy sea birds. People eat more chicken.

1600-1722 year. The absence of forests, expansion of agriculture and soil degradation are increasingly lead to crop failures. Opens up the famine. Rapanui people are divided into two rival groups. The first signs of social chaos, perhaps even cannibalism. The island is ruled by the law of force. In an effort to protect themselves, people move to live in caves. The population is rapidly falling, and about 1700 on the island is only about 2 thousand people.

1722. Dutch Explorer Jacob Roggeveen becomes the first European to discover the island. This happens on Easter, hence the name of the island. Raghavan wrote: "Total deserted look gave the impression of extreme poverty and infertility".

1770. About this time rival clans surviving Ramanujan begin to overturn statues posed by competitors. When in 1774, the island is visited by the English Explorer captain James cook, he sees that many statues are toppled.

1804-1863 year. Increases the number of contacts of the islanders with other civilizations. Slavery, widespread at this time in the Pacific countries, and the disease carried away many lives. Disappears traditional culture Ramanujan.

the year 1864. By this time overturned last moai, many statues deliberately broken away a head.

1872. On the island remains only 111 indigenous people.

In 1888 island Rapa Nui was annexed to Chile. Currently there are about 2100 people: indigenous islanders and IDPs. The government of Chile announced whole island historic monument. To save the unique features and history of the island, many statues were installed.

Why Rapanui people did not understand, where they go, and not tried to prevent a catastrophe? That's what scientists assert.

"The forest has not disappeared suddenly, it was decreasing gradually, over decades. Even if some of the islanders and tried to warn fellow about what are the consequences of forest destruction, his warning was ignored, because it is addressed selfish interests sculptors, rulers and their servants" (Discover").

"How they island-world decided to Express their spiritual and political ideas that made the island a mere Ghost of what it was originally" ("Easter Island - Archaeology, Ecology, and Culture").

"What happened on Rapa Nui, meant that uncontrolled population growth and the desire to dispose of resources of the environment, going beyond a certain critical point, were not just signs of industrialization of the world; this is a characteristic of a person" ("the national geographic").

But what if this so-called characteristic feature of man will not change? What if people will continue to contribute to the creation on Earth - on this island in the ocean of space is intolerable from the point of view of ecology of the conditions of existence? According to one scholar, we have a huge advantage over ramanujam: cautionary examples "history of lost civilizations".

But the question remains: do you people anything from history? Judging by what on Earth at an alarming rate forests have been destroyed and die living beings, no. Linda Kenner writes in "the Book about zoos": "the Disappearance of one, two or fifty species will lead to such consequences, which we cannot imagine. Extinction entails changes before we realize the consequences of".

In the book "Easter Island - island Earth" there is a striking word: "The one who cut down the last tree, I saw that it was the last. But he cut it".