|
British Mensa Travel Special Interest Group |
|
Home Copyright
© |
Birdman
and Other Legends by Wendy May Easter Island (Rapu Nui or Isla de Pascua) is a small (160 sq km) triangular shaped island in the South Pacific. It was formed from three separate volcanoes - Poike (3 mill years), Rano Kau (1 mill years), and finally Maunga Terevaka (300,000 years) which formed the mass of the island by filling in and joining the other two cones. It is thought that the island was settled around 300AD by Polynesians. The island is best known for its large statues (moai) mounted on religious stone shrines (ahu) - all of which had been destroyed by the mid 1800s - one hundred years after its discovery by Roggeveen on Easter Sunday 1722. It was the isolation of the island, coupled with the images and legends of the statues - from Thor Heyerdahl's work and, more recently, David Attenborough's documentary on Easter Island that had drawn me here. The isolation of Easter Island is difficult to comprehend from maps. It is 2,300 miles west of S America and 2,515 miles to the east of Tahiti. It was only on the 5 hour flight from Santiago that it began to dawn on me how isolated the island really is. The first surprise was the long time it took to taxi along the runway. We later discovered that the runway had been significantly extended to enable an emergency landing of the space shuttle! Guidebooks had mentioned that the whole island turns out for arrivals but I was not really expecting the masses of people at midnight, when our flight arrived. How wrong I was! We entered the small baggage hall to collect our cases and were greeted with a row of 'booths' where islanders were sitting offering bed and breakfast accommodation. Outside there were crowds of people welcoming arrivals and giving us flower garlands. I was expecting a barren island - no trees, very windy and very dusty. It was actually hot and humid with a sound of crickets chirruping in the background. The main village is Hanga Roa (population 3,000) and every house seems to have a vegetable garden, banana and citrus trees and flowers - including hibiscus and bougainvillea. There are also avocado and papaya trees, with pineapple, guava and watermelon. The vegetation does not reflect that of earlier times - originally there were forests of palm, conifers and hardwoods - now, thanks to a reforestation programme, there are groves of eucalyptus trees. There are very few bird species. Sparrow hawks were introduced into the island and they seem to have proliferated at the expense of the other birds and on one journey across the island I saw a line of about twenty birds perched on the posts of a boundary fence. Our guide, Vicky, was an islander who acted as a guide during her university vacation. It was obvious that she had a love of the island and had also done a lot of research on the sites and the associated legends and theories. We travelled along the red, dusty roads to explore the island - only the main streets in Hanga Roa are paved - it became obvious that it would be very easy to miss things if travelling without a local guide. The volcanic south coast is very beautiful and it would be easy to overlook the piles of rocks along the coastline. Many of these are actually ancient ahu, with fallen moai. In fact there are almost 350 ahu around the coast, sited in sheltered coves and in areas favourable for human habitation. The ahu is the religious shrine for a community - and also the burial or cremation site. They face inland towards the community and most of them have a well constructed sea-wall to the rear. One of the sites, at Vinapu, has a sea wall built in the Inca style - which led Thor Heyerdahl to develop his theory that the original inhabitants of the island came from S America. In front of some of the ahu there can be seen a circle of rocks - the death circle - where bodies were laid (after being washed, disemboweled and wrapped in a bark cloth) for three days prior to burial or cremation. The moai are thought to represent the elders of the community. On their death the moai - a stylized image representing the individual - is erected on the ahu. It faces inland towards the community to give it his knowledge, protection and strength. All the moai appear to be male and were carved from tuff - a volcanic stone from the crater of Ranu Raraku. Most are weathered and covered with a white lichen. These fallen moai looked very sad - most laying face downwards among the stones of the ahu. They reminded me of fallen gravestones in an old village churchyard. Scattered around the ahu there are also cylinders of red rock (scoria) - know as top knots (pukao) and which sat on top of the moai, representing their hair. Apparently the men used to dye their hair with crushed scoria mixed with sugar cane juice to give a red colour (a bit like henna). It was interesting to note that the male islanders still wear their hair long and occasionally wear it tied up into a topknot. There are a number of ahu sites and moai which have been restored over the last 30 years and it is these that provide some of the main images from Easter Island. However, for me, the most exciting part of the visit was the quarry at Ranu Raraku - where all the moai had been carved. There are hundreds of unfinished moai on the slopes, most of which are buried up to their shoulders or necks in the earth so that only their heads are visible. These are eye-less moai as the eye sockets were only completed when the moai had been raised onto its designated ahu. There is also one moai which has legs - this is Tukuturi (the kneeling moai) - one of the few moai that actually has a name. The stylized moai faces are thin and angular, with long noses and ears, and have a disdainful look. As there was no source of metal on the island all the moai had been carved out from the rock using obsidian and basalt tools, making the most of fault lines in the rock. The moai were carved in situ and there are still unfinished moai attached to the quarry face, including the largest moai ever carved - 'El Gigante' - which is 20 metres long. When a moai had been detached from the rock it was raised into a standing position in a trench so that it could be finished. It is these unfinished moai standing in their trenches - now covered in earth - that form the 'heads'. (It is estimated that two teams, working in shifts, could carve a medium sized moai in 12 - 15 months. This work must have involved considerable team work and man power.) From the quarry we could see the 15 standing moai on Ahu Tongariki on the coast. As we got closer to the site it was possible to see that although the moai have a stylized form all these moai were different, representing different faces and individuals. They also clearly showed the stylised form of the moai body - a protruding stomach (to give a low centre of gravity), an arched back, pronounced nipples, a belly button, arms, hands and long fingers. While Tongariki was the largest ahu we visited the other restored sites were no less majestic. Anakena on the north coast has a beautiful beach, with golden sand, surrounded by palm trees. This is a special place for the islanders as it is thought to be the landing site of Hotu Matu'a the island's first colonizer. It is also where the locals come to spend a relaxing afternoon. The moai of Ahu Nau Nau located here had been buried in sand and so are not as weathered as other maoi and they show spiral designs on their backs - which are thought to represent tattoos. Although many photographs and postcards show the these moai with eyes they are now eye-less and the single remaining eye on the island (made from coral) is in the museum. Also here is the soliary moai of Ahu Ature Huki - the first moai to be re-erected on the island. There is one moai on the island which has been given eyes - this is the moai on Ahu Kote Riku - and which is known as the 'one who looks to the sky'. This moai is found at Tahai, an ahu complex just outside the town of Hanga Roa. The earliest site here dates back to the sixth century AD. There are three ahu here, the first with the remains of 5 standing moai, and two with a single moai. This site seems to have been a major ceremonial area and there are also the remains of houses (which looked like upturned canoes and are called boat houses), caves, chicken houses and a harbour. Probably the most intriguing site is Ahu Akiva, where seven moai have been erected inland and which look towards the sea. The local legend is that the moai represent the 7 men sent to the island, as a scouting party, by the first king. The moai are orientated to the summer solstice and may have been significant for calendar setting. The other moai erected inland is on Ahu Huri a Urenga and is known as the moai 'that belongs to the moon'. This is a special moai as it has 2 pairs of arms. Its 20 fingers are thought to represent the 20 constellations known to the tribes and used for navigation. Following the ahu/moai period of the island's history there appears to have been social disintegration resulting in inter-tribal warfare and destruction of the ahu. An intriguing result of changes to the social system after this period was the development of the birdman cult. The birdman festival took place in September, when the chiefs of the island groups gathered at Orongo - which perches on the rim of the crater of Ranu Kau, and with a cliff drop of 300 metres. From this vantage point it is possible to see in all directions - to an unending vista of empty ocean. You can also see the curvature of the earth! The festival involved a competition between the tribal groups, the aim of which was to find the first egg of the sooty tern to be laid on Motu Nui, the largest of 3 islets situated about 2km out to sea. The egg hunters had to scale down the cliffs, swim to Motu Nui, find the egg and return with it tucked into a headband. The chief of the victorious tribe was then crowned as birdman. It could take several weeks to find the egg and the priests and those who remained at Oronga participated in ritual dances, songs and prayers. The sacred area, where the priests lived, has a large number of petroglyphs of Makemake (the god of the island) and of the birdman, and has a spectacular view of the islets. The site here has recently been reconstructed as it was a location for the film Rapa Nui made by Kevin Costner. What about modern culture? The islanders speak Rapanui although many also speak Spanish and English. The community is mainly Catholic and the church in Hanga Roa has a number of beautiful wood carvings incorporating both catholic and birdman symbols. We attended mass on Sunday morning and most of the island appeared to be in attendance. The priest greeted everyone at the door and conducted the service in Spanish, Rapanui and English. There was no organ but locals arrived with guitars and accordions to provide the musical accompaniment. The church has a high wooden roof and the singing and music filled the building. I can honestly say that this was an uplifting experience and one which gave a 'tingle factor'. The warmth and friendliness of the islanders was almost palpable. Although the islanders rely on tourism it is very low key. There are several small hotels on the island but most accommodation is in local homes. Our guide told us that there had recently been an application to build a large 5 star hotel complete with golf course and the islanders were hoping that this would be rejected. There are a few tourist shops selling local woodcarvings and stone (pumice) moai, as well as T-shirts, and Rongo rongo carvings - a pictographic form of writing which has not yet been deciphered. Some enterprising islanders also set up stalls at the main sites and there is a local market in the mornings for fruit, vegetables, fish and souvenirs. There are only 2 flights per week to and from mainland Chile and the islanders call into the local post office to collect and deliver mail - there are no mail deliveries. I was lucky when I visited the post office as I had my passport with me and was able to get it stamped as a record of my visit to the island. There are no newspapers on the island and the local TV station only broadcasts for a few hours each day so the islanders appear to keep up with local news through regular contact at church, in the market or at the post office. As everything not grown locally has to be imported certain food items can be expensive and the main diet is local fish and chicken. One local specialty is an ice cream made from a local fruit which has a peach like flavour and which has lines of vanilla ice cream threaded within it (Delicious!). They also make a mean 'pisco sour' ( a South American local drink) and a sweeter alternative - 'pisco pineapple'. As I visited
the island at the end of the summer season (December - February) my group
were often the only ones at a site. Apparently at the height of the season,
particularly when the cruise ships arrive, there can be large crowds.
While many ships visit the island there is no large harbour and they have
to anchor off shore. The passengers and goods have to be transported to
the island on small boats. If the weather is bad it is often not possible
for passengers to get to the island - which must be heartbreaking. On
leaving the island we were all given shell necklaces - so that we would
have something to remember our stay on the island. I don't think I will
forget this holiday - the isolation, the friendliness, the moai and, of
course drinking, a pisco sour while watching the sunset. First published in VISA issue 46 (summer 2002) |