- 21 hours ago
- #brightside
- #brightsideglobal
In this video, we will explore the history and mystery of the Easter Island statues, also known as moai. We will also learn about the factors that led to the decline and collapse of the statue-building culture.
#brightside #brightsideglobal
TIMESTAMPS:
0:01 Why there are no new statues on Easter Island
08:18 How Easter Island giants were moved
18:27 The most forbidden island on Earth
This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
#brightside #brightsideglobal
TIMESTAMPS:
0:01 Why there are no new statues on Easter Island
08:18 How Easter Island giants were moved
18:27 The most forbidden island on Earth
This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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FunTranscript
00:00The Moai statues have been standing tall and proud for hundreds of years.
00:05Once, people put an enormous effort into carving these grand sculptures.
00:09And then, they just suddenly stopped making them.
00:12But why?
00:13Let's figure out this mystery.
00:15Easter Island, located 2,500 miles east of Tahiti, has an area of 63 square miles.
00:22To this day, it's one of the most isolated islands in the world.
00:26Once, it was covered with forests, filled with different trees and ferns.
00:31But when the first humans came to the island, around 400 CE,
00:36the forest slowly began to disappear.
00:41And starting from 1250 CE, Moai statues began appearing all over the place.
00:48People made them from different types of rock, compressed volcanic ash, basalt, trachyte, and red scoria.
00:55As it's a volcanic island, these were all the ingredients the creators of the statues had to use.
01:01And once the builders completed their work, they covered the statues with pumice.
01:06The faces of the statues are different.
01:08But they all have distinct expressions, with heavy brows and large noses.
01:12Their arms are carved into the body.
01:15Some have hats on top of their heads.
01:17There are nearly 900 statues all over the island.
01:21They differ in size.
01:22The average height is 13 feet tall.
01:25And the largest ones reach 33 feet in height and weigh up to 82 tons.
01:30Because the statues have so many different faces,
01:33there are theories that they represent and honor ancestors, chiefs,
01:37and other important people who lived on the island.
01:40But without any clear evidence,
01:42it's almost impossible to figure out the true purpose of the Moai.
01:45Once, they stood beautifully along the coast, watching over people in settlements.
01:51And their backs faced toward the spirit world of the sea.
01:54When Europeans first discovered the Moai statues in the 1700s,
01:58many of them had already toppled over.
02:01And the construction of statues had stopped way earlier than that.
02:05Huge amounts of effort were put into making these things.
02:08Expert craftspeople spent a great deal of time slowly carving the statues with basic picks.
02:13A team of up to six people would work hard for an entire year to make just one statue.
02:19Then, they often had to transport it to its special place on the island, as far as 11 miles.
02:25With the help of carbon dating,
02:27experts have managed to figure out that the statue started to appear in 1250 CE.
02:33And then, suddenly, in 1500 CE or so, the process just stopped.
02:39The creators of the statue just left their stone chisels where they were last used.
02:44And only a quarter of all the statues were actually placed where they were supposed to be.
02:49Half of them still remained in the quarry, while others were left on the ground mid-transit.
02:54Something happened on the island, and it caused everyone to just lose interest in the statues.
03:00There are many theories around why it could happen, and they mostly relate to deforestation.
03:06Islanders may have used wood to move the statues across the island.
03:09They possibly did this with the help of sleds and ropes,
03:13or even used logs to roll the statues or canoes to float them.
03:17The wood started to deplete eventually.
03:19Trees on the island took very long to grow, and rats ate most seeds.
03:24People had many uses for wood, and they needed it not only for practical things,
03:29but also to create other statues.
03:32Another reason why the inhabitants of the island could have stopped building the statues
03:36might be that they were busy with other projects.
03:39Specialized rock gardens were becoming more common with a growing population.
03:43They were great for the soil, keeping it warm and fertilizing it at the same time.
03:48Islanders spent much time and effort making these rock gardens,
03:51and there simply wasn't enough time to focus on building and moving the statues.
03:56Another theory suggests that what people believed in changed over time.
04:01Supposedly, the islands once saw the statues as a connection to their ancestors.
04:06After some time, though, rituals depicting a show of strength and endurance became more widespread.
04:12And with these rituals, islanders started to carve images related to seabirds.
04:18Seabirds became the main animal on the island.
04:20People started to believe that their ancestors looked over them through birds instead of the statues.
04:26So there was no longer a reason to build the moai.
04:30Anyway, these theories might be true.
04:32But the main problem was that the small island couldn't support a growing population.
04:37What was once a lush land covered in forests quickly became a barren landscape.
04:43For the first few centuries, people relied on forest resources.
04:47But agriculture became more important sometime after 1550, when forests disappeared.
04:53Tribes that once worked together to build the fantastic monoliths focused on competing against one another instead.
05:00During the struggle for land and resources, the moai statues were toppled over because people wanted to reduce their significance.
05:08Over the following centuries, all the statues were pushed over.
05:12But not all of them deliberately.
05:14Many fell naturally after being neglected for so long.
05:17Some even ended up in the ocean waters surrounding the island.
05:21And there they sat for a while.
05:23But there was some good news for these statues.
05:25They were re-erected, providing a great experience for visitors from all over the world.
05:30If you make a journey all the way to this isolated island, the first question you'll probably ask will not
05:37be how the statues were made or how they were moved.
05:40It will be, how on earth did anyone even make it here in the first place?
05:45It was one of the most amazing feats ever.
05:47The Polynesians sure did some pretty extraordinary things.
05:51From as early as 1500 BCE, these boat-faring people began to explore their world.
05:56They used the most advanced marine inventions of their time.
06:00They sailed across the ocean in catamarans and outrigger boats, starting in Southeast Asia and inhabiting many more places throughout
06:08the Pacific.
06:09They lived as far north as Hawaii in 900 BCE and all the way to the south in New Zealand
06:15by 1200 BCE.
06:17And the farthest journey to the east was, of course, Easter Island.
06:21In only a few hundred years, these early sailors inhabited an area of thousands of square miles.
06:28They simply memorized where they had already been and, this way, managed to navigate the ocean.
06:34They used a wide range of techniques.
06:36They watched the sun as it rose and set during the day.
06:40Stars helped them at night.
06:41If it was overcast and sailors couldn't figure out direction visually, they used other brilliant methods.
06:47They watched the movements of ocean currents and wave patterns and paid attention to bioluminescence in the water.
06:54These patterns helped them find where specific islands were located.
06:58These seafarers even understood how islands and atolls in the distance caused air and sea interference patterns.
07:05Birds provided them with certain signs, too.
07:08Some of them migrated long distances from one island to another, which gave travelers some kind of a visual connection
07:14for their route.
07:15Other types of birds had specific feeding times.
07:18Sailors knew when and where they hunted and directed their boats depending on where these birds fed.
07:25Vikings certainly get way too much credit for their seafaring abilities.
07:29Where they used a sun compass, the early Polynesians relied purely on the knowledge of how nature itself could guide
07:35them.
07:36Their skills were so advanced that in 1769, Captain James Cook, an English explorer, even hired a Polynesian navigator because
07:45of his extensive knowledge of the seas.
07:47But even more surprising was the fact that he drew a map from memory.
07:52It covered an area that was 2,000 miles wide.
07:55In this region, there were 130 islands, and the navigator knew 74 of those islands by name.
08:02At the beginning of their voyage, Captain Cook often disregarded the navigator's advice.
08:08But toward the end of their journey, he was very impressed.
08:11He also recognized the Polynesians as possibly the most widespread nation on Earth.
08:17The Easter Island giant heads are so popular that they even have their own emoji.
08:25Their true meaning has been a mystery for hundreds of years.
08:29But it looks like we at least know how they were built and transported to their permanent location.
08:36The Moai statues consist of three parts.
08:40A large yellow body, a red hat or topknot, and white inset eyes with a coral iris.
08:49Around 1,000 of them were created.
08:52The main bodies of most of the statues were made out of volcanic tuff from a local quarry in what
08:59used to be a volcano.
09:01The material is easy to carve, but not so easy to transport.
09:05That's probably why researchers found over 300 unfinished Moai back in the quarry.
09:12The rest of them stand in various locations, facing the villages as if watching over the locals.
09:20So, it looks like the statues were carved lying on their backs.
09:24Then, their creators detached them from the rock, moved them down slope, and set them in a vertical position to
09:31finish the work.
09:33Once it was done, it was time to get the statue to its platform.
09:37Now, if you've ever moved houses, you know how physically hard it is.
09:42So, imagine having to move a statue that is about half as heavy as a house, without a car or
09:49any modern equipment for a distance of three miles.
09:53The locals must have invented some original way of doing it, and scientists tried to recreate it to guess what
10:00it was.
10:01They tried pulling Moai replicas on wooden sleds.
10:05They thought someone could have used palm trees for that purpose, but this theory has been debunked.
10:10The most successful experiment so far was wielding ropes to rock the statue down the road in a standing position.
10:18This method sounds real because the local Rapa Noai legends mentioned that the Moai walked from the quarry.
10:26And, of course, they needed a good road to get there.
10:30In the early 20th century, researcher Catherine Rutledge identified an 800-year-old road network on the island.
10:39It was a bunch of pathways around 15 feet wide going from the quarry.
10:45She thought that those roads were ceremonial and not built just for the statues.
10:49She wasn't a famous scientist back then, so others mostly ignored the theory.
10:55Several decades later, famous Norwegian adventurer and archaeologist Thor Heredal published his theory.
11:02He mentioned that the roads were built exclusively to transport the Moai,
11:07and some of the statues were dropped along the roads for some reason.
11:11But in 2010, researchers found that the statues weren't randomly dropped.
11:17They actually reached their final destinations as they were all set on hidden platforms.
11:23Plus, the road floor was U-shaped, so pulling massive statues along them wouldn't be easy.
11:31You can still find roughly 15.5 miles of these roads on the island and see them from satellite images.
11:40And it looks like Catherine Rutledge was right about them.
11:44The roads were probably built for pilgrims to a sacred volcano,
11:48and the Moai standing by them were sort of signposts.
11:53Halfway across the world in southern England lies another mystery made of stone.
11:59A massive sound illusion, a symbol of unity, a burial ground, or more.
12:05Scientists are still debating the purpose of Stonehenge.
12:08It took Neolithic builders around 1,500 years to construct this beauty,
12:14made of roughly 100 stones, standing upright in a circle.
12:19Millions of tourists come to see it every year,
12:22and heritage protectors were worried about the modern road snaking close to the landmark.
12:28That modern road is now sunk into the ground below the grass level.
12:34And even though archaeologists assumed they could find an older road under it,
12:39they didn't have any high hopes.
12:42But when they took off a layer of asphalt,
12:45they noticed two parallel ditches that were nearly perpendicular to the road.
12:50The ditches connected the shortened sections of the avenue.
12:54That's what the archaeologists call the ancient pathway leading up to Stonehenge.
12:59It proves that the ancient people used to visit the monument for their purposes,
13:04and probably some ceremonies.
13:08Another interesting find during a dry summer was three dry patch marks within the stone circle.
13:14It looks like they were left there by three massive boulders.
13:18So Stonehenge could have been a full circle once.
13:23In 2021, archaeologists found a Roman road submerged in the Venetian lagoon.
13:30The fact that it runs there on the bottom for nearly 4,000 feet
13:34is proof that the Romans were here before sea levels rose and flooded the area.
13:40It supports the theory that there was an important settlement here
13:44centuries before Venice was founded at the spot in the 5th century CE.
13:49The ancient Romans were great at many things,
13:53and one of them was building roads.
13:55And it looks like they weren't afraid to work on the trickiest terrain.
13:59Scans have shown that the ancient road was built right on the beach,
14:03and it requires some serious skills.
14:08Imagine a village from over a thousand years ago frozen in time.
14:13There's still half-eaten food on the tables and personal things left in a rush.
14:19It's all preserved so well because it's covered by volcanic ash.
14:24Researchers found this village in 2011 in modern-day El Salvador.
14:29They believed there was a mass celebration in a Maya village called Serin over 1,400 years ago.
14:37The whole village was there, preparing the main temple for a ritual when a nearby volcano erupted.
14:44The 200-plus residents had no time to rush back to their homes.
14:49To save their lives, they had to flee the plaza and run south on a raised road called Sacbe.
14:55They managed to escape from the plumes of volcanic ash.
14:59In addition to being a superhero and saving all the people, the road had another cool feature.
15:05All Sacbe roads had an outer layer of stones.
15:09But this one was made of ash.
15:12Ironic, isn't it?
15:14It proves that the Maya people didn't only use stones to build their roads.
15:20Archaeologists discovered several coins in Jerusalem when they were excavating an old street.
15:25When they saw the minting dates, they realized the road was built when Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of
15:32Judea.
15:33Since he was the local ruler, it's almost clear that he gave the order to build the road.
15:40The pilgrims most likely used this road to reach the temple mount for worship.
15:45The pathway, which was laid with over 10,000 tons of limestone, was almost as broad as a London bus
15:52is long.
15:54It had been there for 2,000 years.
15:57It's not common that you find such a luxurious road.
16:00And it's not clear why a Roman governor would spend so much money on the road.
16:05It was probably his attempt to make the city's population like him.
16:09Plus, it was a great way to show he had both money and influence.
16:15The Old North Trail is an ancient highway that the inhabitants of North America used for 10,000 years.
16:23First on foot, then with dogs, and finally with horses.
16:28The first travelers moved around the continent down its paths for thousands of miles long before the first Europeans arrived.
16:35And even during the last ice age, they used it to carry trade goods, visit relatives, find a mate, or
16:45just explore.
16:47Researchers keep finding evidence that the stories and legends of the Blackfoot Indians about this trail are real.
16:55And it could be even the road that served one of the most massive human migrations.
17:00The people who crossed from Asia on the Bering Land Bridge about 15,000 years ago and settled in North
17:06America
17:07might have used the ice-free corridor along the Rockies, which later became a part of the trail.
17:16The Nakasendo Highway was built in the 17th century during the Edo period of Japanese history to link Kyoto and
17:24Tokyo.
17:26The 310-mile-long road runs across mountain ranges and down onto the plain.
17:32It was one of the five main roads used by the feudal lords and their families to travel to the
17:38capital.
17:39There were 69 post-stations on the route where travelers could stay overnight.
17:45The road was built for horses and pedestrians as the Japanese didn't use carts.
17:51You can still walk parts of the route.
17:57You're going to Ilya de Quiamada Grande, one of the most dangerous islands in the world.
18:03There, you find yourself among rainforests, huge rocks, and grasslands.
18:08The place is home to birds, locusts, and giant cockroaches.
18:12But there's one more animal, and because of it, the island got its notorious reputation.
18:18Snakes live there, and a lot of them.
18:21So many, that the place is also known as Snake Island.
18:25Will you survive there?
18:28Located just 20 miles away from the coast of Brazil, the island has an area of 43 hectares, or over
18:34100 acres.
18:35It probably got cut off from the mainland after the last ice age.
18:39The snakes were also separated from most other animal species.
18:43They didn't have competitors, and had an unlimited source of food.
18:47In such a small area, there are up to 4,000 snakes.
18:51That's one snake for every 10 square feet.
18:54It would be a difficult feat not to come across a snake on this island.
18:59Not only is this snake, the golden lancehead, one of the most numerous on the island,
19:04but it's also a highly venomous pit viper species.
19:07And it's also one of the most venomous in all of Latin America.
19:12Its venom is so potent due to the isolation of the species, with only birds sharing the land with them.
19:19To catch these birds, the snake's venom needed to become extra strong.
19:23And indeed, since they got separated from their distant relatives, their venom has become up to 5 times more powerful.
19:31Most of the time, these snakes hide in the trees, or amongst leaves on the ground.
19:35If you find yourself stranded here, you'll want to keep yourself a safe distance away.
19:40Snakes mainly use their sense of smell, and rely on vibrations.
19:44If you get too close to one, either stand still, or slowly walk away.
19:49If you make too many vibrations, this will make them feel threatened, causing them to strike.
19:55If you spot them a safe distance away, or if you're walking toward tall grass, stamp your feet a couple
20:01of times.
20:02This will notify snakes of your presence.
20:04They won't risk taking down prey larger than they are, and will likely slither away.
20:10Carrying a stick is always a good idea, just in case you happen to come across a snake accidentally.
20:16This way, you'll have an extension of your arm that cannot be bitten.
20:20This simple thing might save your life.
20:22A stick with a V-shape on the end will give you even more advantage.
20:27Even if a snake starts acting aggressively, holding it down will stop it in its tracks.
20:32But, whatever happens, don't try to pick it up.
20:36Okay, but what if you get bitten?
20:39The chances are pretty high on this island, of course.
20:42First of all, don't try to get the venom out on your own.
20:45Make sure you call emergency services immediately.
20:48And once help is on the way, apply a wide bandage.
20:51A piece of clothing will do if you don't have anything else.
20:55Don't try to chase the snake trying to identify the species.
20:58Emergency services know how to figure out what venom it is.
21:02Now, just keep calm and wait for help.
21:05You might be wondering who you can call on this abandoned island.
21:09Well, since it's strictly prohibited to visit this place,
21:12there are signs advising to stay away all over the island,
21:16along with a number you can call if you run into trouble.
21:19Let's say you've successfully avoided getting bitten.
21:23The next thing to consider is what you can eat there.
21:26Snake Island was previously known as Ilha de Quiemada Grande,
21:30where Quiemada is Portuguese for forest being lit up, or forest fire.
21:35The reason for that was the fact that the entire island was deliberately set on fire
21:40to make room for a banana plantation.
21:43Unfortunately, the banana business didn't turn out to be a success,
21:47probably because farmers got sick and tired of snakes.
21:50But some banana trees still thrive today,
21:52and they can provide you with some much-needed nutrients.
21:56You'll also want some protein in your diet throughout your stay.
21:59Luckily, along with the snakes trapped on the island, there are also cockroaches.
22:05These giant prehistoric-looking roaches come out at night to feed on plants.
22:09Get that barbecue started and enjoy the rare delicacy this island provides.
22:15A great way to survive on the island is to avoid it altogether.
22:19If, by chance, you happen to be sailing past,
22:21keep in mind that this place was once connected to the mainland.
22:25Rocks beneath the waves are very likely to damage the bottom of your boat if you get too close.
22:30Make sure you keep an appropriate distance when traveling past.
22:35Sure, this island is intriguing,
22:37but please remember that no matter how close you get to it,
22:40you won't be able to see snakes from the boat.
22:42You can only see these creatures if you get close enough,
22:45which you really shouldn't do.
22:47And it's not only reptiles that make this location dangerous.
22:51Pirates visit the island quite often.
22:54Not the sea shanty-singin' peg-legged ar-pirates,
22:58but bio-pirates,
23:00who come there to capture the very thing that makes it so dangerous.
23:03They come there for snakes,
23:05to catch them and sell them illegally.
23:09Since the island got cut off around 11,000 years ago,
23:12the golden lancehead has evolved within its own unique habitat.
23:15So, although there are many reptiles on this island,
23:19they're still an endangered species.
23:22Due to their limited numbers,
23:23their value is very high,
23:25reaching up to $30,000 on illegal markets,
23:28which gives bio-pirates the motivation to catch them.
23:32I can think of better ways to make a living.
23:35Anyway, let's say you've got all the resources necessary to survive in one of the most dangerous places on Earth.
23:42Do you think you would manage this feat?
23:44Perhaps you think it's impossible.
23:45You'd be surprised at how possible it can be,
23:48if you know what you're doing.
23:50It turns out, many have visited this scary place before.
23:54Research teams often come there.
23:56They study the golden lancehead snake,
23:58its environment and its food sources,
24:01for conservation purposes.
24:02But scientists always make sure there's a doctor on the team.
24:07There's also a lighthouse on Snake Island.
24:10It had been operated by people until the 1920s.
24:13Then it became automated.
24:15One guess why?
24:16Brazilian authorities visit the lighthouse once a year
24:19to make sure it's still functional.
24:22Locals on the mainland know the reputation of the island,
24:25so the stories of people going missing are minimal.
24:29But one group of fishers once got too close to the island.
24:33As they were sailing along their normal route,
24:35they accidentally neared the shore.
24:37Their boat broke under the waves and began filling with water.
24:42As the boat was quickly sinking,
24:44the men had only two options,
24:45to try to survive in the rough sea
24:47or swim to the shores of Snake Island.
24:50It was a hard choice to make.
24:52After all, they had heard the stories,
24:54and it wasn't just about snakes.
24:57Rumor had it that the island was cursed.
25:00Regardless of the stories,
25:02the fishers chose to take their chances with Snake Island.
25:05After making it to the shore,
25:07they tried to be careful.
25:08Their knowledge of the island could help them survive.
25:11Most importantly,
25:13they knew to avoid the rainforest at all costs.
25:17As the men got hungry,
25:18they carefully walked along the edge of the forest,
25:21warily collecting bananas.
25:23They were mostly sitting, waiting,
25:25and conserving their energy.
25:26They could only drink water when it rained.
25:29It was just enough to sustain them.
25:31They slept on the beach,
25:33unprotected from the elements and weather.
25:36And, all the time,
25:37they were so close to the comfort of the lighthouse or caves.
25:40They were probably overly cautious,
25:43but it was either enduring some discomfort
25:45or risking their lives for a dry bed.
25:48They didn't yield to the temptation.
25:51They managed to survive for three days
25:54without being bitten by a snake.
25:56After that,
25:57a passing boat finally rescued them.
25:59So, now you know,
26:01anything is possible.
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